The Friends of Wattle Gully Gold Mine and the Prospectors and Miners Association have recovered a heritage-listed item stolen from the historic Wattle Gully gold mine at Chewton.
The two groups have been working together since May 2023 in an attempt to protect the former Chewton mine site from continued acts of theft and vandalism.
PMAV president Jason Cornish said they were disappointed to learn that someone had recently broken into the Winding Room and stolen an Indicator Level Gauge – quite a heavy item integral to the Winding Room.
“We launched into action and quickly fast tracked the approval and removal of the last remaining gauge and passed it onto the Maldon Vintage Machinery and Museum for safe keeping,” Mr Cornish said.
The PMAV then posted a $1000 reward for information on the stolen gauge and launched a social media campaign. Posters were put up all over the area and the social media posts were shared 1000s of times among the prospecting and wider community.
“Within four days we were contacted by a couple of prospectors from the Yarra Valley who had stumbled across the stolen gauge dumped in bushland. Obviously there was too much heat on the people who stole it,” Mr Cornish said.
“We are delighted to report it has since been recovered and moved to the Maldon site and we have saved two important pieces of late 19th gold mining equipment.”
