The aim of the cache is to learn about the geology surrounding the gold fields both past and present and the formation of goldfields after gold was found in the area. You will also be treated to a well established walking path with spectacular views of the surrounding area.
To complete this EarthCache you must visit the Goldfield walk found on Allendale Road. You will need to answer some geological questions about the region, and how gold was found and mined in the area. Information for the earth cache can be found at the various waypoints from the goldfields walk.
The area in brief
Para Wirra Recreational Park lies entirely within an inlier of crystalline basement rock which extends southwards to Torrens Gorge. It is part of a more extensively exposed Precambrian rock mass, the oldest in the Mount Lofty Ranges. In the extreme west of the park there are undifferentiated metamorphic, mostly very micaceous rocks (schists), and gneisses. A zone of distinctive layered or banded quartz-feldspar rich rocks (gneisses) extends though the central portion of the park. In the extreme east there is another conspicuous rock type (augen gneiss) which is distinguished by the presence of “eye” structures (usually of feldspar) up to 2.5 cm in length, indicative of greater shearing.[3]
Gold was discovered in the area in 1868. Within a few weeks 4000 people had rushed to the site. Life was hard for the miners and their families, with deep shafts being dug by hand by men while women cooked, cleaned and looked after children in tents and shanties.
The Barossa Goldfields History
The existence of gold in the Barossa Valley had long been suspected. As early as March 1841, a paper prepared by Johannes Menge, dealing with the possible occurrence of minerals there, was read before a Select Committee in London. In 1860, Captain Richard Rodda, who had worked for the Barossa Range Mining Company in 1847 and later the Kanmantoo, Wheal Maria and North Rhine mines, had made a reward claim for the discovery of gold in the Valley on the Reserve at Bethany. In 1866 John Chambers and others were willing to prove it and promoted the Lyndoch Valley Mining Company.
Job Harris, publican of the Sandy Creek Hotel, and some of his friends went prospecting. They had previously been at Jupiter Creek but this time Harris had more luck and found a considerable quantity at Spike Gully on 3 October 1868, creating the largest gold rush seen so far anywhere in South Australia. The newspapers had a field day once again. Now all agreed that the Barossa Ranges had always been looked upon as gold bearing country.
Within days at least 400 men had made their way to the field. Most were inexperienced, yet in spite that gold was found.
Although the goldfield was still in its infancy, its appearance after only two weeks had already changed quite dramatically. Canvas and calico tents were now everywhere on the hillsides. Most of the tents though were of a very primitive construction. The hills were covered with trees but rapidly cut down indiscriminately for tent posts, fuel and any other purpose. The tops of the young wattle trees were cut for bedding on which the diggers spread their clothes and blankets.
With an increase of the area in which gold was located more men arrived at the field often replacing the numbers that were leaving. Farmers in particular had done well and most planned to return after the harvest. A week later, Wilcox of Gawler sent 247 ounces by mail steamer to England and Mitchell a further 69 ounces. The combined value of the two parcels amounted to £1,200.
As more and more diggers arrived, the scarcity of water became severe and with the added problem of excessive summer heat, conditions on the field became almost intolerable. Surprisingly though, in their eagerness to get to the yellow stuff, most diggers would put up with almost any condition and the unrelenting backbreaking work as long as they got enough of the precious gold.
Conditions and life on the Barossa and other South Australian goldfields may have been hard, but gold was certainly being found. When the Glen Osmond left for London in 1869 it had more than a thousand ounces of gold on board from the Barossa goldfields.
Soon more than a hundred shafts had been sunk in an attempt to reach the ancient river channels, buried below nearly 75 feet of sand, gravel, clay or cement. Success seemed to be everywhere that month and was clearly shown by the fact that the ESACB bought 115 ounces of gold from the diggers in one week.
The largest problem on the field though was still the availability of water, or rather the lack of it. Winter had bought good rains however it was far from adequate for the many diggers trying to use their puddlers, cradles, rockers or just a gold pans. The two companies operating crushers needed still more water and even after the completion of several dams they had to stop their machinery in April because of the lack of water. The Gawler Times was convinced that if water and money were available the reefs at Barossa would prove more productive than many of those in Victoria.
Early in 1880 there was a new rush to the Barossa goldfield after some encouraging finds and by March about 20 men were still at work and making good wages.
The Barossa goldfield, which had seen South Australia’s largest gold rush up to that time, had given rise to three towns and provided long term employment and income to a large number of people on the field and in the surrounding towns, especially Gawler. It remained rather quiet for a number of years until 1886 when spectacular finds at Teetulpa and some new technology resulted in a renewed interest in the old Barossa diggings by those unable to go Teetulpa.
After the initial rich strikes had lured its thousands of hopeful diggers, storekeepers, promoters, investors and speculators, gold digging at Barossa was once again resumed and continued for a long time yet. Some small shows and a few very large ones, such as Menzies’ Barossa, would dominate the headlines for some considerable time. Even today there are still many people convinced that there is gold in them Barossa hills and valleys yet! Only time will tell.
LOGGING REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS EARTHCACHE
In order to log this EarthCache you must visit the Barrossa Goldfields and walk part of the Phoenix hike around the goldfields to obtain the answers to the set questions. You will then need to email the answers to the questions and upload a photo from near one of the mineshafts from along the trail to claim your find. Please do not post any answers to the questions in your log, as it will be deleted.
There is no need to wait for a confirmation email to log your find. I will read each email to confirm your answers and will contact you if there is a problem. Please do not email photos, just upload them with your log.
If an email is not received in a timely manner after logging your cache, the log will be deleted.
Questions:
1) What type of gold was first discovered 1.5km from this location?
2) How much gold was estimated to be found in the Victoria Hill Rush (ounces or Kg)?
3) Look down this particular mineshaft at stage 2 - what do you see? what do you think the prospector dug into?
4) Have a look on the ground at stage 3, pick up rocks and see what they are made of, what is the feel of them, check the sign to see what it is called?
References
- Barrossa Goldfields Historical Society
- South Australian History
- Postcards SA
When walking this trail please make sure you stick to the designated paths and do not enter any of the fenced off areas!
