THE VENUS BATTERY CHARTERS TOWERS
THE VENUS BATTERY A conservation management plan for the Charters Towers City Council n
© COPYRIGHT Allom Lovell Pty Ltd, August 01 \\NTServer\public\Projects\01052 ChartersQHTN\Reports\Venus Battery\r01.doc THE VENUS BATTERY
CONTENTS n i
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 BACKGROUND 1
THE STUDY TEAM 2
1.2 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 2
2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE 4
2.1 THE TOWN THEY CALLED “THE WORLD” 4
THE FIRST GOLDFIELDS 4 MILLCHESTER 5
2.2 MILLCHESTER 10
2.3 THE VENUS MILL 10
A NEW OWN ER 12 THE CYANIDE PLANT 13 A STATE BATTERY 15 THE DEPARTMENT OF MINES 17 THE NATIONAL TRUST 19
2.4 THE PRESENT SITE 20
ARCHAEOLO GICAL SITES 24 THE MACHINERY 25 A NOTE ON THE CRUSHING AND TREATMENT PROCESS 27
3 UNDERSTANDING THE SIGNIFICANCE 29
3.1 ABOUT CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE 29
3.2 CHARTERS TOWERS GOLD BATTERIES 29
OTHER SURVIVING BATTERIES 30
THE VENUS BATTERY
CONTENTS n ii
3.3 STATE BATTERIES 31
3.4 THE TOWN OF MILLCHESTER 32
3.5 THE MACHINERY 33
3.6 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE 33
4 A VISION 35
USE 35 CONSERVATION 36 VISITOR FACILITIES 37 INTERPRETATION 37
5 CONSERVATION POLICY 39
5.1 MANAGEMENT 39
SINGLE ENTITY IN CONTROL 39 APPROPRIATE SKILLS 40 STAFF REQUIREMENTS 40 DISASTER PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 40
5.2 AN APPROACH TO CONSERVATION 41
BURRA CHARTER 41 ACTION INFORMED BY SIGNIFICANCE 41 MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR 42 PATINATION 42 RECONSTRUCTION 43 RESTORATION 43
5.3 COMPATIBLE USE 43
5.4 THE SITE AND SETTING 44
INTRUSIVE ELEMENTS 44 VIEWS TO THE SITE 44 ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS 45 THE BOUNDARY OF THE SITE 46
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CONTENTS n iii
THE FORMER MILLCHESTER TOWNSHIP 46 NEW STRUCTURES 46 LANDSCAPING 47
5.5 THE ELEMENTS 47
THE MILL (BATTERY) 47 THE ASSAY ROOM 48 THE CYANIDE PLANT 49 TAILINGS PITS 50 THE WEIGHBRIDGE 50 TOILET BLOCK 50 GLADSTONE CREEK 50
5.6 VISITORS 51
VISITOR EXPECTATION 51 VISITOR FACILITIES 51 ACCESS 52
6 IMPLEMENTATION 54
PREPARE INTERPRETATION PLAN 54 PREPARE SCHEMATIC DESIGNS FOR THE ADAPTATION OF THE COMPLEX 54 DOCUMENT CONSERVATION AND ADAPTATION WORKS 54 OBTAIN STATUTORY APPROVALS INCLUDING QHC APPROVAL 54 DOCUMENT INTERPRETATION WORKS 54 CONSTRUCTION WORKS 54 INTERPRETATION WORKS 55
7 APPENDIX 56
7.1 RECENT WORKS 56
7.2 CONDITION 57
STRUCTURE GENERALLY 57 ROOFS 58 GUTTERS AND DOWNPIPES 58 WALL SHEETING 58 FLOORS – MAIN BUILDING 59 THE EXTERIOR GENERALLY – MAIN BUILDING 59
7.3 CONSERVATION WORKS 59
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CONTENTS n iv
FURTHER INVESTIGATION 60 STRUCTURAL REPAIRS – MAIN BUILDING 61 STRUCTURAL REPAIRS – CYANIDE PLANT 61 ROOF AND RAINWATER GOODS – MAIN BUILDING 62 ROOF AND RAINWATER GOODS - CYANIDE PLANT 62 WALL SHEETING – MAIN BUILDING 63 WALL SHEETING - CYANIDE PLANT 63 FLOORS – MAIN BUILDING 63 THE EXTERIOR GENERALLY – MAIN BUILDING 63 OTHER WORKS 64
7.4 ESTIMATES OF COST 68
7.5 CRUSHING RECORD 85
7.6 NOTES 86
THE VENUS BATTERY 1 INTRODUCTION n 1
1 INTRODUCTION
he Venus Battery at Millchester is one of the few surviving physical T links to the gold mining past of Charters Towers and the wider region. A crushing and processing plant, the battery was in continuous use to enable the extraction of gold from 1872 to the late 1960s. Since the mid 1970s the site has been operating as a tourist attraction in Charters Towers.
1.1 B ACKGROUND
The Queensland Heritage Trails Network is a major initiative of the Queensland government to promote cultural tourism in Queensland, with the development of a number of tourism-related projects across the state.
As part of this program the Charters Towers City Council has received funding from the Queensland Heritage Trails Network for the development of a number of projects in the town related to cultural tourism. The Venus Battery conservation management plan is one of four studies being prepared for sites in Charters Towers. Conservation management plans are being prepared for the Stock Exchange Arcade in the centre of the city and for Towers Hill to the south of the town. A report is also being prepared for the “One Square Mile” area in the town which examines the original town area designated in 1877 and the buildings within that one square mile area.
Situated on land fronting Jardine Street and Gladstone Creek at Millchester and described as Reserve R214, Lot 33 on DV 480 (reserve for museum purposes), the site is managed by the National Trust of Queensland and included on their heritage list. The site is also entered in the Register of the National Estate of the Australian Heritage Commission, a statutory authority of the Commonwealth government, and in the Queensland Heritage Register under the legislative provisions of the Queensland Heritage Act 1992.
While some of these registers merely recognise the cultural significance of the complex and have no statutory authority the entry of the Venus Battery in the Queensland Heritage Register places certain restrictions on 1 its future development which will require the approval of the A current view of the Venus Battery and a locality plan within the former settlement of Queensland Heritage Council. Millchester. [Allom Lovell]
This conservation plan is part of the process of understanding the cultural significance of the battery and in developing policies to guide future use and development of the place. It has been carried out following the general principles of the Burra Charter of Australia ICOMOS and the guidelines to that document. Historical information about the development of the site has been gathered and analysed in
THE VENUS BATTERY 1 INTRODUCTION n 2
order to arrive at an understanding of the cultural significance of the battery and the wider site. This process has been informed by an analysis of the physical fabric of the site and the building. Conservation policies have been drafted to provide guidance so that the cultural significance of the complex can be conserved in any new proposals for work to the building. A condition survey of the complex was undertaken and from this survey a scope of works and estimates of cost prepared.
During the course of this study the National Trust of Queensland files were made available. Discussions were held with the former National Trust Architect Jinx Miles and with Gordon Landsberg of the Charters Towers Branch of the National Trust.
Previous studies have been prepared for the site by the National Trust of Queensland and these have been referred to during the course of the present work. Other studies including a study of Mining Heritage Places by Jane Lennon and Howard Pearce in 1996 have also informed the present work.
T HE STUDY TEAM
The study team for this project included Allom Lovell Architects: Brisbane, Justin McCarthy of Austral Archaeology and Napier Blakely Quantity Surveyors.
1.2 S UMMARY OF FINDINGS
The study confirms the listing of the Venus Battery in the Queensland Heritage Register and finds that the Venus Gold Battery is significant as part of the history of Charters Towers as a town founded on gold and whose wealth and influence in time became legendary in Queensland. It is one of only a few remnants of the industrial process of mining and of processing gold in that city. It dates from the earliest settlement of the town and remained a working battery until quite recently. It represents in both its general form and in the details surviving, the quintessential icon of both Charters Towers and that period of Australian history.
The site contains all the essential elements of crushing, concentrating cyaniding and a great deal of associated infrastructure. In this it has value in demonstrating the process for which it was constructed. Indeed the Venus Battery is probably the largest and most complete compliment of gold processing plant and equipment in Australia and has cultural significance at a national level.
Its conservation since 1975 when it became the property of the National Trust has been of a high order and those standards, and the philosophy of conservation adopted by the Trust should continue. Its proposed role as part of the wider visitor experience within the city is supported. The interpretation of the site and the visitor facilities to be provided will
THE VENUS BATTERY 1 INTRODUCTION n 3
however require a creative and sensitive solution to ensure that the significance of this place is in no way compromised.
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2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE
he Venus Battery is a remarkable survivor of the period of Charters T Towers history as a gold mining and processing area. Although it has been rebuilt a number of times since its initial establishment in 1872, the site contains important evidence of gold crushing machinery and the various processes involved in the extraction of gold from the stone mined for ore from the halcyon days of Charters Towers.
2.1 T HE TOWN THEY CALLED “ THE WORLD”
For a short time in the late nineteenth century, the gold field town of Charters Towers was the second largest city in the colony of Queensland. With a population of more than 25,000 at its peak the city was central to the mining and pastoral activities in the region, and was known by locals and others as, “The World”.
T HE FIRST GOLDFIELDS
The goldfields at Charters Towers in the late nineteenth century were the richest fields in north Queensland. They provided excellent returns of gold, from 1872 when gold was first discovered in the region, until the early twentieth century.
In 1872 four men, George Clarke, Hugh Mosman, ‘John’ Fraser, and an Aborigine Jupiter Mosman first found gold in the area at the base of Towers Hill.
Almost immediately a rush set in and several hundred miners converged on the field in a few weeks.
2 An early view in the gap area near Towers Hill. [Charters Towers: a report for the Charters Towers City Council, Don Roderick]
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The goldfield held great promise that was not to disappoint. In early 1872, a month after the proclamation of the goldfield the Ravenswood Miner wrote the following:
It is situated about 15 miles from the Broughton township and is certainly the most remarkable and promising goldfield ever opened in Queensland. It is the general opinion that the whole country from Jessop’s and Dumaresq’s camp on the Broughton to 4 miles beyond the main camp on the Fifteen mile will be auriferous and already some 60 or 70 prospecting areas have been pegged out. Mr Mossman the prospector of the field has certainly a name of wealth on his claim, and deserves the prospects before him for his perseverance in opening up such a promising field, and by his gentlemanly conduct in giving all his information and assistance to miners and parties visiting the place, has gained good prospect and respect of the whole community. He has three distinct payable reefs running through the ground, with outcrops showing an average width of four feet, but in many places they are much wider, and there must be hundreds of tons of surface stone that will pay splendidly to put through the mill.1
The news quickly travelled around the colonies. A few days after the Ravenswood Miner wrote the above story the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the field was very rich. A rush of miners from Ravenswood had taken place:
…Lumps of quartz richly impregnated with gold have been lodged in the bank at Ravenswood. More than one hundred claims are taken up at a place called Charters Towers.2
M ILLCHESTER
Signs of settlement emerged in Mosman Street, a low ridge north of Mosman’s camp, but the first buildings and importantly the first mills were established at Millchester, some distance to the east of the town and near the main mills. A provisional school, churches and a school of arts were quickly established at Millchester, along with a number of hotels. Offices for the government were located there for some time and a site for a court house was reserved.
Within a few years however the colonial government removed its officials from Millchester when it was or became apparent that Charters Towers would be the more permanent settlement.3 Other institutions followed and by the mid 1870s Charters Towers was a recognisable and growing settlement.
By the end of 1872 3,000 people were living in tents in the town area. There was one alluvial rush in August to September 1872. This was an exception to the field being hard rock mining. Towers ore could only be extracted from crushing and after a few years a more permanent
THE VENUS BATTERY 2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE n 6
population and more permanent buildings replaced the fields of calico tents and bark huts.
3 On the left is an early photograph of Millchester in the 1870s and below is the 1870s survey of the town with a Court House Reserve and the Venus Battery site shaded. [James Cook University, National Trust files]
The area was proclaimed a town in 1877 and a survey of streets and allotments was carried out. The municipality was laid out as one square mile, centred on the intersection of Mosman and Gill Streets. The population of the two settlements of Charters Towers and the neighbouring Millchester was by then close to 7,000. Most businesses and industries were established in the town such as engineering works, soap works, newspapers and sawmills.
In 1877 the construction of a rail line was approved from Townsville at the coast to the goldfields at the Towers, finally reaching the town in 1882.4 This line improved communication and access from the fields to the coast and assisted in the future population growth of the town.5 The Charters Towers railway station was not constructed in the town itself but in a small locality to the east called Queenton Reef.
While Charters Towers held great promise, it was evident to many that for the really rich reefs to be exploited the mining companies needed more capital than could be provided locally in the town. The Mining Warden Philip Sellheim was aware of this, noting in his annual report in 1880 that:
It has been proved now beyond any doubt that the quality of stone does not deteriorate here at the deeper levels…but to develop the ground efficiently and economically more capital than can be well spared from other local enterprises will be required. I trust the time will not be far distant when Charters Towers will receive more attention from Southern Capitalists.6
The number of gold mining companies more than tripled from 41 to 123 between 1884 and 1886. Production in gold more than doubled in this same period from 55,264 ounces to 112,166 ounces.7
The discovery of gold in much deeper reefs, led to the establishment of large gold mining companies. While the individual miners and their families were still trying their luck on the fields in Charters Towers, there were also many of wealth and means who had been instrumental in establishing the large companies involved in reef mining. While share
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trading in these companies was initially subdued in 1886 a Colonial and Indian Exhibition was held in London. The Queensland government, keen to attract British capital to the colony bought over a hundred tons of golden stone from Charters Towers mining companies, which was shipped to London and crushed in a small mill constructed within the exhibition hall.
Five million people visited the Colonial and Indian Exhibition and the gold on show the Queensland exhibit was well attended, in spite of the deafening noise of the stampers. The Queensland display, and in particular the Charters Towers gold, worked its magic and British investors lined up to invest in Charters Towers gold mining companies, and in the town.8 The Day Dawn Block and Wyndham Gold Mining Company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in August 1886, at fantastic terms. Charters Towers promoters took leases to London and sold shares in worthless mines for large sums.9
By 1887 the population of the town was some 11,500 people. Over 2,000 men worked as miners, while others were employed in trade or commerce or in quartz mills, the sawmills, the engineering works, or in secondary industries that developed to support the population base. The population continued to grow and was by 1889 14,200.10 The result of the continued growth and the wealth generated and held by the local community resulted in the town transforming itself yet again. First generation timber buildings gave way to larger masonry structures often expressing the wealth and optimism of their owners or developers with ornament and decoration.
The boom of the mid 1880s in the share prices of gold mining companies could not be sustained. In 1888 there was a reversal of fortune in the town when the boom peaked and prices corrected. However at about that time the Brilliant reef was discovered, a major find which paid a dividend of 100% in its first year.
“The Towers” was the most successful gold town in Queensland by the mid 1880s, and by the 1890s it was Australia's largest gold field. The effects of the economic depression of the early 1890s were felt less on the Towers than in other places. Although values dropped as the market was flooded with excess shares in companies, and the number of working fields decreased from 113 in 1891 to 90 in 1893, the town continued to prosper. The population rate rose by about 1,000 a year as people came from the coast looking for work.
At its peak late in 1900 the population of the town was about 27,000 and Charters Towers was the second largest city in the colony of Queensland behind Brisbane and the residents and those in the surrounding districts came to call Charters Towers “The World”, both in conversation and in print.11
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4 Charters Towers was indeed a self contained and self sufficient The gold mining leases in Charters Towers in community in an otherwise depressed economy. 1903. Millchester and the centre of Charters Towers are shaded. [Charters Towers, Roderick] Business goes on as usual under gaslights in the street and in the stores. On the footpaths and on the road the endless throng streams to and fro. There is a fervour of activity in the pubs and in the squash shops. Shots are coming from the shooting gallery and a bell has just rung, so someone has just scored a bullseye. In Mosman Street along by the Stock Exchange and the Brokers’ offices the miners are hanging about in groups – in their moleskin pants and flannel shirts and bowler hats. The brokers are hard at it,…the miners are speculating and everyone is talking of gold.12
The notion of Charters Towers as a special place, and importantly as an idea isolated, independent, wealthy and a world within a world, was established very early on in its history and development. It has been perpetuated in the years following its initial development and
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consolidation. In his history of mining in Australia Geoffrey Blainey makes the following observations about the city:
Charters Towers was flushed with the money that British companies were spending in the town and British investors were paying to its pioneers. After breathing optimism into British investors their own pride and optimism swelled. They built offices and shops and banks and stock exchange that seemed palatial in a remote provincial town. Their sharpest stockbrokers employed thirty or more clerks and touted business in distant cities, calling on investors to send money for shares they didn’t even bother to name.13
It was not however entirely mythical. Until the late 1890s when Kalgoorlie in Western Australia passed the Towers as the leading goldfield in the nation.14 Charters Towers was indeed a special place.
Gas had been supplied to light the city streets while arrangements were made for the supply of electricity. The streets in the town were well looked after. Omnibuses and taxis travelled to all parts of the city and suburbs. At its peak Charters Towers contained a large number of hotels in total to cater for the population of the town and the surrounding region and banks, not unnaturally, were everywhere.
It was in the built environment that the growth of the town in this 1880s and early 1890s period was most evident. A publication about the Charters Towers goldfields of 1892 described the town in the following manner:
…most of the buildings are still built of wood, although brick and cement have been recently adopted in all public and some private buildings – of the public buildings the court houses, police court and warden’s court, the hospital and the various bank buildings are most prominent, some of them being amongst the best specimens of their kind in Queensland.15
By 1895, a journalist from the newspaper the Sydney mail observed that in the intervening years there had been a shift in the town to replace the early wooden buildings with masonry structures, and:
…consequently the town is gradually assuming a more stable appearance. The bank buildings, of which there are eight, add considerably to the architectural grace of the town, while the Stock Exchange, in Mosman Street, is a commanding and elegant structure.16
In the early twentieth century gold production began to decrease on the fields of the Towers, and the population of the city declined as a result. By the end of the First World War the population of Charters had declined to about 16,000. In 1925 the population had decreased to 11,021, in 1930 to 9,135, and in 1935 to just fewer than 7,000.
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Some miners remained on the fields in the Towers and in 1930 there were still more than 200 goldminers working the fields. They averaged however less than £30 of gold each for the whole year.17
Gold mining is still carried out in the region. What remains of Charters Towers heyday is not only in the evidence of the buildings and infrastructure but in something of an attitude that legitimately saw itself at that time as “The World”.
2.2 M ILLCHESTER
When the goldfields were first discovered in Charters Towers in the early 1870s supply of water was crucial to the processing and extraction of gold from the ore. For this reason, settlement first took place at Millchester, on the banks of the Gladstone Creek, the only permanent water on the goldfields.
A portable battery with 10 heads, relocated from the nearby gold mining settlement of Ravenswood to a field at Broughton, 12 miles east of Charters Towers began crushing ore in March 1872. The closest mill to the Towers goldfields, it tested the first stone extracted from Charters Towers and initially crushed about 400 tons of stone from the fields.18
The first mills at Charters Towers were constructed at Millchester in 1872, when a portable mill established by WH Buchanan began crushing in June of that year. Its first yields of 176 ounces of gold from 29 tons of stone crushed were promising. By that time there were already a number of stores and a butcher’s shop in the vicinity of the mill, while Owens and Co’s large permanent store was being built further down the creek. In July 1872 another portable mill John Deane’s 10 head Defiance Mill, also located on Mosman Creek, also started crushing..19
By 1875 the reefs at Millchester were all but abandoned, and in the following year the court house and banks were removed to Charters Towers. The mills however remained at Millchester and provided employment to the small number of residents that remained at in the town. As Charters Towers grew the distinctions between it, Queenton (the location of the railway line) and Millchester became blurred.
2.3 T HE VENUS MILL
Although Buchanan’s and Deane’s mills were operating before it the Venus mill was the first permanent mill to be established at Charters Towers. Its first owners were EHT (Edward Hood Thornburgh) Plant and George Jackson, businessmen and mining entrepreneurs, who owned the Vulcan Mill at Ravenswood.
While both Plant and Jackson were to leave Charters Towers shortly after establishing the mill both made their mark on the region in later years.
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Jackson returned to Ravenswood and later entered politics, becoming the member for Kennedy in the Queensland Parliament. Plant left the fields but returned to Charters Towers in the 1880ss and established the Bonnie Dundee Mill just north of the town area of Charters Towers. His grand residence Thornburgh House became the Blackheath boys’ school in the 1920s.
Plant and Jackson pegged out the site for the mill in March 1872 on the banks of Gladstone Creek. The equipment for the mill was purchased from HE King in Townsville, who owned a mill in Ravenswood. It was constructed by Langlands and Co. By May 1872 most of the plant for the mill had been transported to the mill site.20 Part way through its construction and assembly the mill apparatus was described as:
The heaviest machine that has yet been brought to the North, for the weight of the stamps, of which there are three batteries, and of the large Cornish boiler.21
Construction continued on the machinery throughout May and June 1872. Apparently the bricks used in the construction of the mill were made on site which slowed progress of the mill. The Ravenswood Miner followed the construction of the mill closely:
Plant is erecting his machine in the most elaborate and substantial manner, the boxes being bedded on piles, and all other parts of the plant being equally strong…This will be the most efficient and costly machine in the North.22
The plant was operational by July 1872 when the first battery of five head of stamps started crushing. The No. 2 battery with another five head of stamps began later that same month, the No. 3 battery commenced crushing in August 1872. The amounts of stone sent to the Venus mill increased and in September 1873 a fourth battery of five head of stamps was installed.23
The rate of mill establishment on the Charters Towers goldfields was swift. In August 1872 the Working Miner mill began crushing and in October of that year so did the One and All mill, with 16 head of stampers. By that time there were five mills crushing on the field in Millchester with 78 stampers in operation, less than a year after the first rush to the Towers.24
“Mill” was the name given to the wider operation, while “battery” was the name given to the machinery used to crush the gold ore. A mill may have a number of batteries, and each battery a number of head of stamps, or stampers, the apparatus that stamped down on the stone in order to crush it to extract the gold.
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The Venus Mill later became known as the Venus Battery and the names have become all but interchangeable. By 1872 the Venus Mill had 4 batteries of 5 head of stamps, or stamp ers.
The Venus battery was what was called a custom mill. It operated on behalf of the general public rather than for a particular mine or mine owner. Mining companies often established their own plant in association with their mines. In mid 1876 the Venus mill was one of only three custom mills on the field.25
During the ownership of Plant and Jackson, which was only a short period, the Venus mill crushed 2,147 tons for 5,439 ounces of gold.
A NEW OWNER
The winter of 1872 was particularly dry. There were water shortages and indeed the Buchanan’s mill was forced to stop crushing due to lack of water. That fate never befell the Venus Mill and the cost of crushing increased as a monopoly developed. In September 1872, the price of crushing was raised from 25 shillings per ton to 30 shillings per ton. In three months Plant and Jackson earned close to £2,800, of which expenses were just over £1,500, giving profits of more than £1,200.26 The miners complained about these price rises, and Plant responded by offering to sell the mill at cost plus 10%. This offer was quickly accepted by James Hutton in October 1872, at a cost of £5,600.27
A mining man, Hutton, later Secretary of the Charters Towers Stock Exchange, made his fortune with the Venus mill. Hutton reduced the price of crushing to 20-25 shillings/ton and then to 15 shillings/ton in January 1873. Further price reductions took effect later that year.
5 An 1890s survey of the site showing Whitehead’s name and an undated drawing of Millchester showing the site as the Venus. [NTQ files, The Venus Battery and Millchester, D Johnson]
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In 1881 Hutton sold a half share in the Venus mill to JB Whitehead. Whitehead was a businessman and mining investor, a shareholder in a number of mines as well as being a director of a number of mining companies. Under this combined ownership crushing continued at a steady pace, with some slight yearly fluctuations. In 1886 the fourth battery, which was apparently rarely used, was dismantled to make room for more grinding pans. Thereafter the capacity of the Venus Mill was about 210 tons of stone per week. By 1888 the mill consisted of one 28 horsepower engine, 15 head of stamps (after the removal of the fourth battery), 8 Berdan pans, 8 Wheeler pans, 4 steelers and 2 buddles. The whole site was valued at £8,000.28
In 1890 Hutton sold the Venus mill to John Tilley and Matthew Jenkins. Later David Rollston bought out Jenkins and with Tilley and Whitehead owned the mill until the late 1910s. Rollston was a miner and mine manager of the Day Dawn Block and Wyndham mine.
T HE CYANIDE PLANT
The first ores found on the fields at Charters Towers consisted of ferruginous quartz, from which the gold could be freely seen and easily extracted, requiring only simple amalgamation. However as mining continued ore was increasingly retrieved from deep below the ground surface. At these depths the ores changed character and were increasingly sulphides such as iron pyrites, galena, zinc blends, together with arsenical and copper pyrites. It was more difficult to extract the gold located in these base metal sulphides found below the water table using the established methods of extraction such as mercury amalgamation. More extended treatment was necessary.29
Large quantities of waste materials or tailings were left over after amalgamation that still contained some traces of gold. A number of different processes were devised to treat these tailings, such as roasting and smelting the tailings, or regrinding them with mercury in Berdan or Wheeler pans.
To deal with these “mundic” ores as well as the tailings a process called chlorination was developed in the mid 1880s. The Charters Towers Pyrites Company established a chlorination works at a site on Towers Hill south of the town. However the chlorination process required expensive machinery, and other methods were devised of treating these ores as well as the tailings.
The cyanide process of the 1890s largely superseded chlorination. This process of treatment was developed by JS MacArthur and WM Forrest in 1887, and was widely adopted. The sands or tailings were mixed with a weak potassium cyanide solution in which the gold present in the tailings dissolved, after some time had elapsed. This solution was then filtered through zinc and the gold precipitated as a fine powder which was
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removed by shaking it into water. It did not require expensive machinery and could be used by small operators provided that water was available.30
The cyanide process was introduced in Charters Towers in 1892 by the Australian Gold Recovery Company who acquired the patent. By 1899 there were close to 100 cyanide plants operating along creeks in the town, that between them treated about 25,000 tons of tailings each month.31 As a result another ‘rush’ of sorts began as the locations of formerly useless tailings were sought after, pegged out and claimed. Large quantities of gold were extracted by this method and gold production peaked at 319,572 fine ounces in 1899. More than half was recovered through the cyanidation process.
It is believed that the cyanide plant was originally constructed at the Venus mill around this time. Originally it was a static leaching plant with wooden vats. The plant was later expanded and was largely rebuilt in the mid 1950s.
In 1899 the battery was described as having 20 head stamps, 36 Berdan pans with settlers and cyanide vats, and a 28 horsepower engine. Its total value was still £8,000.32
Evidence of the early form of the mill is unclear but it is believed that the mill was largely rebuilt in the early 1900s largely to its current form. An extra 10 head of stamps were constructed. Some suggest that this work took place in 1907. However as the gold yield was rapidly falling by 1907 it is more likely that this rebuilding took place in 1900, when the peak returns were experienced on the fields.
6 There is no firm evidence of the early form and size of the first structures on the site. On the left is a photograph given by the mining warden to the National Trust in the 1980s and on the right is a sketch included in Don Johnson’s publication on the site. [Venus Gold Battery Strategy Plan, NTQ and Johnson]
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A STATE BATTERY
Gold production fell among the First World War and many mines closed and their batteries demolished or carted away. The Venus mill was not working to full capacity and in 1918 it was closed.
In 1919 the battery site was acquired by the Queensland government to be operated as a state enterprise. Encouraged by wartime restrictions and shortages, and consequent high prices, the government sought to establish state enterprises to compete with private companies and so force down prices and break monopolies.
7 An undated photograph of the rear of the building showing the large raff wheel structures which do not survive. [Johnson]
The beginnings of the state enterprises were foreshadowed by Ryan in 1912, during the general strike of that year. In a speech he stated that:
there is only one course to take: appoint a board to fix the price of tea and butter and get into competition with the middleman by running a line of steamers, by having your warehouses and your union stores. These are the sorts of things that the Labour party intends to do.
It was fortunate for Ryan that the First World War was being fought at the time he came to power. Governments sought controls on wages and prices during wartime to contain profiteering; state enterprises were seen at the time as a logical extension to these controls. The 1915 election was fought against a climate of high prices, food shortages, profiteering and monopolies. In his election speech Ryan promised to set up state enterprises, stating that ...the community will be saved from a great deal of exploitation at the hands of private capitalists. The idea was to:
…protect the public by competing with [private traders] on fair and efficient lines. Present indications point to competition from the state proving a more efficient method of keeping down prices and ensuring good service than any amount of direct regulation could do.33
THE VENUS BATTERY 2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE n 16
8 A view of the Venus Battery in the early 1900s with the embankment used to bring the ore to the building. Below is the list of equipment at the site in 1919. [Johnson, NTQ]
The Venus mill was considered an ideal site for a public battery, and · 35 cwt stamps and seven table with immensely suitable for public crushing. Each of the seven batteries copper plates – valued at £700 within the mill was a complete unit in themselves, from the feed hoppers · 100 horse power Compound to the sand pits: Condensing Engine Corless gear - £300 · two compound Cornish Boilers, 80 After the stone has passed through the crackers it is elevated to the feed horsepower each working pressure 120 hoppers and then gravitates through the mill, in a manner open to close lbs Government test - £400 · three Worthington pumps two of them supervision, to the sand pits. Small parties have generally been well 6” suction and 6” ? delivery - £60 satisfied with the treatment of their stone here.34 · one auxiliary pump - £10 · two stone breakers with elevators and It was noted by the government officials at that time that the Venus mill conveyors - £160 · seven Wilfley tables - £100 had always enjoyed a good reputation with the general public, with · 35 Berdan pans - £105 respect to the character of the workmen on staff, as well as the extraction · two raff wheels for elevating tailings - of gold from the stone.35 £20 · one large lathe - £100 · one screw cutting machine - £20 Government officials inspected the mill in July 1919 together with Mr · one ten ton weighbridge – £30 Tilley, part owner of the battery site. Parts of the machinery were in poor · one large b lacksmith’s shop and complete set of tools for a large mill - condition and in need of repair. Small tools were missing, and there £100 were few spares or stores. Neither was there any mercury or firewood in · one Fairbanks weighing machine - £15 supply. An inventory of the site and a valuation of its components had · a large stock of duplicate parts been undertaken prior to the state government takeover of the battery, including cams, tappits, stone breaker jaws, and spare stamper rods, etc - giving an idea of the extent of the battery and its machinery at that time. £100 · Milner safe - £10 As a state enterprise the Venus mill was never financially successful. The · A small engine and dynamo - £100 · Eleven hoppers capable of holding 200 production of gold at Charters Towers had fallen significantly, to only a tons - £150 few hundred ounces a year. The mill was functional for a few months · Mill enclosed in large shed 110’ x 110’ - each year or as stone became available. The mill was poorly located, well £600 · Cyanide plant capable of treating 240 away from the railway line, and much of the fuel and ore supplies had to tons of sand per week - £200 be carted from the railway to the mill. · Assay office complete and large smelting room and office - £100 · Stables - £10 The scheme of state enterprises was abandoned in 1929 when the conservative Country Party took office. Indeed the ALP government had · The total value of the Venus Mill in 1 quietly begun the process of selling off many of the businesses in the late June 1919 was £3,390.
THE VENUS BATTERY 2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE n 17
1920s, as they had lost thousands of pounds, but the new government was much more obvious in its intentions.
9 An undated view of the battery which was before the 1940s renovation of the assay office and shows the weighbridge clad in timber and not the existing corrugated iron. [Charters Towers and Dalrymple Archives]
T HE DEPARTMENT OF MINES
With the demise of the state enterprises the Venus Battery passed to the ownership of the Department of Mines. Thereafter the department operated the battery more as a public benefit or welfare service for the various miners in the district, than as a money-making enterprise. This policy was demonstrated in this statement by the Inspector of Mines in 1935:
…the Venus has never yielded the Department any profit, in fact a steady loss on working expenses and no return on capital account.36 10 An undated photo of a part of the cyanide plant. [CT&DA] At that time discussions had taken place regarding the future of the
Venus mill. Only three of the batteries (15 head of stampers) were working were considered to be in only a fair working order. The mill engine however was so large that it was inefficient to only run some of the batteries. The cyanide plant was all but obsolete.
Taking these issues into consideration, the possibility of removing the mill to another location was broached. At that time three 5 head stamper foundations survived on the site of the former Brilliant Extended mill site, that could be connected to a railway siding. The Inspector of Mines at Charters Towers suggested that parts of the Venus mill could be relocated to this new site which would have cheaper power, a more central location, a better water supply and railway connection. The cost of this relocation was estimated £2-3,000. However for various reasons this proposed relocation did not go ahead and the Venus Battery stayed at Millchester.
THE VENUS BATTERY 2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE n 18
11 A 1939 survey of the site provides the most accurate record of the site throughout its early history. [NTQ files]
During World War II the battery continued to operate, at least in the early years of the war. In late 1941 the battery closed due to a lack of ore supplies and to allow for the annual machinery inspection. With the entry of the Japanese into the war the battery closed down.
A valuation of the mill site was undertaken in 1948. The main mill building, described as being of mixed construction with galvanised iron and wood with concrete floor, was valued at £800. This valuation included two coarse ore bins and seven fine ore bins of wooden construction. The assay office, a separate building of mixed construction with fibrolite walls, galvanised iron roof and concrete floor was only valued at only £100.
The plant, machinery and equipment were valued at £6,000.37
In 1946 the mill had been thoroughly reconditioned. The Berdan racks were given concrete foundations while steam power was replaced with electricity. The steam boilers were removed, and at about this time four of the batteries were dismantled. The cyanidation plant was improved with the replacement of many of the wooden vats with motor agitator concrete vats, eliminating most of the handling of sand by shovel in an
THE VENUS BATTERY 2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE n 19
attempt to make the cyanide plant more economical. Seven of these vats were installed at the plant between 1953 and 1955. The old leaching vats were thereafter used as clarifiers. In 1961 a roof was constructed over vats 5 to 7. In the 1950s two new cast iron stamper battery boxes were installed, manufactured by Walkers of Maryborough and reputedly in accordance with original drawings, to replace the boxes of Nos. 2 and 3 batteries.
12 The battery in the 1930s on the left and the T H E NATIONAL TRUST assay house before the 1940s renovation. Note the rocky site and substantial trees in the The battery was still operating in the early 1970s, but only sporadically. background. [CT&DA, NTQ]
In 1971 for example it only functioned for 13 weeks. With little need for the site from a mining point of view, but keen to preserve the historical value of the site, the Mines Department offered it to the Charters Towers City Council. However it was the National Trust of Queensland that assumed responsibility for the site. In 1975 the site was transferred to the Trust in the form of a reserve for museum (mining) purposes, under the control of the Trust.38
The National Trust of Queensland Act 1963 stated, inter alia, that the Trust was:
…to provide for the preservation of and maintenance of chattels, lands and buildings of beauty or of national, historic, artistic, architectural or scientific interest.39
The Venus Battery was one of a number of places taken over by the Trust in order to achieve these objectives.
Since assuming control over the site in the mid 1970s the National Trust has undertaken repair and restoration work to the battery site. The site had been damaged by vandalism over the years as well as the activity of white ants. The work has been largely maintenance to protect the works
THE VENUS BATTERY 2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE n 20
from further decay and deterioration and includes structural repairs to the roof framing of the battery building and the replacement of roof sheeting. The assay room building has been completely reclad. The work has been carried out as a result of extensive research and planning and is in many respects a model of responsible conservation.
13 Parts of the battery have been ‘started up’ for special events held by the Photographs of the site taken in the early days National Trust and others. The Trust has also received requests for the of occupation by the National Trust. [Richard use of the battery for ore processing. In the early 1980s there was Stringer] demand in the region for the use of the battery.40
2.4 T HE P RESENT SITE
The site is located on the western side of Gladstone Creek and consists of nine extant buildings and associated infrastructure as well as some areas of possible archaeological potential. The various structures on the site are described on the following pages.
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The buildings include:
§ Battery/Mill § Cyanide Plant Sheds (2) (These incorporate a Lime Shed and Gold Room) § Weighbridge and Office § Assay Office § Toilet § Small Pump Shed § Small Motor Sheds (2)
14 A plan and views of the site. [Allom Lovell]
THE VENUS BATTERY 2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE n 22
The Battery/Mill building contains a Workshop and Smithy as well as a (former) Generator Room and Office. At its peak the building contained 35 head of stamps arranged in seven batteries of five heads. Only two of these batteries (nos 1 and 2) are relatively complete with a further two partially intact (nos 3 and 7). The other three batteries are missing the majority of their machinery. A detailed list of the main in situ plant is provided below but generally the mill building contains (in addition to the aforementioned stampers) a rockbreaker, bucket elevator, scraper conveyor, four ore bins, three Wilfley tables, six Berdan pans, two remnant boiler settings, steam engine foundations, a brick chimney, remnant brick flues, electric motors.
15 A plan and view of the mill building. [Allom Lovell]
THE VENUS BATTERY 2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE n 23
The Cyanide Plant is roughly U-shaped. It was originally a static leaching plant but was upgraded to an agitation plant in 1952. Two of the original circular timber-lined 16 ton vats were retained but another three 25 ton vats and a 50 ton sump were reconstructed in concrete and reused as clarifying tanks. The sump was used as a barren solution tank. (Oliver, 1981: 62) This group survives on the southern side of the plant. After 1952, seven further concrete agitator vats were added to the plant in two groups of four and three vats respectively. These are located on the eastern and northern sides of the plant. Each of these groups has a small electric motor shed attached. A Forward Downs grinding pan is located in the plant.
16 A plan and views of the cyanid e plant. [Allom Lovell]
THE VENUS BATTERY 2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE n 24
Associated external infrastructure around the mill building and cyanide plant includes: an elevated water tank (former Cornish boiler), a weir and dam wall and two sets of brick and concrete pits for storing tailings (or battery sands as they are referred to).
Other mining items have been introduced to the site by the National Trust for the purposes of display or storage. These include two shaft cages (provenance unknown), a double drum, twin cylinder steam winder (John Wild and Co Ltd Engineers Oldham England No 1550) and the body of a side tipping ore cart (both provenance unknown). These are all located to the south of the entrance gate inside the perimeter fence. Parts of a large single cylinder steam engine (R Hornsby & Sons Ltd Protected by Patents Grantham & Stockport England No 50741) are located in a cluster to the south of the mill building. These are labelled with a small sign which indicates that they were retrieved from the “Kidston Mine in the 1970s”.
Some of the items inside the mill building appear to have been introduced from elsewhere. These include the large Peaghan Family wool wagon, other relict cart parts, some of the carts/drays, the lathe, the portable forge, the “old milling machine from the pump station”, the bus and two windlasses in the blacksmith’s area and some items stored in the former Generator Room (bottles etc). (Note that displaced electrical equipment including switch boards, fuses etc lying on the floor in this room are original and should be retained.) The provenance of two old water pumps (located near the wool wagon and marked Portland Penn USA and Colchester Pumping Engine respectively) and the Austral kerosene engine is unknown and they may be related to the site.
A RCHAEOLOGICAL SITES 17 From the top is Gladstone Creek, the dam wall and one of the groups of tailing pits. [Allom The 1981 report by Oliver refers to an old survey plan (dated to 1874 to Lovell] 1919) which shows the approximate location of former buildings at the site (see Oliver, 1981: 7, 8, 67, 86). These include the stables, the earliest section of the cyanide plant, the office, the manager’s house, “Powell’s House”, the weighbridge, and the surveyed allotments on Macdonald Street (now Millchester Road). Some of these allotments once hosted the Old Identity Hotel, Kutzman’s Shop, Jack Parson’s (residence?) and two “Chinamen’s” shops. That report recommended that these sites not be disturbed until they had undergone an archaeological assessment. The locations of three of these sites are currently identified by small white signs attached to star picket posts. These signs have probably been erected according to the information provided by Oliver rather than by archaeological investigation.
Old stone kerbing was noted along the eastern side of Jardine Street.
Another set of tailings pits is located outside the fence and to the south of the extant set along the banks of Gladstone Creek. These are shown on
THE VENUS BATTERY 2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE n 25
the 1939 site plan in Lennon and Pearce (1996) but not on the 1974 site plan in Oliver (1981). The remains of the ash pit is also located near these pits.
T HE MACHINERY
Lennon and Pearce (1996) list the following plant which is all in situ. (p117):
§ Five head battery and frame, mortar box - Walkers Ltd No 156 § Five head battery and frame, mortar box - Walkers Ltd No 168 § five head batteries and frames - no brands § 6 Berdan pans § Forward Downs grinding pan § 7 Cyanide vats § Blake Rock breaker § Wilfley tables § Weighbridge § Cornish boiler (elevated water tank)
To this can be added: § Ore bins (in situ) § Bucket elevator (in situ) § Scraper conveyor (in situ) § Foundations and remnants of three five head stamp batteries (in situ) § Foundations of 100hp steam engine built by Thompson’s Castlemaine (in situ) § 2 remnant boiler settings (in situ) § Remnant brick flues (in situ)) § Brick chimney (in situ) § 9 Berdan pans (displaced) § Platform scales § Mercury scales § Gold scales? § Milner safe § Amalgam retort § Forge blowers § Tools § Mercury buckets § Electric motors § Line shafting, pulleys, belts (in situ) § Line shafting, pulleys, belts (displaced) § Tailings storage pits (in situ)
The nine displaced Berdan pans are located on the ground on the northern side of the battery building with a group of other displaced equipment. This other equipment includes: pieces of 2” and 4” water pipe, 4 drive belt wheels of various sizes, 3 battery cams on a length of
THE VENUS BATTERY 2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE n 26
broken shaft, 1 battery cam on a length of broken shaft, 2 lengths of broken cam shafting, 1 large belt wheel on 3m length of shafting, 1 stamper foot, and remains of a portable saw bench.
1 rock breaker 2 bucket elevator 3 conveyor over ore bins 4 batteries
5 Wilfley tables 6 Berdan pans 7 retort
18 The equipment and structure of the place clearly demonstrates the sequential process of extracting gold from the ore. [Johnson and Allom Lovell]
THE VENUS BATTERY 2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE n 27
A NOTE ON THE CRUSHING AND TREATMENT PROCESS
The process of gold crushing and treatment that was carried out for many years at the Venus mill can be easily determined through the evidence that survives at the site.41 Essentially it was a linear process, the stone entering the building at one end and coming out at the other, after a series of processes extracted the gold.
As the stone arrived at the mill it was weighed at the weighbridge outside the mill building, and then placed into the ‘rock bins’ within the mill structure. These bins were fitted with grating at the bottom that separated the finer stone from the rest. The larger chunks passed into the ‘rockbreaker’ that reduced it to smaller pieces. The crushed ore was then fed into a chute and into the ‘bucket elevator’, and taken to the ‘conveyor’ where it was spread out horizontally by means of an endless belt fitted with scrapers. At the bottom of the conveyor slide doors allowed the broken stone to fall into the ‘ore bins’ to await crushing at the stamps. The ore bins were constructed of timber with a sloping floor at an angle of about 45-50 degrees. The ore was discharged into the stamp box through feeder chutes. The capacity of the ore bins at the Venus Battery was 90 tons.
From the ore bins the ore passed into the ‘battery boxes’. These boxes were hollow cast-iron and contained the ‘stamps’. Each set of stamps was constructed on solid foundations, either set into the bedrock or situated on a solid concrete floor. On this base a heavy mortar block of timber was bolted to carry the ‘mortar boxes’, which were bedded on a cushion of blankets or rubber.
The stamps in each battery were 900 lb (409 kg) each and operated at 70 drops per minute. The height of each drop was 8 inches. Each stamp could treat 2.7 tons of ore each day.
Mercury (or quicksilver) was added to the mortar boxes in small quantities every few hours. The crushed ore was discharged from the mortar boxes and passed over ‘copper plates’ coated with mercury, the mercury amalgamating with the free gold.
From there the material continued along the process to the ‘Wilfley tables’ to be concentrated. These Wilfley tables would tilt and rock to isolate the crushed material. The concentrates then worked towards the end of the table and dropped into a small pit at the end. These concentrates were then ground with mercury and lime in the Berdan pans. These pans revolved at 30 revolutions per minute, with two stationary ‘drags’ that further ground the material to recover any more gold.
For some years this amalgamation and concentration was the end of the process. Gold was recovered in three steps, crushed in the stamps and
THE VENUS BATTERY 2 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE n 28
collected in the mortar boxes, retrieved in the copper plates and then ground in the pans.
The ‘sands’, the waste material at the end of this process, was either stored or in many cases allowed to run into the creeks. However once the cyanidation process was refined in the 1890s this technique was used for removing the remaining gold from these tailings. The cyanide plant was established at the Venus Battery as a separate structure beyond the mill building. Originally the cyanide plant worked on the process of leaching but this process was replaced by the agitator process. The apparatus of both processes still survives at the battery site.
THE VENUS BATTERY 3 UNDERSTANDING THE SIGNIFICANCE n 29
3 UNDERSTANDING THE SIGNIFICANCE
he Venus Battery is an evocative reminder of Charters Towers early Thistory and its origins as a gold field of major proportions. Its cultural significance must however come from a wider understanding of its historical context.
3.1 A BOUT CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Cultural significance is the term used to embrace the range of qualities that make some places especially important to the community, over and above their basic utilitarian function. These places are usually those that help understand the past, enrich the present, and that will be of value to future generations.
The Burra Charter of Australia ICOMOS defines cultural significance as aesthetic, historic, scientific or social value for past, present, and future generations.42
It is a simple concept, helping to identify and assess the attributes that make a place of value to people and society. An understanding of it is therefore basic to any planning process with historic buildings or places. Once the significance of a place is understood, informed policy decisions can be made which will enable that significance to be retained or revealed. A clear understanding of the nature and level of the significance of a place not only suggests constraints on future action, it also introduces flexibility into the process by identifying areas which can be adapted or developed with greater freedom.43
3.2 C HARTERS TOWERS GOLD BATTERIES
The Venus Battery was one of the first mills to be constructed at Charters Towers, crushing its first ore in mid 1872. Only Buchanan’s and Deane’s mills were operating before the Venus mill; these were however only temporary facilities.
Charter was a major Queensland goldfield and there was a large number of mills operating on the field. By the end of 1872, the first year of the goldfields, there were already five mills operating at the Towers. At the high point there were about 30 mills established on the fields. Many were constructed in association with the mines, so that each mine had its own battery or mill. There were few mills like the Venus Battery that were custom mills and crushed stone from different mines and miners.
An undated plan of the Charters Towers goldfield and its various leases show the location of some of these mills. The Venus, Prudence and One and All Mills were located at Millchester on the banks of Gladstone Creek east of the town, while the Excelsior Mill was to the south on a small
THE VENUS BATTERY 3 UNDERSTANDING THE SIGNIFICANCE n 30
tributary of Millchester Creek. To the north of the town were the New Queen and Mosman Mills on the banks of Mosman Creek, with the Bonnie Dundee and the Defiance Mills further along this watercourse to the west.44
In 1915 there were still five mills crushing ore on the fields at Charters Towers, three of which were owned by mining companies. These included the Brilliant Block and the Brilliant Extended mills, established in association with the mines of those names, which had 40 and 15 head of stamps respectively. The Rainbow mill with 22 head of stamps and the Venus mill with 35 head were the non -mining company mills, crushing ore from other mines and from tributers.45
The Venus battery is the only intact complex of this scale which survives.. Most were dismantled or destroyed with the decline of the goldfields in Charters Towers in the early twentieth century.
The Venus Battery is the only surviving gold battery on the former Charters Towers goldfields. It was the first permanent battery on the site and was one of the larger batteries in terms of numbers of stamps.
O THER SURVIVING BATTERIES
A small number of other gold batteries or mills survive in Queensland, predominantly in the north of the state.
Dating from the 1870s, the former Palmer River goldfield, south -west of Cooktown in far north Queensland, contains surviving infrastructure of gold mining and extraction.
The Wild Irish Girl mine and battery was established on this field in the 1890s in association with reef mining on that field (the Palmer River goldfields date from the 1870s). This mill was much smaller than the Venus, with only a three head battery. The battery shed is constructed of bush timber and clad in corrugated iron sheeting. Although the Wild Irish Girl mill was still crushing ore in the 1920s and 1930s this was on a much reduced scale.
The Alexandra mine and battery site at the Palmer River fields contains evidence of a battery constructed in the 1890s. The mine was first established in the 1870s but closed in 1898. The battery plant contains a boiler, steam engine, two mortar boxes and a metal chimney.
The Tyrconnell mine and battery is located in Mareeba and forms part of the former Hodgkinson River goldfields. The first battery was constructed at the site in the 1870s but like the Venus mill, the machinery at the Tyrconnell battery has been rebuilt a number of times. The mine has closed and been reopened numerous times in the twentieth century, including during the mining booms of the 1960s and 1980s. The battery
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itself contains surviving plant and a cyanidation works, but not to the extent of the Venus Battery.
The remains of the Homeward Bound battery are located on the former Croydon goldfields. The battery began crushing in 1888 with 20 head of stamps, and cyanidation works were established in 1902. Much of the evidence of the battery site, including buildings and plant, has been removed.
The remains of the No. 1 Scottish Gympie mine and battery are located in southern Queensland, unlike the others just mentioned, and are somewhat unusual as a result. This was the largest and most successful mine on the Gympie goldfields, operating until 1924.46 In 1904 the battery was reported to have had 125 head of stamps with the mine employing almost 400 men. Much of the machinery was auctioned after the mine closed in the mid 1920s although the mine and battery site was acquired in 1927 and a cyanide plant established. Few elements survive from this mining period apart from the assay office and foundations for the compressor room, engine room and crushing equipment.
3.3 S TATE BATTERIES
After its acquisition by the Queensland government the Venus Battery was worked as a state battery, initially by State Enterprises and then the Department of Mines.
Other batteries and mining facilities were taken over or established by the state government and operated as state enterprises like the Venus Battery. These include the Kidston gold battery, a tin battery and smelter at Irvinebank, as well as the Chillagoe smelters in far north Queensland.
Located on the Etheridge goldfields the Kidston battery was constructed by the Queensland government in as a state battery in 1920 and operated until 1950. Its construction was recommended by a government geologist in a period of relatively high gold prices (1920-24) to provide an impetus for regional employment and industrial development. Some of the machinery and plant was relocated to this site from other batteries. A small town developed around the Kidston battery, not unlike Millchester and Venus.
The Kidston battery closed during World War II and reopened in 1947. However crushing stopped in 1949 and the battery did not operate again after 1950. The surviving battery at Kidston contains 15 head of stamps and only the Venus battery is larger.
The Irvinebank State Treatment Works, in the hinterland of Cairns in north Queensland, were originally established as the Loudoun mill in the 1880s by John Moffat. However this mine and battery were developed for the processing of tin rather than gold. A small town called Irvinebank
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developed around the mine and mill. The facility was purchased by the state government in 1919 and operated as a state enterprise for about 10 years.
The Chillagoe smelter located west of Cairns was first established in 1900. It was a base metal plant, smelting copper, lead and zinc, which were extracted through smelting (extracting metal from the ore by use of heat) rather than crushing the ore like in a gold battery. Early results at the smelter were mixed and indeed the facility closed from 1914 to 1920, largely due to the intervention of World War I. The government took possession of the site at that time and reopened the smelters, with one copper and one lead furnace operating. The smelter’s operations were quite inefficient and did not run at a profit nor to its capacity. The smelters closed in 1927, reopened in 1929, and finally closed again in 1943.
3.4 T HE TOWN OF MILLCHESTER
The Venus Battery is the only remaining substantial evidence of the town of Millchester, the first European settlement on the Charters Towers goldfields.
An adequate water supply was of vital importance to the early gold industry and the first mills on the Charters Towers fields were established on the banks of the creeks at Millchester rather than at Upper Camp, later the town of Charters Towers proper, a short distance to the west. These first mills, of which the Venus Battery was one, were established in 1872 shortly after gold had been found in the region. A town area was quickly surveyed and hotels, stores, banks and government offices were established. Streets were surveyed and formed.
However the town of Charters Towers developed in competition with Millchester and by the later 1870s the former was designated as the main settlement on the fields. While the Venus Battery remained at Millchester other services including schools and churches were relocated to Charters Towers itself. Millchester survived as a shadow of its former self although a few buildings such as a hotel and store continued to operate into the mid twentieth century.
In more recent years however much of the evidence of the town of Millchester has been removed with the relocation or demolition of those surviving buildings and structures. Only the Venus Battery remains to indicate the existence of Millchester and its importance to the early history of the gold mining industry in Charters Towers.
While other early Queensland towns have effectively ‘vanished’ Millchester is perhaps unique in that the evidence of the industrial process that ensured the towns existence still survives.
THE VENUS BATTERY 3 UNDERSTANDING THE SIGNIFICANCE n 33
3.5 T HE MACHINERY
The plant at the Venus State Battery is an excellent example of a complete stamp battery and cyanide processing operation. The intactness of its machinery and plant layout is rare in the Australian context. Other operable state batteries are known to survive at Mt Torrens and Peterborough in South Australia, Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory and at Kidston in Queensland. Of these, the Venus Battery is considered to be the largest with the most complete compliment of processing plant and equipment.
The site contains all the essential elements of crushing, concentrating and cyaniding operation. These include the weighbridge, battery, power plant, cyanide plant, assay office, weir, water supply infrastructure, tailings pits and office.
While some of the battery equipment has been cannibalised for parts and three of the original seven batteries have minimal remains, evidence of all of the plant is still extant. Two of the batteries are complete with a further two largely intact. The Berdan Pan fine grinding plant is largely intact with six pans still in situ and the frames for the nine displaced pans still intact. The foundations for the steam engine, the brick flues and the boiler settings are still extant. The line shaft belt drive system is completely intact. The electric motors which power it are also extant. The cyanide plant is intact and the associated features such as the tailing pits add to the comprehensive array of equipment at the site.
3.6 S TATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The former Venus Gold Battery is thought to be the largest, oldest and most comprehensive example of its type in Australia. Its significance in representing that period and aspect of the nation’s history is of the highest order.
Its significance to the city of Charters Towers is pivotal to an understanding of the history of that place almost from its earliest settlement. Charters Towers was founded on gold and its history as a place as a place of optimism, rampant speculation and of fluctuating fortunes has become part of Queensland’s understanding of itself. While evidence of that extraordinary period survives in government, commercial and residential buildings within the city, relatively little evidence of mining survives. Towers Hill and some early shafts do survive, but the Venus Battery is not only rare in this regard, but the extent and nature of the surviving evidence of crushing and processing is extensive and comprehensive. Indeed, individual elements within the Battery site making up the whole have significance in their own right and represent a wide period of history and of processing techniques.
THE VENUS BATTERY 3 UNDERSTANDING THE SIGNIFICANCE n 34
The battery is located at Millchester, the earliest settlement in what is now Charters Towers and dramatically marks the location of that early township. The site and the structures upon it are evocative evidence of all these aspects of Charters Towers (and Australia’s) history. Its significance is enhanced by the clear evidence of its role as a place which continued to function in its original use for more than 100 years partly as a government-owned battery and in the evidence of that use in the patination that is present, its visual or aesthetic significance is at once iconic and tactile.
THE VENUS BATTERY 4 A VISION n 35
4 A VISION
he Venus Battery is one of the most important mining complexes to Tsurvive in Queensland from the gold mining booms of the 19th century. It was the site of one of the first batteries constructed in Charters Towers in the 1870s and is the earliest and largest battery to survive in Queensland.47 In the surviving machinery it provides a complete picture of the extraction of gold during the 19th and 20th centuries and includes the battery, cyanide plant, assay office, tailings pits, weighbridge and weir.
The buildings and site have been extended and rebuilt numerous times since but remarkably survive. That preservation can be partly attributed to its purchase by the state government in 1919 and in the past few decades to the National Trust of Queensland who took over responsibility for the site in 1975 and made it open to the public for guided and self guided tours since the late 1970s. An ongoing program of conservation work of the structures has taken place since.
The site has now been identified by the Queensland Heritage trails Network as the third part of a four part experience of the city. The place is seen as providing a real experience of gold processing in the city. As much of the evidence of mining including mine shafts and mullock heaps has been removed from the city this place has the potential to enable visitors to understand the importance and integral part of gold in the city. This project has provided an opportunity to understand the significance of the place and to set a new vision for the use, conservation and interpretation of the site.
The site is special in Charters Towers because of its rarity and historical significance but also because it is a well known and much loved part of the city. It offers substantial opportunity to share these with the wider visiting public and to do so in an exciting manner.
U SE
The site today is being conserved and presented as an industrial relic. That use is consistent with the significance of the site historically and aesthetically. Any new use should be complementary to support that significance and use. Material not associated with the battery should not be brought to the site. Visitors should be welcome but any necessary supporting or ancillary structures should be constructed on adjacent sites or parts of this site to ensure that the present sense of history and patination is not compromised.
A part of the significance of the place is its remote setting on the edge of the former town of Millchester and in the sense of decay generally and while the site contains some areas of apparently vacant land much of the
THE VENUS BATTERY 4 A VISION n 36
site was covered with tracks, drying areas and tailings areas until as recently as the 1940s and these are important. Similarly various buildings have been demolished over the life of the Battery and these areas all have the potential to yield information about the site.
Neither should adaptation of the existing structures be contemplated. The caretaker’s residence in the rear of the assay room is not an ideal outcome and in time new caretaker accommodation may be developed on an adjacent site.
C ONSERVATION
The philosophy for the conservation of the structures established by the National Trust is appropriate in conservation terms in seeking to prevent the building from deteriorating further and by repairing structural elements where essential. That approach has resulted in the patination, early building techniques and the significance being retained.
Several principles should guide future conservation. Repairs should only occur where the structure is in danger of collapse or where the condition of an element is likely to cause deterioration of other elements, for example the deterioration of roof sheeting will cause water penetration and rot of timber members.
The reconstruction of elements should be limited to where it will either assist in the interpretation of the place or prevent deterioration of other elements and where good physical and documentary evidence survives. For example the reconstruction of a section of timber stacks may be useful in demonstrating the process of fuelling the battery. However, the reconstruction of entire elements which do not survive such as the former stables or manager’s residence is not appropriate and other means of interpretation should be considered.
Some elements presently in and around the building are not associated with the Venus Battery and are confusing to the history of the place. They include the stair from the old town hall, the windlasses and some other items in the forge area, the Millchester bus, the wool wagon and some of the other horse drawn vehicles, the Kidston mine engine, the steam winder and the shaft cages. These items confuse and diminish the significance and understanding of the site and should be displayed in a more appropriate place.
Some of the plant and equipment from the Venus Battery is lying on the ground and is vulnerable to being damaged or removed from the site. These elements should be identified, recorded and restored to their proper location.
While the battery has been working in the recent past it is now at a stage where the potential for irreparable damage to occur is of a high order.
THE VENUS BATTERY 4 A VISION n 37
No further operation of the plant should be considered and alternative methods developed to interpret the machinery.
V ISITOR FACILITIES
The Venus Battery site should be seen as one of a series of sites in the town which can explain the history of the city to visitors. The present visitor facilities include a small display in the front of the assay building and a male and a female toilet in a detached corrugated iron building. Unmarked parking areas are located in Jardine Street. Any initiatives to increase visitor numbers will bring with it expectations from visitors of increased facilities such as toilets and a place to buy souvenirs and refreshments. Care must be taken so that the site is not overwhelmed by visitors or its new tourist focus.
The existing toilet facilities will be inadequate and an additional “access” toilet will be necessary. Ideally, new facilities for visitors should be located outside of the boundary of the battery site. The Charters Towers City Council owns a number of properties in Millchester which may be considered for additional facilities to support the Battery. Great care must be taken for new facilities to be of a modest scale and to not dominate the battery. The views of the Battery from the Millchester Road approach should be preserved. In any extension of the site, the Venus Battery should remain a distinct site that it is not merged with the adjacent street and properties. Similarly any additional displays or gold panning excursions should take place on the Council owned land.
I NTERPRETATION
Any interpretation of the place should acknowledge the primary significance of the place as a rare and early survivor for gold processing in Queensland. The process of extracting gold on the site is a sequential and straightforward one which is still clearly evident on the site and is simple to explain to visitors, starting with the ore coming onto the site and being weighed and ending in the assay room or the gold room.
Any devices to interpret the history of the place to visitors should build on the “authentic” experience provided in the various buildings and equipment on the site. The present experience for the visitor takes the form of a guided tour which takes visitors through the mill building and the cyanidation plant. The experience for visitors to come face to face with the men who like to chat about the place and their experiences is not sophisticated or slick but is a quality that should not be lost.
Audio and visual devices should be considered to bring the buildings to life without the need to restart engines and place unnecessary stress on the structure. The stories which should be told include the technological advances in extraction processes, the state run enterprises which lead to
THE VENUS BATTERY 4 A VISION n 38
the purchase of this site in the 1920s and stories of the once thriving Millchester township of which this was one part.
19 A drawing showing the possible vision for the site. [Allom Lovell]
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 39
5 CONSERVATION POLICY
he purpose of the conservation policies set out in this section is to T provide a guide to the development and care of the Venus Battery in ways that retain its significance. The policies aim to:
¨ retain the integrity of the site; ¨ provide an approach to the conservation of architectural fabric, the plant and the site; ¨ provide an approach to visitor management; ¨ permit adaptation and new works which will make the place more effective in its principal role as a non-working battery; ¨ outline procedures by which these objectives may be achieved.
The policies have been developed taking into account factors including the resources of the owner, the aspiration of the present Queensland Heritage Trails project, the condition of the fabric and the capacity of the place to accommodate and change or new use.
The policies are set out in italics and are accompanied by information on which they are based and followed by an explanation of likely implications. Policies should be read in conjunction with the associated text.
5.1 M ANAGEMENT
Management of the Venus Battery will require a single vision, commitment of resources and an agreed and close relationship between all stakeholders. The place is an important one in Queensland’s history and has the potential to be a substantial resource within the district given appropriate management.
S INGLE ENTITY IN CONTROL
The proposed situation in which the National Trust of Queensland is the building owner and the building is managed by Charters Towers Inc is an appropriate one. Responsibilities will however need to be clarified particularly in the light of the present initiative to develop this place.
Policy 1: Regardless of the ownership and management the ultimate decision making and control should be the responsibility of a single group or committee. The significance of the Venus Battery and the value of the place as a resource requires a management structure that is focussed and in which decision making is centralised. While the three levels of government all of whom may have an interest or responsibilities for approvals or funding and indeed the National Trust itself has both an interest at state
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 40
and local level the aim of this policy is to ensure that these various interests are brought together and that decision making comes from a single entity. The National Trust has been exemplary in its care of the complex to date albeit limited by the lack of a single conservation management plan for the place. Any new management structure must ensure that this reputation is not compromised.
A PPROPRIATE SKILLS
The composition of any committee or group of management should reflect not only the various stakeholders in the broader management of this place but experts in the care and the management of the resource.
Policy 2: Members of any entity appointed to manage the place should be selected primarily to provide a range of skills and experience relevant to the conservation, development and use of the site. The management of any historic place will require skills across a wide spectrum including those associated with the conservation of the various elements, marketing, management and community interests. The composition of any management committee at the Venus Battery should be structured in a way in which these skills are represented.
S TAFF REQUIREMENTS
Conservation and presentation of the Venus Battery for the benefit of visitors will inevitably require some input in terms of staff for maintenance, curatorial work and for visitor management and servicing.
Policy 3: All staff should be informed of the significance of the place sufficiently to carry out their respective roles.
In a site of this importance care will need to be taken of the site on a daily basis. It will be far easier to manage the significance of the place if all staff are trained to understand why the place is special.
D ISASTER PLANNING & MANAGEMENT
A program of managing potential disasters at the Venus Battery should be set in place and clear procedures for action identified. The Venus Battery is remote from other places and, although a caretaker resides at the property, there is constant danger of fire and damage from intruders. The potential for disaster is therefore of a relatively high order. 20 Policy 4: Arrangements should be set in place at the Venus Battery The risk of damage from natural causes should which anticipates damage to the property from natural or man-made be considered in advance of any such damage occurring. [Allom Lovell] causes. Similarly, programs and procedures should be established to
deal with these events should they occur so as to limit the adverse affect
on the cultural significance of the place both during and immediately following such an event.
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 41
Policy 5: A no smoking policy should be established on the site.
Policy 6: Fire detectors and alarm systems should be installed in all buildings.
During a visit to the site in August the real threat of bush fire was seen as adjacent land was being burned. Care should be taken to manage the long grass to minimise the risk of bush fires. Strategies should be established with the fire brigade and other authorities about the way fires on different parts of the site would be handled.
5.2 A N APPROACH TO CONSERVATION
The significance of the Venus Battery is set out in full in earlier sections of this document. It is essentially a large and rare survivor of a gold battery and associated elements in Australia.
In general terms the condition of the Venus Battery is such that major restoration work is not needed. A gentle conservation approach is therefore called for in which existing material is conserved and maintained rather than being replaced. Neither is there a need for major restoration or reconstruction. Indeed the sense of patination and gentle deterioration is part of the significance and should be conserved.
B URRA C HARTER
It is essential that work at the Venus Battery be of a standard that reflects and is influenced by the cultural significance of the place and of its various parts.
Policy 7: All work at the Venus Battery, whether planning or capital works should be carried out in accordance with accepted standards and procedures for the conservation and management of cultural material.
The Venus Battery is a place of substantial cultural significance and any work at the place should be of a standard that reflects that significance. The various charters, guidelines and standards of organisations such as the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and International Council of Museums (ICOM) should be followed to enable a consistent and professional approach and to serve as a useful bench mark or reference point for work to be carried out.
A CTION INFORMED BY SIGNIFICANCE
The significance of the Venus Battery is set out in earlier sections of this report. All of the action which occurs at the place should be informed by an understanding of the significance of the relative parts.
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 42
Policy 8: The site should be conserved, presented and used by the wider public in a manner which recognises its special significance. That significance lies in its significance as a rare gold processing plant in Australia and as one of the few visible expressions of the gold history of Charters Towers. The more significant a concept, fabric, relationship, space or vista, the more should care be exercised in preparing proposals that may affect the place – the objective being to ensure that the work will not reduce, and may reinforce, the identified significance.
This understanding of the levels of significance helps introduce the flexibility necessary for the management of change.
M AINTENANCE AND REPAIR
The key to the care of the Venus Battery lies not in major restoration but in constant and regular maintenance of the existing fabric of the buildings and the grounds. Some elements will require more radical intervention to ensure that structural integrity or long term conservation is addressed but most will require an approach that repairs deterioration or damage as it occurs.
Policy 9: Adequate and intelligent cyclical maintenance and timely major repair should be accepted as a vital part of the conservation program.
There is sometimes a tendency to believe that elements have reached the end of their useful life or are beyond repair. At a place such as the Venus Battery where the early fabric contains evidence of the history of the place and changes made during its various ownerships this approach can be destructive and adversely affect the cultural significance. The philosophies of maintenance and repair established in the past few decades by the National Trust of Queensland are appropriate. In this approach only parts of the structures are repaired as necessary and reinforcement or structural stability added in a clearly expressed and contemporary manner.
P ATINATION
Part of the significance and pleasure of the Venus Battery is the evidence of wear and patination.
Policy 10: Any maintenance or work should retain the evidence of wear and patination of age.
It is not intended that the conservation of the Venus Battery will result in a place in which new fabric and finishes deny all evidence of use. The wear and natural patination of the place that developed during its use as a working mill is an important part of its cultural significance and great
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 43
care will need to be taken to ensure that this evidence is not lost in any works or programs.
R ECONSTRUCTION
Reconstruction of missing elements on the site should only be carried out for one of two reasons. Firstly, if sections of the structure are missing and this is causing the deterioration of other elements. For example the lack of roof structure and sheeting over a part of the cyanide plant is likely to cause the vats to deteriorate. Secondly, if the reconstruction will enable a better understanding of the significance of the place. For example the reconstruction of the missing sections of launders will enable a better understanding of the process.
Policy 11: Reconstruction should be carried out where it will prevent elements from deteriorating or where it will reveal aspects of the significance of the place.
Sufficient physical and documentary evidence must survive to ensure the greatest degree of accuracy.
R ESTORATION
The restoration of elements of the building and plant at the battery will largely involve the returning of plant back to its original site or adjacent to the site. This is appropriate based on adequate physical and documentary evidence.
Policy 12: Restoration of structure and plant is appropriate where sufficient evidence of an earlier, and significant, state exists.
Care will need to be taken to understand the proper locations of elements before elements are moved around the site causing further confusion.
5.3 C OMPATIBLE USE
Since the occupation of the site by the National Trust in 1975 and the last commercial processing of ore in 1980 the emphasis of the site has focussed on making the site available as a tourist facility for both the local community and visitors from further afield. That use has caused no detectable impact on the significance of the place and should continue. The use of the site as a commercial battery is not appropriate given the fragile nature of the structure and plant. No additional uses should be established on the site other than to support its role of interpreting the significance of the site.
Policy 13: The site should continue to be used and developed as a display of an historic gold processing complex.
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 44
5.4 T HE S ITE AND SETTING
The significance of the place lies in its survival complete with all of the elements typical for this type of site. The site appears to be largely vacant but both physical and documentary evidence suggest that most parts of the site were once covered with activity.
I NTRUSIVE ELEMENTS
The site has been used to store loose artefacts which are not related directly to the Venus Battery site and which should be removed in order to make the significance of the site clearer.
Policy 14: Intrusive elements identified in this study should be removed from the site.
Policy 15: Elements not associated with the site should generally not be 21 Intrusive elements throughout the site which are located on this site. not connected with the Venus Battery should be removed to more appropriate locations. [Allom New artefacts which are not specific to the Venus Battery should as a Lovell] general rule not be brought to the site. However there is some expectation from the community to have a demonstration and operating stamp and gold panning area. As these have the potential to confuse the significance of the place they should be creatively and thoughtfully placed on the site. Existing elements which are intrusive should be moved to other sites and conserved and displayed in accordance with their individual significance.
VIEWS TO THE SITE
The Venus Battery is approached along the Millchester Road which connects with Gill Street in the centre of the city. The first glimpses of the site are viewed from the edge of the residential areas and a bend in the road. The building appears as a remote, “cathedral” scaled building on the horizon.
Policy 17: The first views of the building from Millchester Road should be retained.
22 The first view of the building when approaching from the centre of Charters Towers. [Allom Lovell]
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 45
Town planning controls should be put in place to ensure that the important view of the site is not blocked by new development.
A RCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS
The documentary evidence which includes an 1897 survey and a 1939 survey indicate that there are buildings, roads and other elements which are not visible at a first glance. These parts of the site have archaeological potential and care should be taken with any disturbance of the ground in these areas.
Policy 16: Areas considered to have archaeological potential should not be developed or disturbed until they have been assessed archaeologically.
The approach of not constructing new structures on areas of archaeological potential is worthwhile. If any disturbance is considered essential for the interpretation of the site an archaeologist experienced in mining sites should manage the process.
23 A plan showing archaeological potential of the site. [Allom Lovell]
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 46
T HE BOUNDARY OF THE SITE
The present boundary of the site does not follow the historic boundary of the site. It has always included a part of Gladstone Creek but has altered on the corner of the site adjacent to the Millchester township. The present fence on the site does not align with the boundary of the site. In order to protect and manage the entire site the fencing should be altered to follow the alignment of the boundary.
Policy 18: The existing fence on the site should be moved and extended to match the property boundary.
It is understood that the relocation of the fencing along the boundary 24 Recent clearing of the side of the creek has the may conflict with the water in the creek. A sensible solution must be potential to cause erosion and to damage sought in which the creek and its banks are protected. Recent archaeological evidence. [Allom Lovell] unauthorised clearing of the creek bank by the Charters Towers City Council exemplifies the need for the fenced area to be moved so that any change to the site is managed by a single organisation and so that no damage to the significance occurs.
T HE F ORMER MILLCHESTER TOWNSHIP
A part of the significance of the Venus Battery is that along with a single workers cottage it is the only substantial marker of the first settlement of Millchester and the beginnings of Charters Towers.
This site was a large one close to the centre of the settlement. To give some idea of the intensity of development the land adjoining the battery and fronting McDonald Street contained some 20 sites including hotels, shops and banks. It is impossible to understand that density of early development when visiting the area now. Although much of those sites have been resumed for a road reserve it would be straightforward and worthwhile to mark the edges of those sites. The streets of Millchester remain and continue to be marked by the early kerbing in particular in Jardine Street.
Policy 19: The density and extent of the settlement of Millchester should be revealed by marking the edge of the allotments. The kerbing on the streets should have vegetation cleared and the track to Townsville which connected into Jardine Street should be marked.
Much of the land in the former Millchester township is owned by the 25 Charters Towers City Council and this provides an opportunity for these The remnants of Millchester include the kerbing along the streets and a single workers cottage. sites to be interpreted. [Allom Lovell]
N EW STRUCTURES
New structures on the site are likely to be required to support its increased role for visitors. The significance of the site is of such a high
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 47
value that care will need to be taken in the siting of any structures and in their scale, form and detail so that they have no impact on significance.
Policy 20: New structures associated with visitor servicing or interpretation should be located wherever possible on adjoining sites.
Policy 21: New structures should be strictly limited and confined to identified areas of the site. They should not dominate the existing buildings on the site.
The design of any new structures should not seek to replicate existing buildings on the site which may cause confusion about the history of the place. They should however be lightweight and elegant contemporary structures which may use some traditional materials such as corrugated iron or timber.
L ANDSCAPING
The character of the site appears to be quite different from the earlier photographs of the site which showed the site as being uneven dirt. The 26 site now has very little exposed dirt and has grass which is watered and The shaded areas show the parts of the site cut. It has resulted in a sanitisation of the character of the place. where carefully designed structures may be considered. [Allom Lovell] Policy 22: The character of the site as industrial site should not be further sanitised.
The seemingly large and vacant areas of the site should not be taken as an opportunity to create a green parkland or gardens. It is understood that the grass has performed a role of managing erosion of the site from wind and water. Alternative solutions to cover the ground should be sought to manage wind and rain and which acknowledge the industrial nature of the site. Substantial trees may only be planted based on documentary or physical evidence.
5.5 T HE ELEMENTS
The significance of the site as the largest and most complete battery in Australia is due to the preservation of all aspects of the processing of the site. It includes the mill, the weighbridge, the cyanide plant, the dam, the assay building and the tailings pits. The approach to the conservation of the elements as a whole are set out in “The approach to conservation”. Specific aspects of the conservation of each element are discussed below.
T HE MILL ( BATTERY )
The age of the parts of the battery is not known although it is in its present form for by the 1930s when photographic and documentary evidence is available. The condition of the building is such that repairs should only be carried out where they are most needed in order to
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 48
address structural defects, prevent further decay, provide safety to visitors, and where necessary to assist with the interpretation of the place. Repair of individual elements should continue to be given preference over replacement.
Policy 23: The structure of the battery should be conserved in its present condition. Repairs and reconstruction of elements is acceptable where a failure to do so will cause further deterioration of other elements. Reconstruction of some sections of the building is appropriate where it will assist in the interpretation of the place and where good evidence arrives.
The plant and equipment at the Battery is either original to the site or was bought secondhand and used there. There is sufficient surviving plant in its original functional location to show how the place operated from weighing the untreated ore through the processing system to the final production of gold.
Policy 24: Plant and equipment at the site should generally be maintained in its present condition. Where rusting or corrosion is evident, it should be treated to prevent further deterioration. Where possible, maintenance actions such as oiling and greasing mechanical equipment (bearings etc) should be undertaken. Consideration should be given to restoring the displaced Berdan Pans to, or near, their original positions. Other displaced equipment (flywheels, camshafts, stamper stems, line shafts etc) should be relocated to, or near, the battery foundations in the mill. Restarting the mill is not considered a viable option.
While all the Battery equipment is still in situ and theoretically able to operate, restarting the mill would necessitate a complete engineering assessment of the stability and strength of the structural and mechanical components, and a likely overhaul of the equipment. There is a potential problem in the structural adequacy of the timber framed building and its capacity to withstand the vibration of an operating battery. It is considered therefore that substantial and costly works would need to be undertaken to bring the plant and the structure up to operational condition and modern day safety requirements. Such works may adversely affect the integrity of the site. While the National Trust has expressed its wish to see the battery operating one more time in order to make an audio visual record. Issues of structural adequacy will still need to be checked before this is contemplated.
T HE A SSAY R OOM
The Assay Room is an integral and major component of the site. The form of the building has been modified throughout its life including alterations to the roof form, recladding in asbestos cement sheeting in the 1940s and adaptation as rooms for a caretaker in the 1970s.
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 49
Policy 25: The Assay Room should be conserved in it present condition. Items which relate to the functioning of the room should be conserved and retained there for interpretative purposes. Items which are not related should be removed to a more suitable location.
Policy 26: The caretaker’s rooms in the assay room are acceptable in the medium term but alternative arrangements should be sought on the site or nearby in the long term.
The caretaker occupies modest rooms in the assay building and while close to the buildings for security the significance of the building would be better served by constructing accommodation on the site or on the adjacent Council owned land.
T HE C YANIDE PLANT
The cyanide plant provides good evidence of the technological changes in extraction processes. The earliest parts of that area date from the 1890s and continued to be added and modified until the 1960s. The structure should be conserved in its present condition with the exception of parts of the structure which are missing or have deteriorated and which will cause further deterioration if left unchecked. They include the section of the roof over the vats and tank which is missing and sections of timber framing.
Policy 27: The structure of the cyanide plant should be conserved in its present condition. Repairs and reconstruction of elements is acceptable where they are causing further deterioration of other elements on the structure.
The equipment in the Cyanide Plant is virtually complete. With a little interpretation, it has the ability to demonstrate how the plant operated.
Policy 28: Equipment at the Cyanide Plant should generally be maintained in its present condition. Where rusting or corrosion is evident, it should be treated to prevent further deterioration. Some conservation treatment of the 1892 timber-lined vats may be required. Missing or broken drive-belts should be reinstated and/or repaired. Basic maintenance of former moving parts (eg greasing and oiling bearings on line shafts) should be undertaken. The motor sheds should be made secure.
It may be necessary to remove some of the finely ground sands within the agitator vats to promote conservation of the metal elements. The advice of a metals conservator should be sought.
Vegetation growing in and around the Cyanide Plant should be removed especially in the concrete lined Sand Leacher at the northern end of the four agitator vats.
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 50
T AILINGS PITS
There is evidence of three sets of tailing pits on the site. All the tailings pits should be stabilised. The southern-most set of pits on the bank of Gladstone Creek and outside the current Battery fence should be cleaned out and conserved. Care must be taken not to inadvertently remove the remains of the ash pit located nearby.
Policy 29: The tailings pits should be conserved by cleaning out and stabilising.
This work should be carried out under the supervision of an archaeologist to ensure that any evidence found during this work is properly recorded and used to inform the process.
T HE WEIGHBRIDGE
The weighbridge which includes the hut and bridge are an integral component of the site.
Policy 30: The weighbridge should be conserved in it present condition.
Although the weighbridge building was rebuilt in 1953 following a storm the building should be conserved in its present form.
T OILET BLOCK
The toilet block may be an early structure on the site. Similarly the earth closet toilet adjacent is of an unknown date and significance.
Policy 31: The toilet block should not be removed until further research clarifies their significance.
It is not proposed that the present toilet block be extended and modified to satisfy new visitor expectations and ultimately a new building should be constructed elsewhere. In the short term it may remain in its present use.
G LADSTONE CREEK
Gladstone Creek is an important part of the site as it determined the siting of the first battery adjacent to a good supply of water essential throughout the process. The section of creek including the vegetation within the site boundary is presently overgrown making it difficult to see the weir or the dam wall. The vegetation in the weir should be managed by the removal of vegetation. The water supply pipe work provides evidence of the connection between the creek and the buildings. It is elevated on timber posts on the eastern side of the battery and should be repaired and reinstated.
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 51
Policy 32: The vegetation in the weir should be removed and managed on an ongoing basis. The vegetation on the creek bank should be managed in a manner so that erosion is not aggravated.
Policy 33: The dam wall should be conserved and the timber structures repaired.
Policy 34: The water supply pipe work elevated on timber posts on the eastern side of the battery should be repaired and reinstated.
The importance of the weir to the complex will be better understood by the regular management of vegetation in the creek. There is some opportunity for visitors to the site to make use of the edge of the creek for picnics. This facility should be low key and not involve the introduction of substantial picnic shelters or changes to the character of the landscape.
5.6 V ISITORS
Visitors are the key to the conservation and ongoing use of the site and should be seen as a necessary part of the future of the Battery. Given the national significance of the site there is an even greater opportunity to explain the various aspects of the history to a range of visitors. The number of visitors in recent years has not reflected the importance of the site.
V ISITOR EXPECTATION
Visitors coming to the Venus Battery will expect to be entertained and to take from their experience a new understanding of this place and of history more generally. A key issue is the capacity of the Battery to maintain interest over a long period and to attract return visits.
Policy 35: The presentation and interpretation of the Venus Battery should be an evolving and developing process. There is an opportunity to tell a range of stories associated with the battery, with gold production and with Charters Towers. The richness of the Venus Battery’s history offers a wide opportunity to vary displays and stories. Modern audiences are used to quickly changing information and there is a growing expectation among visitors that places such as the Venus Battery will provide an evolving and growing interpretation.
V ISITOR FACILITIES
Presentation of the Venus Battery as a place available to the public will require additional facilities such as toilets and provision for serving refreshments.
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 52
Policy 36: The provision of refreshments and toilets should be in accordance with the broader policies for management of the site and not compromise the historic integrity or significance of the place. There is a long tradition that visitors to historic places are served refreshments and it is likely that visitors to the Venus Battery will sustain that expectation. Some opportunity exists for refreshments to be served along the banks of the creek or as a part of the new arrival and orientation structure. It may involve the sale of pre-packaged food or the use of modern vending machines which will require minimal staffing.
Toilets too are an essential adjunct to any historic property. The present toilets are inadequate and modification as well as an additional building will need to be constructed.
A CCESS
In any publicly accessible facility there will need to be provision for safe and equitable access. These issues are sometimes difficult to resolve in historic properties where the provision of ramps, higher levels of lighting, and the like sometimes can compromise the integrity of the place.
Policy 37: The provision of access for the both abled and disabled should be considered in any plans for the conservation or future development of the Venus Battery. Within the historic fabric this work should be carried out in a manner which respects the integrity of the place. Dealing with equitable access in historic places can sometimes cause major modifications which are not always in the best interest of the property. At the Venus Battery accessibility is a primary concern and should be a major consideration in dealing with visitors generally. Walkways and ramps which provide not only equitable but safe access for all visitors are one way of dealing with this issue.
THE VENUS BATTERY 5 CONSERVATION POLICY n 53
27 The potential access around the site and the building is equitable for all persons. A system of timber boardwalk with balustrading is proposed to provide an even surface and to reduce the safety hazards for visitors. [Allom Lovell]
THE VENUS BATTERY 6 IMPLEMENTATION n 54
6 IMPLEMENTATION
ollowing the completion of the conservation and management plan, Fthe steering committee for Charters Towers Queensland Heritage Trails Project will be faced with the question of which action is more urgent in order to bring the Venus Battery to a state envisaged in the conservation and management plan. There may be some temptation to begin with actions that are visible but some restraint will be necessary in order to put in place the necessary management systems and infrastructure to accommodate these initiatives. Policy implementation in the short to medium term should therefore include the following actions:
P REPARE INTERPRETATION PLAN
An interpretation plan should be prepared for the site which explores the stories to be told and the most appropriate means of telling them given the cultural significance of the place.
P REPARE SCHEMATIC DESIGNS FOR THE ADAPTATION OF THE COMPLEX
Prepare sketch plans for the adaptation and use of the complex based on the business plan and the conservation plan.
D OCUMENT CONSERVATION AND ADAPTATION WORKS
Working drawings and specifications should be prepared setting out the necessary works required to the complex and for the design of adaptation work. It should also include the removal of intrusive elements.
O BTAIN STATUTORY APPROVALS INCLUDING QHC APPROVAL
The necessary statutory approval should be obtained for the documented works. Of particular note will be the preparation of an application with the Queensland Heritage Council.
D OCUMENT INTERPRETATION WORKS
The interpretation works for the complex should be documented. They may also include the preparation of brochures and material.
C ONSTRUCTION WORKS
The construction of the conservation work and new works should then be carried out.
THE VENUS BATTERY 6 IMPLEMENTATION n 55
I NTERPRETATION WORKS
The physical aspects of the interpretation of the site should then be carried out. Co-ordination will be required as some of the works may be carried out as a part of the earlier construction works stage. For example for the wiring of specialist lighting or sound to highlight the various parts of the site.
THE VENUS BATTERY 7 APPENDIX n 56
7 APPENDIX
his chapter contains additional information that supports the T findings of the main text including end notes that provide the bibliographic references to the sources used in the research for this report.
It also contains the condition of the battery, in particular the main mill building and the cyanide plant complex. The buildings were inspected in August 2000, with reference to documentation of previous repair works. Base drawings used were supplied by the National Trust of Queensland. The inspection was of the buildings rather than equipment and machinery. Accompanying drawings show specific observations and their positions.
7.1 R ECENT W ORKS
Repairs to the buildings have been undertaken by the National Trust on a regular basis since at least the early 1980’s. The extent and nature of these repairs has been dependant on funding availability and has largely been driven by urgent needs relating to weatherproofing and structural safety. No major repair programme has been carried out over the whole complex at any one time.
There has been some reconstruction of ancillary elements such as the tank supporting structure but these have received a lower priority than the buildings proper.
The most recent works were to the main building, completed in 1999. The work included patching of concrete floors, replacement of a truss upper chord, some new steel and concrete bases to timber posts, replacement of a section of roofing and repair and replacement of several beams and posts.
Other repair works since the early 1980’s have included:
¨ 1993/4 Repairs to the main building, primarily to the north -east side, with post repairs, brickwork repairs, and repairs to wall cladding. At this time, repairs were made to the later 1950’s roof structure to the cyanide plant (agitator vats 5-7).
¨ 1991 Repairs to the gold room and the roof structures over the clarifying vats and agitator vats 1 and 2. Roof repairs to the main building (southern corner). Repairs to the dam gates.
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¨ 1986 Roof and general structural repairs to the main building. (Bi-centennial works)
¨ 1984 Storm damage repairs which included repairs and stabilisation to both motor sheds at the cyanide plant and to the weighbridge.
¨ 1981 General repairs to the main building and the cyanide plant.
7.2 C ONDITION
The approach taken over the last twenty or so years with the conservation of the buildings has been to stabilise and repair only those sections or elements where decay or damage is most extensive or where necessary for the safety of visitors to the battery. In some cases, reconstruction has been undertaken to assist in the interpretation of the place.
The present condition of the buildings reflects that approach in that it is not of a uniform standard. There are areas and elements recently repaired or replaced and others where extensive decay and deterioration is evident, and various levels of condition in between. As with all timber framed buildings, the entry of water and termites requires regular monitoring and attention and has been the cause of most decay and deterioration.
S TRUCTURE G ENERALLY
A recent survey of the main building structure was carried out by Geoff West, Structural Conservation Engineer, in March 2000. His report identified several areas of particular concern which included decay to a roof truss bottom chord, the structural adequacy of a roof beam cut for machinery, split posts, rafter decay and post base decay. These items have not yet been addressed beyond the pricing of several items and sourcing of some timber by builders RM Pope Pty Ltd.
The inspection undertaken as part of this report included viewing where possible of the items noted in the Geoff West report. The condition does not appear to have worsened since his inspection. These defects are noted on the accompanying drawing together with the other observations made during the recent inspection.
The cyanide plant area, or the other structures on the site, were not addressed in the Geoff West report. The cyanide plant structure comprises several timber framed roof structures over tanks and vats, as well as two small motor rooms and a gold room.
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This inspection found decay and damage in several areas and a complete section of roofing and some associated framing missing. Like the main battery building, repairs to the cyanide plant have been carried out progressively in stages as the need has arisen, and the condition of the structure varies accordingly.
Some post bases and roof framing members have decayed and several rafters are missing. The machine room adjacent to agitator vat 1 has a split and misaligned corner post and missing roofing.
The gold room was repaired extensively in 1991 and appears to be in good general condition.
The Assay office/caretaker’s residence appears to be sound as does the weighbridge hut and the toilet block. These buildings were not inspected internally.
R OOFS
All roofing is unpainted corrugated galvanised steel. The sheeting appears to be of varying age with some material to the main building replaced as recently as 1999.
The roof to the main building appears mostly sound although sheet edges to the eastern skillion roof have visible rusting. Elsewhere there are visible small holes in various locations. Externally there is some surface rust to varying degrees. The low roof over the storeroom in the south-west corner has loose nails and is littered with nails discarded from previous repair work.
A section of the roof to the cyanide plant is missing, over and adjacent to agitator vat 1.
G UTTERS AND D OWNPIPES
The main building has galvanised steel ogee gutters, most of which are relatively recent and in good condition. There is no gutter to the northern end of the main hipped roof. Downpipes are recent and in good condition, although in some places the ends allow water to discharge immediately adjacent to the timber posts. No gutters and downpipes are fitted to the cyanide plant complex.
W ALL S HEETING
Like the roofing, the corrugated galvanised steel cladding has been progressively repaired and replaced. Generally it is in good condition and with a varying amount of surface rust and loose fittings in some places. Several sheets are missing to the south-west corner of the main building and to the cyanide plant.
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F LOORS – MAIN B UILDING
The floor comprises bare earth and concrete topping over brick, with tanks, pits and troughs under and around the plant equipment. Some of these are covered with timber boarding and the electrical room has a timber floor.
The concrete appears in places such as the raking out area to be thinly laid over bricks. It is in fair condition and some within the present tour route has recently been patched. A section of the floor and the supporting brickwork to its edge is subsiding at the north-west corner. Surfaces are uneven with several steps and level changes.
The raised timber floor adjacent to the former steam engine mounts is missing in parts and decayed. The Geoff West report identified potential weaknesses in the brick paving which spans the former flue tunnels in the boiler area.
T HE E XTERIOR G ENERALLY – MAIN B UILDING
The plant and equipment and supporting structure was not inspected in detail although several areas of decay were noted.
There is extensive decay to the framing and lining boards to the receiving ore bins. The horizontal timber logs which support the feed ore bins have a large amount of surface splitting and delamination.
Repairs documented by the National Trust in 1998 included reconstruction of the loading dock to the north -east side of the main building and retrieval and reinstatement of timber launders, or troughs, which run among the outside wall on that side. This work was not carried out and the dock and launders remain in poor condition, with many components displaced and possibly missing.
Timber brackets which support the launders were reconstructed as part of the 1993/94 repairs.
The small dock in the eastern corner has most decking missing and there is evidence of recent termite activity to one of the posts to the water tank.
7.3 C ONSERVATION WORKS
The recommended approach for further repairs to the building follows that which has prevailed since the 1980’s. That is, the repairs should only be carried out where they are most needed in order to address structural defects, prevent further decay, provide safety to visitors, and where necessary to assist with the interpretation of the place. Repair of individual elements should continue to be given preference over replacement. The numbers after specific items eg. E1, M1, C1, S1, relate
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to items marked on the accompanying drawings. ‘E’ relates to items identified in the engineer’s report, ‘M’ relates to other items to the main building ‘C’ the cyanide plant and ‘S’ the site in general.
F URTHER INVESTIGATION
Most items identified in the structural engineer’s report will require further investigation and documentation before they can be rectified. In some cases alternatives will need to be considered in order to avoid excessive intrusion of new structure. The following inspections are also recommended:
§ Termite Inspection
As recommended by the engineer, a full termite inspection should be carried out by a licensed pest controller, with areas of attack identified and treated as necessary. Structural damage found as part of the inspections should be reported.
§ Post Bases
All bases of structural posts should be tested to ascertain the extent of hollowing so that remedial work can be carried out if necessary.
§ Electrical Services
An inspection of all electrical services in the buildings should be made by a qualified electrician to determine their adequacy and safety, with a report provided recommending any remedial work required. This would not include electrical plant and equipment which may be subject to separate further investigation.
§ Structure Supporting Plant and Equipment
These components were not inspected as part of this report or the earlier structural engineer’s report. Post bases should be tested as for the building, and beams and other load-bearing members should be inspected and tested. The adequacy of these will be dependent on whether the equipment is to be used or remain static and whether the public will have access to them.
In addition, it is recommended that a system of fire detectors and alarms be provided in the main building.
§ Inspection of Roofing
While there are holes and areas of corrosion visible, the extent to which these are allowing water entry is best determined during a
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period of heavy rain Similarly the effectiveness of gutters, downpipes and drainage adjacent to he buildings can only properly checked when they are carrying rainwater.
S TRUCTURAL R EPAIRS – MAIN B UILDING
All items identified in the March 2000 Geoff West report should be addressed, with priority given to those defects where there is particular concern about the “factor of safety” ie.
§ The roof beam(s) severed to clear a conveyor and puller (E1) § A stump which is off-set from a roof beam (E2) § Termite decay in a rafter and two hip rafters. (E3, E4) § Termite decay to the south-west inner truss of the main hipped roof. (E5) The first and last of these items have been priced by RM Pope Pty Ltd, although the roof beam repair costed is “temporary”. Most repairs in the engineer’s report will require further design and documentation before they can be costed and constructed. The other items recommended are as follows:
§ Check of bolted splices a quarter of the way up some truss top chords. § Repairs to split stumps (2 off) (E6) § Repairs to catwalk balustrade and handrail. (The engineer recommends that these be designed to AS1657 but any changes to existing appearance should be carefully considered). (E7) § Repairs to a collapsing beam end and corresponding hollow support stump. (E8). § Check of half-checked joints to a roof support beam. (E9) § Repair decayed rafter end 150x50. (M14)
S TRUCTURAL R EPAIRS – C YANIDE P LANT
Additional repairs may be identified as part of the recommended investigations but the following repairs, subject to further design and documentation, should be made based on the recent inspection.
§ Replace a decayed post adjacent to the solution tank, 200 diameter. (C1) § Replace split corner post to motor shed, 100x100. (C2) § Replace a 6metre length of 150x50 roof beam adjacent to vat 3. (C3)
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§ Replace a 1.5metre length of decayed 150x50 roof beam adjacent to the solution tank. (C4) § Replace 2 missing rafters, 125x50, over vat 1. (C5) § Replace decayed ends to 3 rafters near vat 3. (C6) § Prop roof adjacent to vat 5 and replace barge board. (C7)
R OOF AND R AINWATER G OODS – MAIN B UILDING
No major repair or replacement of roofing or rainwater goods is recommended, apart from the following:
§ Check all fixings generally. Re-nail where loose or missing. § Dress down sheet laps and edges where necessary. § Remove rubbish from roofs and gutters. § Insert slip sheets of galvanised steel to skillion roof where edges corroded, 30m length. (M3) § Fit ends to 4 existing downpipes to direct water away from the posts. (M1) § Fit new ogee guttering to the north-east end of the main hipped roof, 16 metres, and a 100mm diameter downpipe. (It should be confirmed by further investigation that there were gutters originally to this part of the roof.) (M2)
R OOF AND R AINWATER G OODS - CYANIDE P LANT
A section of the roof over the vats and tank is missing and should be replaced to protect the structure and equipment.
§ Replace missing roofing, approximately 75 square metres, including roof battens. (C8) § Replace roofing to 50% of motor room, 6 square metres, including battens. (C9) § Replace two missing or damaged roof sheets over vat 2. (C10) § Replace 6 metres roof batten near vat 3 where beam replaced. (C11) § Check all fixings, re-nail where loose or missing. § Dress down sheet laps and edges where necessary. § Remove rubbish from roofs.
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W ALL S HEETING – MAIN B UILDING
§ Check all fixings and replace where loose, particularly at sheet laps and edges. § Replace two horizontal 100x50 rails, each approximately 4 metres, replace three missing galvanised steel sheets, and refix remainder, western corner. (M4) § Refix sheets and flashings over shutters to electrical room. (M5) § Refix two sheets, replace one missing sheet and bottom rail 100x50, 3 metres long to northern corner. (M6)
W ALL SHEETING - CYANIDE P LANT
§ Replace 5 metre length of 100 x 75 rail and refix sheeting. (C12) § Replace missing cladding to end wall adjacent vat 1, nominally 12 square metres, with 2 no. horizontal 100x50 rails, each 6 metres. (Confirm extent by further investigation). (C13)
F LOORS – MAIN BUILDING
§ The collapsing concrete and brick floor to the east corner should be repaired. This will include reconstructing the brick retain wall to the edge of the building, relaying the brick paving and covering with concrete screed (nominally 40 square metres). (M15) § The raised timber floor adjacent to the former steam engine should be reconstructed. (M16)
T HE E XTERIOR G ENERALLY – MAIN B UILDING
§ Replace decayed timber to the two receiving ore bins to the western corner. (M7) § Replace a decayed 150 diameter horizontal rail to the north-east elevation. (M8) § Refix a hanging post end to the east corner. (M9) § Scarf in a new end to a 100x100 post and refix to the east corner. (M10) § Reconstruct two timber shutters to the electrical room, subject to availability of physical evidence. (M11)
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§ Reconstruct the loading dock and the launders as documented by the National Trust in 1998. (M12) § Replace decking to the small dock to the east corner. (M13) § Carry out termite inspection to posts supporting the tank. (M17)
O THER WORKS
§ The door frame and door to the small pump shed on the eastern boundary should be reconstructed (S1). § Clear out vats and tanks to cyanide plant. Treat rust to sheet metal components of agitators (C15). § Remove vegetation in and around cyanide plant and vats (C14) § Remove vegetation from pits (S2) § Remove vegetation and soil from covered pits (S3) § Reinstate elevated pipes to east – replace 5 no. 150x150 hwd posts 4 metres long (1200 in ground), refix pipes. (S4) § Remove vegetation adjacent to dam wall, dredge out each side of dam (S5).
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28 Proposed conservation works to the site. [Allom Lovell]
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29 The proposed conservation works for the mill building. [Allom Lovell]
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30 The proposed conservation works to the cyanide plant. [Allom Lovell]
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7.4 E STIMATES OF COST
Estimates of cost for the works have been prepared by Napier Blakely quantity surveyors. The costs have been divided into conservation works identified in the previous section and “the vision” works identified in the vision and policy chapters.
In summary the estimated cost for the stabilisation works for the main building is $90,495, the estimated costs for the stabilisation of the cyanide plant id $15,013, the estimated costs for the external works is $12,300, the estimated costs for ‘the vision’ is $173,830 and an allowance of $43, 745 has been made for preliminaries and the locality.
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7.5 C RUSHING RECORD
The following table gives the figures of tons of ore crushed at the Venus Battery and the ounces of gold extracted.48
YEAR ORE (TONS) GOLD (OUNCES)
1872 5, 288 11, 374 1873 10, 078 18, 561 1874 11, 331 18, 517 1875 11, 460 15, 696 1876 12, 724 17, 256 1877 8, 069 12, 372 1878 6, 988 7, 649 1879 8, 340 16, 755 1880 6, 652 14, 318 1881 7, 087 8, 771 1882 7, 597 10, 106 1883 6, 147 9, 794 1884 2, 692 4, 025 1885 7, 278 9, 645 1886 7, 084 9, 366 1887 5, 484 7, 339 1888 2, 642 2, 577 1889 3, 422 3, 751 1890 2, 830 4, 106 1891 7, 417 12, 921 1892 9, 272 16, 018 1893 10, 435 15, 109 1894 8, 901 8, 699 1895 9, 789 8, 820 1896 6, 076 8, 039 1897 9, 609 11, 305 1898 11, 218 12, 814 1899 12, 508 13, 397 1900 10, 452 11, 376 1901 11, 649 13, 176 1902 20, 776 26, 375 1903 23, 654 25, 869 1904 22, 016 20, 261 1905 8, 426 8, 926 1906 9, 466 9, 588 1907 6, 743 6, 728 1908 15, 252 12, 674 1909 16, 768 19, 403 1910 6, 976 6, 440 1911 10, 965 7, 359 1912 11, 701 9, 443
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1913 5, 749 4, 332 1914 7, 875 6, 358 1915 4, 674 5, 652 1916 724 1, 083
7.6 N OTES
1 17 February 1872, quoted in Michael Brumby, Charters Towers new century new nation 1901, p. 8. 2 21 February 1872, quoted in Diane Menghetti, ‘The gold mines of Charters Towers’, in KH Kennedy (ed), Readings in north Queensland mining history (Townsville: James Cook University 1982) p. 51. 3 Sydney Mail, 17 August 1895, p. 332. 4 John Kerr, ‘Queensland rail heritage report’, 1993, Volume 1, p. 3- 55. 5 Elena Springer (ed), Charters Towers centenary 1872-1972, p. 17. 6 Quoted in Michael Brumby, Charters Towers new century new nation 1901, p. 9. 7 Margaret Pullar and Robert Riddel, ‘Australian Bank of Commerce, Charters Towers: A conservation plan prepared for Dalrymple Shire Council’, 1993, p. 5. 8 Geoffrey Blainey, The rush that never ended: a history of Australian mining (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993) p. 98. 9 Geoffrey Blainey, The rush that never ended, p. 98. 10 Diane Menghetti, ‘The gold mines of Charters Towers’, in KH Kennedy (ed), Readings in north Queensland mining history, pp. 81-3. 11 See Diane Menghetti, I remember: memories of Charters Towers, p. 5. 12 “Charters Towers: old timers recall its great gold era”, Mimag, May 1961, p. 16, quoted in Ross Fitzgerald, From the dreaming to 1915: a history of Queensland (St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1982) p. 167. 13 Geoffrey Blainey, The rush that never ended, pp. 97-9. 14 Geoffrey Blainey, The rush that never ended, p. 194. 15 LW Marsland (comp), The Charters Towers gold mines: a descriptive and historical account of the town and goldfield of Charters Towers, Queensland (London: Waterlow Bros, 1892) p. 3. 16 Sydney Mail, 17 August 1895. 17 Geoffrey Blainey, The rush that never ended, p. 279. 18 DH Johnson, The Venus battery and Millchester (self published, 1992) p. 3. 19 Diane Menghetti, ‘The gold mines of Charters Towers’, in KH Kennedy (ed), Readings in north Queensland mining history, p. 52. 20 DH Johnson, The Venus battery and Millchester, p. 4. 21 Ravenswood Miner, 20 April 1872, quoted in DH Johnson, The Venus battery and Millchester, p. 4.
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22 Ravenswood Miner, 22 June 1872, quoted in DH Johnson, The Venus battery and Millchester, p. 5. 23 DH Johnson, The Venus battery and Millchester, p. 5. 24 Diane Menghetti, ‘The gold mines of Charters Towers’, in KH Kennedy (ed), Readings in north Queensland mining history, p. 52. 25 Diane Menghetti, ‘The gold mines of Charters Towers’, in KH Kennedy (ed), Readings in north Queensland mining history, p. 68. 26 DH Johnson, The Venus battery and Millchester, p. 5. 27 “Venus crushing book”, quoted in DH Johnson, The Venus battery and Millchester, p. 5. 28 DH Johnson, The Venus battery and Millchester, p. 6. 29 William Lees,The goldfields of Queensland: Charters Towers goldfield (Brisbane: Outridge Printing Company, 1899) p. 8. 30 Diane Menghetti, ‘The gold mines of Charters Towers’, in KH Kennedy (ed), Readings in north Queensland mining history, pp. 100- 2. 31 Diane Menghetti, ‘The gold mines of Charters Towers’, in KH Kennedy (ed), Readings in north Queensland mining history, pp. 100- 2. 32 William Lees,The goldfields of Queensland, p. 8. 33 Socialism at work: how the Queensland government succeeded in profitably establishing state ventures where the needs of the people called for state competition or state monopoly (Brisbane: Government Printer, 1918). 34 Department of Mines correspondence, held in National Trust research files. 35 Department of Mines correspondence, held in National Trust research files. 36 Ray Oliver, ‘Venus gold battery: strategy plan’, p. 27. 37 Department of Mines correspondence, 1948, held in National Trust research files. 38 Ray Oliver, ‘Venus gold battery: strategy plan’, p. 66. 39 National Trust of Queensland Act 1963, preamble. 40 Ray Oliver, Venus gold battery: strategy plan’, p. 84. 41 This information is taken from DH Johnson, The Venus battery and Millchester, pp. 10-1. 42 ‘The Australia ICOMOS Charter for the conservation of places of cultural significance ( the Burra charter)’ reprinted in Peter Marquis-Kyle and Meredith Walker, The illustrated Burra Charter: making good decisions about the care of important places. (Sydney: Australia ICOMOS, 1994) p. 69. 43 James Semple Kerr, The conservation plan: a guide to the preparation of conservation plans for places of European cultural significance (Sydney: National Trust of Australia (NSW), 1996) p. 4. 44 Diane Menghetti, ‘The gold mines of Charters Towers’, in KH Kennedy (ed), Readings in north Queensland mining history, p. 107. 45 JH Reid, The Charters Towers goldfield (Brisbane: Queensland Department of Mines, 1917) p. 30.
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46 Janet Hogan, Building Queensland’s heritage (Brisbane: National Trust of Queensland, 1978) p. 56. 47 Howard Pearce and Jane Lennon, Mining Heritage Places Study, p. 117. 48 This information is taken from DH Johnson, The Venus battery and Millchester, p. 20.