Maldon - Porcupine Flat Gold Dredge and Dragline
The dredge operation at Porcupine Flat belonged to Mr George Heywood. He first began working the site in 1958. The dredge is actually a smaller reconstruction of a large old dredge that operated in the Jim Crow Creek south of Newstead from 1948 to 1954. The Central Victorian Goldmining Company NL had been working the Jim Crow Creek. In 1954 it closed down and the dredge was put up for sale. Parts of the superstructure ended up in Western Australia.
One day George Heywood, who had been mining at Porcupine Flat, called at Keith Laity's garage and asked him where he could hire a trailer. "How big?" asked Keith. "Pretty big!" said George. Keith asked what he wanted to carry. George told him he had acquired the pontoon of the Jim Crow dredge. He had cut it into three parts with oxy-acetylene cutting equipment and now wanted to transport the pieces to the mining site at Porcupine Flat.
George left with the name of a heavy haulage company in Bendigo. A few weeks later the end sections of the dredge, one at a time, squeezed through the main street of Maldon towards their destination on Porcupine Flat. The recreated dredge operated until around 1978. It is now listed as one of the sites on the Mount Alexander Diggings Project.
The dredge area occupies the central position and consists of large areas of flattish disturbed land and a string of ponds along its western edge. The gold dredge is still on site in one of these ponds. Several thick cables anchor the dredge to large trees on the perimeter of the area.
The Maldon dredge was capable of a 20ft reach with its bucket line, although it probably only operated down to depths of 10-12ft to reach the lead in this area.
The dredge first stopped operating around 1978, and it is believed this followed the SEC condemning its electrical equipment and power poles. The dredge was then powered by a huge rubberised cable draped across inflated tubes on the water surface. Most of this cable has now been removed.
Around 1982 Mr Bill Anderson operated the dredge, presumably as a tribute to Mr George Heywood. He re-wired it and fitted a diesel generator for power. He operated it for a short time in the existing pond, and abandoned it in 1984.
A dragline remains near a small dam beside the Maldon-Lockwood Road. This was brought from the Yallourn coal mine, also by George Heywood. The dragline was used to assist constructing the dredge as well as for a short time, it followed the dredge around to help with maintenance. However, it did not prove of much value and was left in its present position early in the operation. The adjacent dam was not used by the dredge, but subsequently as part of a different prospecting operation.
DREDGING
Dredging as a method of alluvial mining dates back to the beginning of the 20th Century.
It involves a large floating machine that carries a conveyor belt of metal buckets at the front. These buckets eat into the alluvial material and carry it to the 'shute'. From there the wet material flows through a series of riffle boxes and the slurry is discharged at the rear of the dredge, thus reforming the solid ground behind the machine as it progresses.
Larger dredges began operating in the 1930s when electric power became available. Dredging represented the largest scale of alluvial mining, with some machines employing up to sixty workers.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DREDGE
The dredge has an 'A' rating (highly significant) according to the L.C.C. although as an item of industrial history, it does not rate so highly because of its cut-down and reconstruction nature.
Relatively few gold dredges operated in Victoria, and fewer, if any, remain in an operational setting.
The Maldon dredge attracted tourists for some years without any publicity, although at the time the operators did not appreciate this attention.
The dredge and its dredged area has also been listed by the Victorian Tourism Commission's thematic inventory of the Goldfields Tourism Development Program, as a prime relic site to illustrate the dredging phase of gold mining in Victoria.
There is one picnic table near the dredge.
Location: The dredge and dragline are located near the Maldon-Bendigo Road approximately 3.9km east of the Maldon town centre.
Access for Dogs:
Dogs are not permitted.
Photos:
Location
LOT 12F Bendigo-Maldon Road, Maldon 3463 Map
Web Links
→ www.parks.vic.gov.au/places-to-see/sites/porcupine-flat-dredge
