Back to search results

SPARGOS PYRITES GOLD WORKS
SPARROWHAWK ROAD AND DERWENT GULLY ROAD AND ARRO AVENUE MAIDEN GULLY, GREATER BENDIGO CITY

All information on this page is maintained by Heritage Victoria. Click below for their website and contact details.
Victorian Heritage Register
1 spargo's gold works bendigo side view may1997
1 spargo's gold works bendigo side view may1997
1 spargo's gold works bendigo side view may1997
On this page:

Statement of Significance

Spargos Pyrites Gold Works contains of the remnants of six circular brick bases, several concrete floors, a culvert and a small mound of calcined sand. The treatment of auriferous pyritic ore, to facilitate gold extraction, commenced on the Bendigo goldfield in the early 1860s. None of the early attempts proved profitable until the introduction of the chemical chlorination process during the 1870s. Records show that John Spargo's treatment works was operating at Bendigo by 1872, the plant including a reverberatory furnace and arastra (grinding mill or Chilean mill). By the 1880s, Bendigo had become a major centre for the treatment of 'refractory' ores, with several large pyrites companies, including Spargo's, operating up until the First World War. Spargo's, like many others, closed during the war due to the lack of manpower, etc., and does not appear to have recommenced after the war.

Spargos Pyrites Gold Works is of historical, scientific and archaeological importance to the State of Victoria.

Spargos Pyrites Gold Works is historically and scientifically important as a characteristic and well preserved example of an important form of gold mining. In some ores, the greater part of the gold is combined with pyrites, making the gold very difficult to extract. From the mid-nineteenth century, miners experimented with various metallurgical (heat treatment) processes to unlock gold from pyritic ore. Extant evidence of these metallurgical processes, of which Spargos Pyrites Works is an example, are extremely rare in Victoria.

Spargos Pyrites Gold Works is archaeologically important for its potential to yield artefacts and evidence which will be able to provide significant information about the technological history of gold mining.

Show more
Show less

    • Permit Exemptions

      SPARGOS PYRITES GOLD WORKS - Permit Exemptions

      General Exemptions:

      General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

      Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

      Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

      Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

      Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

      Specific Exemptions:

      EXEMPTIONS FROM PERMITS:
      (Classes of works or activities which may be undertaken without a permit under
      Part 4 of the Heritage Act 1995)

      No permits are required for the following classes of works provided they are
      carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Conservation Plan For
      Historic Mining Sites prepared by David Bannear in 1996.

      Mineral Exploration
      Fire suppression duties
      Timber production
      Weed and vermin control
      Public safety
      Rehabilitation

Public contributions

Note: Developments may span multiple time periods
Timeline browser

< to 1849
< - 1849
1850 to 1879
1850 - 1879
1880 to 1909
1880 - 1909
1910 to 1939
1910 - 1939
1940 to 1969
1940 - 1969
1970 to 1999
1970 - 1999
2000 to >
2000 - >