NILLUMBIK MINE - THE HIDDEN MINE

* CLICK ON IMAGES FOR FULL SIZE *





The Hidden Mine
Gold mining also took place on the northern side of the yarra. Can you see the gold mine hidden in this picture?
Trust me, It's there!





The Hidden Mine - Collapsed Portal
Here it is!
This adit has almost completely closed over at the entrance.
Apparently a Parks Ranger (Colin?) fitted this grate to the entrance after he rescued a wombat from the mine!
The grate has since been cut. I doubt a person (or a wombat) could fit through the gap.





The Hidden Mine - Inside
I poked the camera down into the adit and scored this pic. The mine looks to be in reasonable condition. Apparently the mine is quite extensive. I have been told that the mine contains at least one winze (shaft).
There may be other mines close by, but I did not look for them as the terrain is very steep and overgrown. And did I mention that snakes live around here?





I hope you enjoyed the tour!

You're welcome to contact me at the e-mail address at the bottom of this page.

I would like to thank Parks Victoria Warrandyte for their assistance with this project.
I would especially like to thank Parks Ranger, Colin for allowing me to photograph
the inside of mines that aren�t normally open to the public.
I would also like to thank Local Historians, Ted and Peter for filling in some of the missing pieces of the puzzle. Thanks guys!




WINDOWS DESKTOP PICTURE

Click on this image below for a great desktop (background) pic for your computer.


Once the full size image has loaded, save it to a folder and set it as your desktop (background) pic.
It looks fantastic!
The image is a large file size. Give it time to load.



SOME MINING TERMS

ADIT - A passageway or opening driven horizontally (or near horizontal) into the side of a hill generally for the purpose of exploring or otherwise opening a mineral deposit. An adit is open to the atmosphere at one end, a tunnel at both ends.

COLLAR - The term applied to the timbering or concrete around the mouth of a shaft; also used to describe the top of a drill hole.

CROSSCUT - A horizontal opening driven across the course of a vein or structure, or in general across the strike of the rock formation; a connection from a shaft to an ore structure.

DIP - The angle at which a vein, structure or rock bed is inclined from the horizontal, measured at right angles to the strike.

DRIFT (DRIVE) - A horizontal passage underground that follow along the length of a vein or rock formation as opposed to a crosscut which crosses the rock formation.

FACE - As applied to a drift, crosscut or stope, is the end in which work is progressing.

ORE - A mixture of ore minerals and gangue from which at least one of the metals can be extracted at a profit.

PORTAL - The surface entrance to a tunnel or adit.

SHAFT - A vertical or inclined excavation for the purpose of opening and servicing a mine. It is usually equipped with a hoist at the top, which lowers and raises a conveyance for handling men and material.

STOPE - An excavation in a mine from which ore is being or has been extracted.

TUNNEL - A horizontal underground passage that is open at both ends.

VEIN - A fissure, fault or crack in a rock filled by minerals that have travelled upwards from some deep source.

WINZE - A vertical or inclined opening sunk from a point inside a mine. Similar to a shaft, but the latter starts at the surface.