Buried Rivers of Gold - Victorian Heritage Site - #5 in the series
From The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), Saturday 20 August 1864, page 3 IMPERIAL GOLD MINING COMPANY, RED STREAK, CRESWICK.
The manager reported problems with flooding in July 1864:
A meeting of the Imperial Company, Red Streak, Creswick, was held on Thursday evening, at the American Hotel. The mining manager reported that since last meeting he had proceeded with No. 1 drive, but finding the water very troublesome, had deemed it advisable to suspend operations there for the present. A drive had then been opened towards the Junction Company, and driven 78 feet. He recommended its being continued till the reef was a sufficient height over head to put up a monkey shaft. The puddling machine and two cages had been finished and were in working order. The legal manager was instructed to take legal proceedings for the recovery of all calls in arrear. The fifth call was made payable after the usual notice, and accounts amounting to £132 15s 6d were passed for payment.
The Red Streak lead proved to be one of the main gold-bearing gutters of the ancient river system. It was the continuation of a shallow lead (Black Lead) which was worked with great success in the early days. In 1859 the mining registrar reported that the Red Streak Lead was the principal place in the division where new ground was being opened; that all the leads coming from the east and south of Creswick tended to drain into it; and that it had the deepest ground. The depth of the lead made mining a very difficult undertaking.
In 1860, the Crown or Ten Acre Company was the principal company at work on the lead; and when this company lost its shaft (swamped by drift at a depth of 146 feet) it was cited by the mining registrar as a serious impedient to the development of the deep leads in the area. Mining on the Red Streak Lead had recovered after the Crown's mishap by 1865 and at least seven companies - Imperial, Grand Trunk or Key (original Red Streak), Australasian, Sir Charles Darling, Junction, Rose of Allendale, and Hit-or-Miss - were mining with considerable success. The Hit-or-Miss Company became notable as one of the greatest gold producers of the 1860s.
Source: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66346657