Long Tunnel Mine


	LONG TUNNEL GOLD MINE

About a third the way up the Main Valley Road, on the western side, we find the main attraction – the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine. There is a sign facing the road, and behind this an enormous pile of tailings, with a driveable sealed road up on the right.

There is parking at the top, and here we can see some relics of the mining days – a wonderful old steam traction engine, and a miners’ cage for transporting the brave, or foolhardy! There is also a sign giving some history of the mine. It is here too that we find the entrance to the mine [main photograph]: this can be visited with a tour. Adjacent to the entrance is the tunnel mouth of the old Renown Mine.

The Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine eventually reached a depth of 900 metres, and produced 13,695 kg of gold before it closed in 1911.

It is here, in this quiet valley, that we get some idea of the immense wealth generated by this mine, as well as the hard work and constant danger experienced by the many miners.

What became known as the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine was first started by Hercules United Gold Company in 1863. After eight long hard years, the company collapsed without finding any gold. The mine was then taken over by the Long Tunnel Extended Company in 1871. They looked in the opposite direction and found a remunerating part of the reef. The company then built a large machine chamber supporting three huge Cornish boilers, ventilation shafts and flumes whilst sinking the main shaft, that eventually reached a depth of over 900 metres. This mine soon became the second most productive mine in the area (after the Long Tunnel) and in total produced 13,695 kg of gold until it closed in 1911. Overall, the Long Tunnel Extended mine was Victoria’s 5th largest gold mine during the colonial era.

Today, underground daily tours of this historic site are operated by the Walhalla Board of Management Incorporated on behalf of the people of Victoria. The mine’s 8.5 kilometres of underground workings extended to a depth of 923 metres below the machinery chamber which in turn is some 150 metres below natural surface. The tour takes visitors 300 metres into the huge underground machinery chamber hewn from the solid rock over a century ago. Old mining methods are discussed and a large outcrop of the famous Cohens Line of Reef can be seen from inside the mine.

In recent years, there has been a complete overhaul of the visitor experience, including additional rock bolting and other safety works, drainage, pathway construction and interpretive signage within and around and the site. External improvements have included providing a new access bridge across Stringers Creek to safely take coaches, sealed access roadway to the mine entrance, main car park sealing, upper and lower carpers surfaced in crushed rock and extensive stormwater undertakings. A new alpine walking bridge has been built across the mine entrance to increase visitor safety.

http://www.walhallaboard.org.au/gold-mine