Black and white photograph. Image shows metal mine poppet head. Written on back ' Napoleon Reefs'gold mining, mining equipment, poppet head

Wooden model of a cyanide plant. A cyanide plant was used for dissolving gold from finely divided ores by means of dilute solutions of sodium or potassium cyanides. The model has five metal bins, there is some rust on the bins and scorch mark on the wooden base.mining, equipment, cyanide plant, gold cyanidation (also known as the cyanide process or the macarthur-forrest process) is a hydrometallurgical technique for extracting gold from low-grade ore by converting the gold to a water-soluble coordination complex. it is the most commonly used leaching process for gold extraction. the ore is comminuted using grinding machinery. depending on the ore, it is sometimes further concentrated by froth flotation or by centrifugal (gravity) concentration. water is added to produce a slurry or pulp. the basic ore slurry can be combined with a solution of sodium cyanide or potassium cyanide, however many operations utilize calcium cyanide, which is more cost effective. to prevent the creation of toxic hydrogen cyanide during processing, slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) or soda (sodium hydroxide) is added to the extracting solution to ensure that the acidity during cyanidation is maintained over ph 10.5 - strongly basic. lead nitrate can improve gold leaching speed and quantity recovered, particularly in processing partially oxidized ores.

Black and white photograph of poppet head and mine shed. Car parked on RH side, possibly 1920's to 1930's vintage. Possibly South New Moon mine, Eaglehawk.gold mines, mining equipment, poppet head

Black and white photograph. Mine shed constructed of timber, flat roof and on wooden stumps. Written on back '1940'. Possibly South New Moon Mine Eaglehawk.gold mines, mining equipment, south new moon mine site

Black and white photogrpah. Corrrugated iron shed, very large narrow rectangular opening in front. Smaller shed attached beside, ore tramway on LH side. Possibly South New Moon Mine site Eaglehawk.gold mines, mining equipment, south new moon mine site

Black and white photograph. Image shows tall mining shed, smaller shed attached on side with brick chimney and tank alongside. Written on back of photo: '1940'. Possibly South New Moon Mine Eaglehawk.gold mines, mining equipment, south new moon mine site

Corrugated iron shed, large rectangular opening in front, shed attached on side. Possibly South New Moon Mine site, Eaglehawk, 1940's.gold mines, mining equipment, south new moon mine site

Black and white photograph of 6 head stamp battery. No other mining equipment/structures evident in image. man standing in front of battery. Possibly remnant from South New Moon Mine site, Eaglehawk. Written on back '1954'gold mines, mining equipment, south new moon mine site

Beam balance (gold scales) made by Oertling - London. The balance is in a case made of mahogany and fully glassed, it has two draws. The brass scales are built into the case. The maker's name is present on the base of the scale. There is a brass knob that fits in the front to make adjustment to the scales and also on either side of the exterior case to set the top of the scales. There are two front draw, the left one is missing the drawer knob.mining, equipment, scale, ludwig oertling (1818-1893) was born near hamburg and gained his apprenticeship in instrument-making with his brother johann. he immigrated to london in 1840, where he joined instrument-maker and assayer george makins (1815-1893). oertling collaborated with makins and built his first balance, which was "a twin-column assay type with a light lattice beam". by 1851, the year of the great international exhibition of the works of all nations, oertling had established his own instrument-making business, employed five instrument-makers, and by 1861, ten staff were engaged in designing and making instruments, principally analytical balances. oertling's first twin-column beam balance was the prototype for all oertling assay balances that were produced during the next century and exported to the british colonies: australia, new zealand, canada, south africa and india, to europe and america.

Metal shaft bucket hook, used in gold mining. Metal ring on top , locking device to secure bucket on shaft of object.gold mines, mining equipment, shaft bucket hook

Brass weights used for weighing gold. Smallest weights a 4 'grain' and 5 'grain' square weights. Rectangular 1 pennyweight weights (brass lozenge apothecary style weights ) through to round, flat 2 ounces. Weights enclosed in an oval shaped tin with side clasp.gold mining, scales, brass weight for weighing gold

Metal candle holder, cylindrical, open top and bottom, with metal spike attached. Used by underground miners. Candle holder was stuck into timbers or rock to provide light. Small stub of candle in holder. Wick fraying.gold mines, mining equipment, candle holder

Chinese gold scales. Wooden scale holder (a) two part wooden device secured at end of handle with a metal pin to allow swivelling of both pieces. At end of handle, two pieces 'violin' shaped to hold scale and weights. This enabled placement of scales within holder. Bottom piece has indent for scale pan, weight and long handle. Chinese scale (b) thin cream handle marked with inch graduations, without numbers. Separately suspended from handle with thick cotton is a small semi-circular lead weight and a round brass scale pan.gold mining, mining equipment, chinese gold scales

Cast Iron gold mould. Mould used in gold pour to shape ingot. Rectangular shape mould with rectangular handle.gold mines, mining equipment, gold mould

Cast iron mercury bucket, used to hold mercury, potentially in the process of recovering minute pieces of gold mixed in soil and sediments. See research page for description of one process of using mercury to extract gold.gold mines, mining equipment, mercury bucket, miners used mercury in a number of ways to amalgamate gold, with each mill or battery operator having their preferred method depending on the nature of the ore. by the late 1850s the most common way of crushing goldbearing quartz ores or consolidated alluvial cements was in a stamp battery. the battery featured heavy iron stamp heads held in a frame, with each head often weighing up to 500 pounds (226 kg) or more (see msv 1880, page 45) (birrell 2005). stamp heads were lifted and dropped by a rotating overhead cam shaft driven by a steam engine or water wheel. ore was fed into a large cast-iron battery box, mixed with a steady stream of water, and pulverised by the stamp heads. in some batteries, mercury was placed in the base of the boxes to amalgamate with freed gold. the violent agitation of the mercury in the mortar box, however, could cause the mercury to break into myriad tiny globules that were carried away by the water with the tailings, thus losing a certain amount of gold in the process (thompson 1867; ritchie & hooker 1997). the water and sand slurry was splashed by the falling stamps from the box through fine mesh screens and onto inclined wooden tables below the mortar box (figure 2). the tables were covered with copper sheets or plates coated with mercury, which caught and amalgamated with a portion of the gold. the grey putty-like amalgam was periodically scraped off the sheets and retorted in a furnace to collect the gold and recover the mercury for reuse. mercury was inevitably lost from the plates, while poor maintenance resulted in further losses of gold and mercury in the tailings. mercury use and loss from gold mining in 19th century victoria. peter davies1, susan lawrence, and jodi turnbull, department of archaeology and history, la trobe university.

Metal gold retort, it has a two parts circular container attached to crook shaped long handle. A caption reads Mr. G. Humphrey. An amalgam (gold and mercury) is placed inside and fire built around outside. Mercury vaporizes away leaving the gold. Diameter of retort 23 cm. Overall size 37x75 cm.mining, equipment, retort

Black and white photograph (copy) of South New Moon Mine. Written on base of photograph : 'South New Moon Mine.Eaglehawk. Leading Mine in State, 1903. Gold Yield 257,498 ozs.' Image shows mining dam in forefront, large mine buildings and chimney LH side and trestleway connecting to poppet head on RH side. Smaller mine buildings in background. Photo on buff coloured backing board, enclosed in plastic, sealed at back. See: Victorian Heritage Database for history of site http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/places/result_detail/12109?print=truegold mines, mining equipment, south new moon mine site

A miners water bottle made of galvanized iron with handle. It has few dents and rust patches but overall in fair condition.mining, equipment, water bottle

Model of a trestle-way over. The trestle was attached to the poppet head and used to move the rocks over the crushing plant.mining, equipment, trestle

A 25 Millimetre Middle Eastern Coin that was discovered by QC Binks while he was out metal detecting for gold. On one side is an Iron Cross with a small crown insignia in the centre. Four infinity symbols are between the arms of the cross. On the other side is the image of a person in profile with a headdress. Cyrillic writing surrounds the image around the border.bendigo, gold mining, qc binks, middle east, qc binks.

An odd coin with a very worn out picture of a bulldog and the words "To hell with the Kaiser".bendigo, gold mining, qc binks, kaiser, qc binks.

An Australian 1 cent coin that was discovered by QC Binks while he was out metal detecting for gold.bendigo, gold mining, qc binks, money, qc binks.

A medal celebrating the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and the birth of the Australian Commonwealth in Melbourne, 01 - 11th May 1901.bendigo, gold mining, qc binks, cornwall, royalty, melbourne, qc binks.

A Collar stud made by Herbert Keith Merriman, under the company name "British Make Gilt". It has a white end piece at the larger end, with a red gemstone set into the detachable smaller end.bendigo, gold mining, qc binks, qc binks

Part of an Australian Army medal that was found by QC Binks while he was out metal detecting for gold.bendigo, gold mining, qc binks, qc binks, adf, army.

Cast iron company seal used by the South Deborah Gold Mines for official documents including shares, painted black with wooden handle and gold embellishments, painted on one side Sth.Deborah in white paint.gold mines, mining equipment, company seal, bendigo-companies-gold mines-south deborah

Black cast iron company seal for Deborah United Gold Mining Company used for official documents including shares, black enamelled cast iron with gold trim, painted on one side Deb United in white paint.gold mines, mining equipment, company seal, bendigo-companies-gold mines- deborah united

Black enamelled cast iron company seal for the Napoleon Reef Gold Mining Company used for official documents including shares, with gold trim and Napoleon Reefs.NL and Nap.Reef painted on sides in white paint.gold mines, mining equipment, company seal, bendigo-compaines-gold mines-napoleon reef