This photograph dating to 1910 depicts an open cut sluicing site located in El Dorado captured looking east up the open cut from the number 3 Barge site. Sluicing was undertaken in the area from 1900 to 1942 with some short breaks between these periods. The image depicts a location mined by Cocks Pioneer Gold and Tin Sluicing Company (as recorded on the annotation on the card mount). It portrays open cut rocks with a crevice in the center of the image where the sluicing was being undertaken. There is a small timber structure on the right of the image which could be an entrance to a mine or supports made of wood to prevent a cave in at the open cut site and above the cut rock there is bush. The timber structure has rail tracks on top of the bridge which could suggest the identification of this structure as a mine entrance. The rail tracks were used for little carts which hauled soil from the mine. The Cocks Pioneer Gold and Tin Mines N.L was one of El Dorado's two largest open cut sluicing mines of the 20th Century. The other was named the Cocks El Dorado Gold Dredging Company. The Cocks Pioneer Mines operated from 1901 until 1941 and found a total of 117,378 ounces of Gold and 1,673 tones of tin concentrates over these years. The Cocks company was formed in 1898 and operated until 1941. Open cut sluicing involved the use of high-powered hoses which used the centrifugal sand pump system (known as hydraulic sluicing) which broke down the soil which was then processed for gold and other precious metals. From 1914 , four years after this image was captured, the company reformed to Cocks Pioneer Gold and Tin Mines NL (previously it was known as Cocks Pioneer Sluicing Co) and undertook large scale sluicing operations until 1929 and then 1934-1941. El Dorado is located on Reedy Creek and is surrounded by forested country to the north and east. It is 20 km east of Wangaratta in Victoria's regional north-east. John Cock was the son of a Cornish minor who arrived in El Dorado in 1858. Cock founded his gold and tin mining company which ran successfully for many years in the El Dorado region. It was an open cut sluicing company because of the abandonment of underground mining after this was deemed too dangerous. In 1935 Cock's El Dorado Company commissioned the floating dredge which is still visible in El Dorado today. The dredge was built by the Thompson engineering works, Castlemaine, and weighed over 2,000 tones and today has a place on the Victorian Registers of historic buildings. Interestingly, the name El Dorado does not derive from the gold in the region, but from the Barambogie pastoral run completed by William Baker in 1840-1841. Gold was discovered in El Dorado 1854 but the gold was too deep for individual prospectors to find, it required the use of heavy machinery.The search for gold is ingrained into the history of Victoria and therefore, images like this one which portray an open cut sluicing site can reveal important information for society and technology for the date when the photograph was taken. This image is of important historical significance for its ability to convey information about sluicing and the methods used to find gold in 1910. It also shows a location where sluicing was undertook which provides insight into the impact of sluicing on the environment at a time when it was done. This image is important for current research into the history of El Dorado, a small regional location near Wangaratta in Victoria's North East. Therefore, this image has the capacity to be beneficial for research into society and the motivations of those living and working in this region during this period and therefore, has social significance. The Beechworth Burke Museum has additional images relating to gold sluicing and El Dorado which can be analysed and studied alongside images like this one.Sepia coloured rectangular photograph printed on gloss photographic paper mounted on board.Obverse: COCKS PIONEER Q + T SL CO, N.L. / 1910 / LOOKING EAST UP OPEN CUT / FROM NO3 BARGE SITE / Reverse: 1997 . 2611 / A02611el dorado, north east gold, sluicing, gold sluicing, hydraulic sluicing, 1910, gold and tin mine, open cut mining, mining, gold mining, north-east victoria, beechworth, burke museum

Slide, Allan Budge Slide Collection: house,Russell Street. Gables & Lacework. Lacework used as a substitute for barge boards. Three finials unusual. Note the corbelling on the chimney.house, public, allan budge slide collection:, allan budge slide collection: house, heritage

Slide, Allan Budge Slide Collection: house, Hamlet Street. Gables & Lacework. Plain weatherboard gable relieved by a circular ventilator and barge boards shaped on both edges.house, public, allan budge slide collection:, allan budge slide collection: house, heritage

Clear Creek Tin Mine, c.1931mines, mining, tin, tin mining, men, sluicing, clear creek, el dorado, eldorado

Typed note in album describes the photoBlack and white photograph showing PWD dredge WH Edgar with hopper barge during dredging operation at mouth of Mitchell River. Silt jetty at back. Bairnsdale Victoriaboats and boating, jetties, islands, waterfront

Slide, Allan Budge Slide Collection: house Russell Street. Gables and Lacework. Probably the gable end is covered with pressed zinc sheets. Note the highly decorated barge boards.house, public, allan budge slide collection:, allan budge slide collection: house heritage

Black and white photograph of jetty below the homestead of Nyerimilang. Crane positioned at end of jetty, a fenced barge used for transporting sheep is at anchor behind the jetty. Gippsland Lakes Victoriajetties

Taken after the launch of S S Gippsland in 1908.Black and white photograph showing shipping at Paynesville Slipyard, shows barge with crane on right, S S Gippsland next, several larger and smaller boats and small jetties. Paynesville Victoriaships and shipping, shipwrecks, jetties

Reg Schulz son of W Schulz, Harbour Engineer at Lakes Entrance, 1917 - 1930 cBlack and white photograph copy of the waterfront. It shows the SS Gippsland at the Post Office Jetty, other vessels on lake or moored, part of retaining wall at lake edge, southern shore in background. Lakes Entrance VictoriaOn back, 1926 'Nyama', 'SS Gippsland', Pilot Launch, 'Tambo', 'TNS' Barge, Reg Shilz starting Evinrude engine on dinghy 'Bunga'jetties, boats and boating, waterfront

The D26 is an authentic outrigger logging barge - one of four that were towed by P.S. Adelaide for 80 years of its working life. In 1987 Council purchased the barge from Deakin Shire in South Australia for $15,000. However, its restoration was put on hold until the crew had completed work on the P.S. Enterprise, eventually beginning in 1988 using local red gum. The barge was relaunched at Echuca East on Australia Day, 1990. The D26 remains at the Port of Echuca and on special occasions can be seen being towed by the P.S. Adelaide for demonstrations.

Black and white photograph showing tug boat Tarra and barge Tambo unloading wool from Ensay, via Mossiface, at wharf on Mitchell River. Wharf, sheds and butter factory in background. Bairnsdale Victoriaships and shipping, waterways

Slide, Allan Budge Slide Collection: house,Cnr Gladstone & Hoskins Streets. Gables & Lacework.Features dentils on the barge boards, an impressive finial and circular lacework in the gables which creates attractive shadows.Note the eaves bracket.house, public, allan budge slide collection:, allan budge slide collection: house, heritage

Slide, Allan Budge Slide Collection: House , Corner Gladstone & Hoskin Streets. Gables & Lacework.Features dentils on the barge boards, an impressive finial and circular lacework in the gables which creates attractive shadows.Note the eaves bracket.house, public, allan budge slide collection:, allan budge slide collection: house , heritage