Wheal Gawler produced an estimated 300t of ore between 1841 and 1889. The discovery and opening up of the Wheal Gawler mine resulted in the formation of the South Australian Mining Association. The ore was discovered at a time of great economic hardship in the young South Australian colony, these mines were the first signs of a recovery would come from mining.
The ore discovery was documented as follows.
I saw a piece of silver ore about 28 lbs weight, that was picked up by a young man of the name of James Nichols, who was a shipmate with me; on the mountains he traced the load [sic] for a mile, and picked up about thirty pieces as big as a hens egg, all of which he showed me.
Galena (silver lead ore) was discovered at Glen Osmond when the wheel from a passing dray crushed an outcrop of rock and the metallic brilliance of the ore was seen. Galena is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. In some deposits galena contains about 1–2% silver, a byproduct that outweighs lead ore in revenue.
During your site visit please review the follow tasks and submit your answers in an email or message.
-Freddo could not see any evidence of galena ore in the shale and siltstone at the mine entrance. Can you see any ore with 'metallic brilliance'? Why is it likely to be missing?
-Take a look at the rock face 5 to 10m left of GZ. What evidence of mining do you see?