1874
Glass photonegative
This is the unusual, six-legged poppet head of the Clarence United mine in Eaglehawk, 6 km from Bendigo. Because of the difficulty and expense of mining quartz reefs at depths over 1000 metres, public companies were formed. Clarence United was just one of over 800 company mines in the Bendigo area, which from 1851 to 1954 produced a total of 860 tonnes of gold.
The revelations in some of our deep mines, which must now shortly be made, will be looked for with infinite interest and curiosity. Should they render it manifest that rich deposits of gold exist in the matrix at considerable depths, a new impetus will be given to mining enterprise; Bendigo will again attain the enviable reputation of being one of the richest and most enduring goldfields in the world; the spirits of weary shareholders on whom the burden of call-paying has long pressed very heavily, will be revived, and capitalists will once more be induced to invest in our mines. [Bendigo Advertiser, 20 March 1875, p2]
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