BLACK CAMERON MINE

60-90 BLACK CAMERON ROAD SMITHS GULLY, NILLUMBIK SHIRE

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Victorian Heritage Inventory

Statement of Significance

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  • History

    BLACK CAMERON MINE - History

    Contextual History:History of Place:
    Heritage Inventory History of Site:
    The field’s next productive period occurred from 1939-47. This period commenced with the discovery of a new reef outcropping in an orchard at Yarrambat. The prospectors formed a company called the Golden King and installed an 8-head battery with an electric generator driven by an oil engine. A second company was also formed called the Golden Crown. The latter mine proved to be the most successful and operated until 1950. The success of the Golden Crown helped promote prospecting in the area and two other mines - the Black Cameron mine at Smith's Gully and Big Ben mine, Kinglake - also progressed to the mining stage. The Big Ben Company was the most successful and in 1948 installed a new crushing plant was to handle the output of stone from its mine. The Black Cameron, despite yielding prospecting crushings of over 2 oz per ton did not go onto to mine profitably.
    
    The Black Cameron mine was reopened in 1951-52. In 1962 the buildings were burnt in a bushfire. Today the mine is a working facility with plans a foot to crush ore obtained from the One Tree Hill mine on the site.
    
    September 1941: Crushing of 21 tons from the Black Cameron mine at Smith's Gully yielded 127¾ oz of gold.
    March 1947: Black Cameron mine near Queenstown changed ownership.
    September 1947: At the Black Cameron mine, a new shaft is being sunk now down 50 feet.
    March 1948: Black Cameron mine taken over by W. Clayton shaft retimbered to 80 feet and deepened machinery installed includes new air compressor and winding gear.
    September 1948: Shaft at Black Cameron mine now timbered to a depth of 105 feet.
    September 1949: Good results continue at Black Cameron mine.
    1949: Crushings from Black Cameron mine, Smith's Gully, Queenstown, gave over 2 oz/ton further development is in progress.

    Heritage Inventory Description

    BLACK CAMERON MINE - Heritage Inventory Description

    Working Mine? Corrugated iron sheds, crushing and winching machinery, shafts, mullock heaps, water dam, and tailings pond.

    Heritage Inventory Significance: Local Planning Scheme?Negotiations with mine owners to determine the long-term future of the mine and its possible use as a tourist mine. Site 4.0 has Historical significance: the Black Cameron mine contains the last insitu operating quartz crushing battery in the St Andrews district. Scientific significance: an excellent example of a late twentieth century small-scale quartz mine illustrating the mineÆs various ownersÆ attempts to mine profitably. Social value: The heritage values of the place is enhanced when viewed as part of a precinct, which contains the Queenstown Government Battery, alluvial workings along SmithÆs Gully, and Queenstown Cemetery.

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