Moliagul - Bulldog Reef Mine Shafts
This area outside Moliagul has lots of open mine shafts (which are fenced off). The area is between Gypsy Road, D179 Track, and D175 Track.
The Bulldog Reef was found in the 1850s. This reef has been worked both sides of the Bulldog or Black Lead. To the north, it was also called the Black Reef or Welcome Stranger Reef. On the south it was also Moliagul Reef.
Bulldog Gully was opened in May 1856, and the Black Lead, of Welcome Stranger fame, in 1857.
There was also a large rush on 25th May 1857 to Bulldog Gully but the gold was neither rich nor extensive, although there were a great number there. This reef was worked first at the time of the Bulldog Rush by all foreigners - Italians, Frenchmen and Jews.
This is near the site of the Welcome Stranger nugget, the biggest gold nugget ever found in the world. At the time of the discovery, there were no scales capable of weighing a nugget this large, so it was broken into three pieces on an anvil by Dunolly-based blacksmith Archibald Walls. The anvil used can still be seen in the township of Dunolly. Outside the historical museum on the main street they also have a replica of the same nugget.
Location
D179 Track, Moliagul 3472 Map
Web Links
→ Welcome Stranger Tourist Trail (Victorian Heritage Database)
→ The Bulldog reef workings at Moliagul Victoria (YouTube)
