BUTE CO NO.1

OLD GLENELG HIGHWAY SCARSDALE, GOLDEN PLAINS SHIRE

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Victorian Heritage Inventory

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • History

    BUTE CO NO.1 - History

    Contextual History:History of Place:
    Heritage Inventory History of Site:
    Location given as allotment 4 Scarsdale - private property.
    BUTE GOLD MINING COMPANY
    BUTE COMPANY (a co-operative party)
    08.1860: shaft is down 80 feet.
    11.1860: it is expected that the Brown's and Smythe's Junction Co. will get the Trunk and Hong Kong Leads which will then proceed to Allotment 4 where the Bute Co. are operating.
    12.1860: sinking their shaft and erecting machinery
    01.1861: the reference to a shaft being bottomed in allotments 4 and 5 may be this mine.
    02.02.1861: working on private property; lease is 125 acres; capital is £4000 in 100 shares; shaft is down 214 feet and the estimated depth of the gutter is 250 feet; have a 25 hp engine; all work is done by contract.
    03.1861: not yet bottomed.
    04.1861: bottomed on paying gold.
    07.1861: good reputation.
    08.1861: doing very well.
    11.1861: excellent dividend of more than 200 ozs last week.
    12.1861: doing as well as the Smythe's and Browne's Junction.
    12.02.1863: the new shaft is down 60 feet and the plant of the late Smythesdale and Browns Junction Company is being established at the shaft.
    06.1863: shaft is 7 feet 6 inches by 3 feet 3 inches and 100 feet deep; machinery includes: 12 inch by 36 inch steam engine for winding and pumping, a boiler: 17 feet by 5 feet 6 inches, 9 inch pumps, and a wooden puddling machine
    07.1863: obtaining favourable results.
    03.1864: returning large quantities of gold every week.
    06.1864: one of the richest claims at Scarsdale; yielding well.
    09.1864: continuing to give regular yields.
    12.1864: had 102 ozs last week; old shaft that has been worked for the last 5 years has given up and allotment 4 their original claim is worked out.
    03.1865: continuing to pay well.
    06.1865: continues to pay well, had a dividend last week of 118 ozs.
    09.1865: paying reasonably well.
    15.08.1865: reports the use of a horizontal steam engine, pumps, and puddling machine.
    08.05.1866: machinery in good order; shaft repaired due to subsidence of ground nearby
    06.1866: paying moderately well.
    14.08.1866: trouble with further subsidence; 17 sets of round timber 12 to 16 inches diameter crushed by the movement
    09.1866: weekly yield of 144 ozs.
    13.11.1866: 2 foot subsidence of ground along the line of the gutter for a width of 300 feet; fortunately the subsidence occurred slowly, otherwise the machinery and shaft within the area would have been damaged
    12.1866: yielding better than ever.
    08.01.1867: fire destroyed all surface buildings except office and smithy
    03.1867: ground taken up by a co-operative; an engine has been erected and they will soon be ready for underground operations.
    03.1868: yield for the quarter 547 ozs 18 dwt 18 gr
    06.1868: yield for the quarter 486 ozs 15 dwt 15 gr
    09.1868: yield for the quarter 445 ozs
    12.1868: yield for the quarter 431 ozs.
    03.1869: yield for the quarter 758 ozs 18 dwt 18 gr
    03.1870: yield for the quarter 731 ozs 1 dwt 16 gr
    06.1870: yield for the quarter 746 ozs
    09.1870: yield for the quarter 926 ozs 14 dwt.
    12.1870: yield for the quarter 500 ozs 4 dwt 3 gr
    03.1871: yield for the quarter 397 ozs 3 dwt.
    06.1871: yield for the quarter 480 ozs 13 dwt.
    09.1871: yield for the quarter 548 ozs 5 dwt
    12.1871: yield for the quarter 533 ozs.
    06.1872: yield for the quarter 425 ozs.
    12.1872: yield for the quarter 631 ozs 13 dwt.
    03.1873: yield for the quarter 465 ozs 15 dwt.
    06.1873: yield for the quarter 410 ozs 7 dwt.
    09.1873: yield for the quarter 383 ozs 19 dwt.
    12.1873: yield for the quarter 446 ozs 6 dwt.49
    Production data from official sources:
    Mine #1043 Mine : NEW BUTE CO.
    From January 1866 to March 1877 the total yield was 21,500 ozs or 668.740 kg.
    Mine #243 Mine : BUTE CO.
    From July 1876 to September 1876 obtained 2 ozs 5 dwts or 0.07 kg. from 9 tons giving a yield of 5 dwt per ton or 7.78g/t.
    In October 1867 had a yield of 178 ozs 5 dwts or 5.544 kg.
    From January 1867 to December 1873 obtained 9,575 ozs 15 dwts or 297.848 kg.
    Giving a total mine production of 303.462 kg.
    Mine #216 Mine : BUTE CO.
    From December 1861 to April 1866 obtained 22,500 ozs or 699.844 kg.
    In September 1866 had a yield of 144 ozs or 4.479 kg.
    12.1861 to 09.1876: total recorded production of 53,900 ozs 5 dwt or 1676.525 kg.

    Heritage Inventory Description

    BUTE CO NO.1 - Heritage Inventory Description

    Site 59.01: The mullock and quartz wash heap at this site is 50m by 25m by 4m high. The southern end is wash which is also scattered further south of the heap. The site has been disturbed. However judging by the large eucalypts growing in the heap, it must have been in its present location for a considerable time. There are a few depressions and channels approximately 10 metres north-west of the heap which may have had something to do with the mine but it was not possible to determine whether this was true.

    Heritage Inventory Significance: Local

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