One of the earliest quartz reefs worked at Avoca was Hogg’s Reef, discovered in 1856 by a shoemaker named James Hogg. Also known as Township Reef or No. 1 Reef, it lies on a low ridge east of the town. A 1938 report by mining engineer J.P.L. Kenny, gives the history of the reef’s first 80 years
The reef was found to be rich near the surface, producing stone that yielded several ounces of gold per ton. Mining Registrar’s reports record intensive workings between 1859 and 1861, but the stone became poorer with depth and the original workings were eventually abandoned after shafts reached 200 feet.
Despite this disappointment, miners repeatedly returned to the reef. In March 1874, the Ballarat Star reported that the Township Reef, “known as Hogg’s Reef,” had been taken up by two experienced miners who had previously worked at the Monte Christo Reef nearby. The newspaper recalled that the reef had formerly crushed as much as eight ounces of gold per ton, and noted that several tons of quartz had already been raised for treatment. The new owners were said to be well satisfied with the prospects.
In the early twentieth century there was renewed optimism about Hogg’s Reef. In February 1915, the Avoca Free Press reported that Messrs Williamson, Wilson and Hellings were carrying out progressive work on Hogg’s Reef. The stone being extracted was yielding considerably more than one ounce of gold per ton. In June 1917, a miner named E. J. Hallam started another development project, in the belief that the disturbed surface ground had concealed the main lode and that payable stone would be found at greater depth.
In 1936 George Beavis rediscovered payable stone on Beavis’s Reef, adjacent to the original Hogg’s Reef workings. The Hogg’s Reef Company subsequently developed the mine, sinking a new shaft, installing a battery and whim, and by April 1938 it had produced 527.6 ounces of gold from 1,536 tons of ore.
Two years later, on 26 October 1940 the Weekly Times featured the mine in its pictorial spread entitled “Life Is Happy At Avoca,” illustrated with photographs of miners emerging from the shaft for lunch and the mine manager Theo Leonard weighing newly won gold.
Mining reports indicate the mine continued operating through 1941 and into 1942, although declining grades and problems with the crushing plant reduced the mine’s profitability.
Operations appear to have ceased in the early 1940s. In October 1948 The Argus advertised an auction of the “Extensive Mining & Treatment Plant, Buildings, &c.” at Hogg’s Reef Gold Mine, Avoca. The sale of the machinery and treatment plant marked the end of almost ninety years of mining on one of Avoca’s best-known quartz reefs.
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awesome read. would love to see on a map where this mine was!