Heathcote - Pink Cliffs
The Pink Cliffs near Heathcote are an interesting and colourful phenomenon which was exposed by early gold mining activities.
The Pink Cliffs Reserve was originally man made but is now considered one of Victoria's natural wonders. The multi-coloured soft granite exposed as a moonscape surface in the central portion of the reserve is the best known feature; hence its name, Pink Cliffs.
It is an ideal place for picnics at the reserve entrance, walks, bird watching, seasonal wildflowers and photography, as well as focusing on the geological features of the reserve.
The McIvor gold rush began in April 1853 and attracted thousands of prospectors. They swarmed throughout the area and quickly exhausted gold in the shallow, conglomerate- free grounds.
In later years, intensive mining was limited to deep leads as water shortage in the hotter months prevented worthwhile 'surfacing' operations. Sluicing work was carried on until the early 1880's and it was in this period that work in the in Pink Cliffs area revealed these colourful 'hills'.
Visitors will note as the wander through the spectacular mini gorges a wide variety of small stones throughout the strata, particularly in the dark brown gravel cliffs. Of interest too, are the many pieces of smooth ironstone which have a distinctive volcanic appearance. The colourful cliffs are of a fine clay, which powders to an almost talcum like texture.
It is a short walk of 250 meters to the lower viewing area or the longer 500 meter walk to an upper viewing area.
Please keep to the tracks and remain behind the fences so that the fragile cliffs are not damaged.
Information signs at the Reserve display the following text:
Mining and the Miners
Prior to the 1850s, this area was open box forest with scrubby undergrowth which grew on red-brown soil of a layer of gravel. The soil profile hid nuggets of gold, shed from the auriferous quartz reef of Red Hill.
In 1852 early prospectors discovered the first nuggets of gold in the area. The prospectors used a sluicing method with creek water to wash the soil away from the nuggets.
The creek water flowed in an open channel to a flume made of three sawn planks, then into canvas hose to increase the gravity-fed pressure. At the end of the hose was a nozzle to help aim and focus the water.
The hoses were used to sluice the whole area in order to extract even the finest particles of gold. The sediments, which were washed from the mining face, were directed to a series of cradles to separate the gold. The gold particles, being heavier, sank to the bottom of the cradle leaving the mud and gravel (sludge) to run back down the creek line.
In 1865 the Mclvor Hydraulic Sluicing and Gold Mining Company Limited proposed to bring water from the head of the Mclvor, Sandy and Wild Duck Creeks to an elevation at Heathcote for sluicing purposes. A dam was constructed at the head of the Mclvor Creek at Emu Flat, 25 kilometres from Heathcote.
Initially only seven miles was to be constructed. This required tunnelling for short distances, construction of flumes or aqueducts across gullies as well as the formation of the race walls.
The engineering feat of creating the fall of the water along the length of the race was measured using a beer bottle containing water as a level. In 1874 Thomas Hedley continued the water race to bring water to a holding dam he constructed in Long gully (known now as Hedley's Dam) and on to Red Hill - a distance of 26 miles (approx 42Kms).
The sludge washing into the creek became a significant issue and The Sludge Inquiry Board was set up to look at the problems caused by the big volume of sludge running over the grazing lands and ruining the water supply for the town, stock and landowners. Eventually this caused the closing down of the sluice mining operation as the mining lease was not renewed.
The colour kaleidoscope you can see today is the remaining granite sliced through with reddish brown cracks filled with quartz. The surface fine granite was washed by percolating ground water containing sodium, chlorides and carbonates, which helped to dissolve the iron ore minerals and weather the granite.
In the process, the granite became stained with iron rich solutions, the colour intensity being directly related to the amounts of iron ore minerals within the cracks.
In 1865 there were approximately 1,200 European and 70 Chinese miners at the Heathcote goldfields. There were many colourful characters among the miners.
There are anecdotal stories of two groups of mining camps, one Dutch and the other Irish, who, to deter raids on the day's gold find, would fire their pistols in the air at night to indicate that they had guns to defend their gold. As a result, large numbers of pistol balls are still found by fossickers.
Many of the women who accompanied their husbands or fathers also proved to be excellent business women, setting themselves up as bar owners or washer women or providing hot meals to the many hungry miners at the end of the day.
There are three information panels at the site:
The Mining Process
Prior to the discovery of gold, this area was open box forest growing on red-brown soil over a layer of gravel. The first nuggets of gold were found in 1852 and sluicing began using the creek to wash the gold-laden soil.
In 1887 Hedley and the Hon JA Wallace began experimenting with hydraulic sluicing by pumping, instead of relying on the pressure gained from the gravity fed water race.
In 1887 sludge in the creek became a significant problem and The Sludge Inquiry Board was formed. In 1890 the Heathcote Sluicing Company's mining lease was not renewed due mainly to the decisions made by The Sludge Inquiry Board.
The colour kaleidoscope you can see today is the remaining granite sliced through with reddish brown cracks filled with quartz. The surface fine granite was washed by percolating ground water containing sodium, chlorides and carbonates, which helped to dissolve the iron ore minerals and weather the granite.
In the process, the granite became stained with iron rich solutions, the colour intensity being directly related to the amounts of iron ore minerals within the cracks. Erosion has proceeded at such a rate that the present surface still resembles a moonscape.
Hedley's Water Race
"The water was conducted to the sluicing site in an open channel which followed the contour of the ground to a well constructed flume, made of three sawn planks about twelve inches wide and one inch thick. Then it went into a heavy canvas hose, to increase the pressure and at the end of the hose there was a nozzle made of stout galvanized iron tipped with cast iron." - JO Randall, 'McIvor'
In 1865 the McIvor Hydraulic and Gold Mining Co began constructing a water race from the headwaters of the McIvor Creek near Mt Sugarloaf at Tooborac, to convey water 'at a sufficient elevation to command the whole McIvor gold field'. The race anticipated to carry six million gallons per day, to operate 60 sluice heads.
Initially only seven miles (about 11 km) was to be constructed. This required tunnelling for short distances, construction of flumes or aqueducts across gullies as well as the formation of the race walls.
The engineering feat of creating the fall of the water along the length of the race was measured using a beer bottle containing water as a 'level'.
In 1874 Thomas Hedley continued the water race to bring water to a holding dam he constructed in Long Gully (known now as Hedley's Dam) and on to Red Hill - a distance of 26 miles (about 42 km)
The Miners
In 1865 there were around 1200 European miners and 70 Chinese miners on the Heathcote goldfields.
Miners came from Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland) and Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Scandinavia, Croatia, Russia and Spain). There were also Cornish miners and others from South Africa, China, South America (Chile) and North America.
Some of these men were colourful characters - sailors leaving their ships, young men leaving their jobs or farms to seek their fortunes.
Dutch and Irish miners would fire pistols in the air at night to indicate that they had guns to defend their gold. As a result, large numbers of pistol balls are still found by fossickers.
Many of the women who accompanied their husbands or fathers to the goldfields proved to be excellent businesswomen, setting themselves up as bar owners or washer women, or providing hot meals to the many hungry miners at the end of the day.
As access to gold became more difficult and the alluvial gold became scarce, many of the miners moved on to other goldfields or became employees in the growing deep mining operations that grew as surface gold became scarce. Some of the miners turned to the land and sought to make a living as farmers.
Access for Dogs:
Dogs are permitted on leash.
Review:
This is a really interesting and unusual area to visit where you can see the dramatic results of past gold mining sluicing producing a wonderful colourful landscape.
There is a fairly wide gravel path which provides access to the lower (120m) and upper (500m) viewing points. It's definitely worth visiting both viewing points. The upper path does also have a branch which loops through the surrounding bushland.
It is recommended to come early or later in the day because when the sun is directly overhead it washes out some of the colour.
At the carpark, which is about 700m from Heathcote, there is a partly shaded table. Before you get to the Pink Cliffs, which are protected, there is an area which also has interesting geological features such as eroded landscape with boulders sticking out of the ground where kids can have fun climbing. During the early or late part of the day there are often kangaroos and wallabies in the area and wildflowers and wattles in Spring.
Location
Pink Cliffs Road, Heathcote 3523 Map
