Mitchell's Gully

From Afternoons 23 May 2013

In 1866 John Curtis Mitchell and James William Mitchell started  mining at Charleston, on the West Coast. Four million ounces ere taken in 34 years from the Charleston field. Gold is formed in the earth, lifted or spewed out, crushed by glaciers becoming alluvial gold in rivers, and then is washed out to sea. West Coast gold is like powder, and the gold from Mitchell's Gully was extracted from ancient sea-bed. Huge crushers were needed to do this, driven by waterwheels, but first they had to dig. Val Currie is fourth generation on ancestral land, he himself a goldmine of knowledge. Now his son Dean and Dean's daughter are living there and wouldn't be anywhere else.

Vistors Welcome hut.

Val's ancestors - great great uncle John Curtis Mitchell and great-grandfather James William Mitchell.

Entrance to one of the myriad of tunnels.

Looking from the blacksmith's forge to a waterwheel - half the size of the original 30 foot wheel.

The images in this gallery are used with permission and are subject to copyright conditions.