The Red Robin Mine - Victoria's Last Gold Rush

Position
DEG: -36.940651 147.158096
DMS: 36º 56' 26.34" S 147º 09' 29.15" E
UTM: 55 H 5911700mN 514078mE
Altitude: 1582m

Red Robin Mine is located between Mount Hotham and Mount Feathertop on the Machinery Spur track. Willian (Bill) Spargo discovered gold there in 1940, initiating Victoria’s last gold rush. This mine became not only the richest (112 ounces per ton) but also the highest (altitude) in Victoria. It is considered significant to the state of Victoria and is registered by the Heritage Council of Victoria.

Since its discovery, the Red Robin mine has been worked virtually continuously until it was abandoned relatively recently (late 1990s?). Although Spargo sold his mine in 1952 subsequent miners continued to use traditional methods relying on their own brands of inventiveness to counter the difficulties posed by extreme Alpine conditions. The site contains a fascinating blend of old and new elements including huts, adits, mullock heaps, tracks, roads, sand dams, and mining equipment.

The mine was still operating up until the 1990s however is now abandoned. Remnants of the machinery & buildings are still around.

Adventurers can visit both the mine site and the battery via Machinery Spur, which is a very steep switchback track. The track is used by both hikers (en route between Mount Hotham and Falls Creek) and 4x4 drivers. I believe that the Machinery Spur Track is gated & locked. Permission to traverse this track is most likely available from the Hotham Information Centre.

Footnote: Interestingly Bill found the mine when he was alerted to a quarts outcrop by a bird, on closer examination he found it to be a rich gold-bearing quarts vein.
Imagine what this lone hermit prospector could have found if he had a detector back then.

Strangely after he sold out his interest in the mine he shifted up to Queensland and purchased a taxi business which he ran for the rest of his working life!
I have never been able to understand prospectors who have been able to give the game away like that and take up other pursuits.

It just goes to show that there are shallow gold-bearing outcrops in the Victorian high country capable of being found with metal detectors, but be warned most of this country is out of bounds for legal prospecting so you could get a slap on the wrist if caught doing so illegally.

I hope not all your stories are coming from a tourist guide site!
Plagiarism without quoting makes me think you're a phony.
Will have to re read your other story again with fresh eyes now.
exploroz.com/places/154630/vic+red-robin-mine-ruins#rqc_pane_description

Red robin mine ….
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KDexpMBAs6M&pp=ygUNZ2VvbG9neSBmaWxtcw%3D%3D

It is better to keep a low profile in my experience.
The masses best stick to the rules.

Still have a sore butthole I see dave68, try some anulsol ointment it might help you.

I put up the above as an inspiration of what can still be found in the more inaccessible places in Victoria for those who are willing to think outside the box and do a bit of exploring and hiking, instead of trashing the Golden Triangle for flyshit gold.

I see that is lost on most of you on here as you are nothing but deadbeats who couldn't find any gold on your own if your life depended on it.

Continue to brown-nose the forums if you think that a slipup out of someone's butthole will be of benefit to you.

Fucking useless morons, and then you wonder why nothing of interest is posted on the forums by anyone anymore.

Thanks for the article Old Digger it was interesting as was the video Goodman. Dave who gives a rats arse where the article came from.

Old Digger, seeing as how you have an interest in remote mining sites you might like to research the Stagg and Olsen mine at Combienbar. I had a number of holdings in Combienbar where for a while I worked a MRC on a terrace deposit there. I also had a contact re the Red Robin. For one reason or another I never got to mine the best prospect in that valley, but the grade was as good as I ever saw.

Far East Gippsland and The Combienbar Valley:
https://www.oddhistory.com.au/gippsland/far-east-gippsland-and-the-combienbar-valley/

Gippsland Gold, The Combienbar Valley:
By C.R.C. Pearce.

Twenty years ago, I visited the Combienbar, when writing a series of articles to illustrate the trials of pioneers of East Gippsland through lack of good roads, and stayed a night at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Stagg, whose son, Mr. Noel Stagg, and Mr. Conrad Olsen recently discovered a rich gold reef in Errinundra Creek, four miles north of Combienbarr. The valley, set between high, rugged, heavily timbered hills was then a most isolated place. The only means of communication with the outside world was by a bridle track 14 miles long over the range to Club Terrace. In the hills, prospectors were then searching for gold, and the Golden Creek Mine was being worked. Everybody was confident that a payable reef would be found, but it was realised, even in those days of comparatively low mining costs, that the reef or lode would have to be fairly rich in gold contents to yield remunerative results, because the district was so far removed from a good road or a railway. But a great change in communication has come over the scene since then.

When with Councillor John Johnston who was, indeed, ‘guide, philosopher, and friend’, I left Orbost with buggy and pair one sunny morning in July, 1911. Our equipment consisted of two saddles and bridles, an axe, and a rope, and two bags of chaff in case of need of food for the horses. For food for ourselves we had to rely upon three hotels in the huge remote district we were to traverse and upon the hospitality of settlers. The Princes Highway was then only a vision. If I remember rightly, there was but one motor-car in Orbost, and the railway line from Bairnsdale had been surveyed and some clearing done in the forest.

Marlo, at the mouth of the Snowy River near Orbost, was almost the exclusive fishing resort of a few Melbourne doctors, who in fine weather had succeeded, to the wonderment of the settlers, in reaching the little maize port by motor-car, being aided at times by bullock and horse teams. I have since driven by car along the Princes Highway to Mallacoota and have marvelled at the splendid road and the comfortable and even luxurious provision made to travelers along the route. My journey with Councillor Johnstone, despite the occasional hardships, including a nights unrest, during a sharp frost, on a sheet of bark for a mattress, will always be remembered as a delightful experience.


"Stagg and Olsen mine at Combienbar."

Well Reggie, looks like one of her boys (Mrs. Stagg’s stove.)

An Isolated Gully.
https://www.oddhistory.com.au/gippsland/far-east-gippsland-and-the-combienbar-valley/

Club Terrace, which is about 40 miles fom Orbost, was once a mining camp, but when I visited it, tall scrub had covered the clearing where the canvas tents of the alluvial diggers had nestled and the hotel had been destroyed by fire. The small settlement included a store and a schoolhouse. From Club Terrace to Combienbar there is now a good road, but when I was there the road ended at Club Terrace. The diggers must have had rough journey from Orbost to Club Terrace, for even in 1911 we had to cut saplings with the axe and tie them to the axel of the buggy to act as brakes as we descended a track which was mostly a water channel down a steep hill. But prospectors for gold in East Gippsland from the sixties have always had to put up with great hardships.

As we were riding over the range to Combienbar the tinkling of a hidden stream called me from the saddle, and as I left the track Johnston said, ‘Don’t lose yourself.’ In the same country, a home missioner tethered his horse while he made his way first through tall timber and then through a thick jungle of shrubs to the water. The remains of the horse, still tied to the tree were found months later. A settler was lost a year or two later, but he was found and nursed back to life. in his wild wanderings he had stumbled upon a skeleton believed to be that of the lost missioner. Above the treetops on a neighbouring range rose a column of blue smoke. It seemed near by, yet it was one days journey away by hard riding.

Into the fertile Combienbar Valley, when Johnston and I reached it, no vehicle had entered. Supplies came over from Club Terrace on packhorses, and pigs and cattle walked out to market.
Next to man and woman and horses and cattle, the pigs were the pioneers of East Gippsland.

The greatest possession in the valley was Mrs. Stagg’s stove. The appetising smell of Mrs. Stagg’s bread in the baking penetrated to the prospectors in the distant hills. When Noel Stagg was a small boy, he heard many a prospector say, as he jumped off his horse, ‘It was baking day yesterday, Mrs. Stagg. I’m sure it was. We could sniff it up in the hills, and it didn’t seem like damper.’ It was a hard worked stove, hauled over the range after many hours of toil, with the constant fear that by some mishap it should meet the fate of a plough that had toppled down a slope.

So secluded was the valley except to the few prospectors and settlers that the children regarded the sun and moon as their own possessions. A little girl was drawing a pail of water out of the creek, as I was watching the rising sun giving light and shade in his own inimitable way to hill and valley. She followed my eyes and said ‘We all like our sunrise.’ Soon afterwards she added ‘And you ought to see our moon.’ But long before the moon rose, I saw pigs at a call, solemly but cleverly walk a log which crossed a creek and eat for supper such pumpkins and melons as city folk admire at the Show. And nearby grew large violets and mignonette.

There is undoubtedly a great stretch of auriferous country from Combienbar to Bendoc, but the map gives no idea of the difficulties of transport when the main roads are left behind.
Only experienced bushmen can penetrate this wilderness without losing their way. East Gippsland has always kept a close grip of it’s secrets, but there is no reason why prospectors, well guided and well equipped, should not unlock more of it’s hidden treasure.

The above underlined section confirms and validates what old digger is saying IMO.

"I put up the above as an inspiration of what can still be found in the more inaccessible places in Victoria for those who are willing to think outside the box and do a bit of exploring and hiking, instead of trashing the Golden Triangle for flyshit gold."

Combiembar and the whole Croajingolong Area of far East Gippsland have never been of particular interest to me as my early research indicated that the area was
on the whole relatively poor and patchy even for the diggers of old to mine and they worked a lot harder than we do these days.
That is of course not to say that with modern technology and machinery, some areas might not still be worthy of attention and some might pay well to mine.

My earlier prospecting life wanderings took me as far as the Tambo River and some of the rich creeks creeks in that area, I never prospected anything further east of there.
There are lots of interesting reefs, creeks, terrace working, as well sub basaltic working all through Victoria's high country which are worth checking out for the younger, fitter
and more adventurous gold hunters of which there seems to be less and less of with each passing year.

Anyhow, I just posted that article about Bill Sparo because he was one of our last true blue prospectors in Victoria, and his story inspired me to get out of my comfort zone
and try some new more challenging prospecting locations when I first read about him some forty-odd years ago (well before the internet age).

The bushfires in the nineteen eighties revealed just how extensive the old workings in Combienbar were with miles of creek and terrace workings revealed where dense bush had hidden them for so long. The Stagg and Olsen mine on Tiger snake creek yield eighty ounces from the first ton of hand picked stone, but water beat them at about eighty feet. The creek, miss named as the Erinunderra creek, is a tributary of the Combienbar river further south of the valley. The Cobon creek runs from the west into the river and had rich patches in the upper reaches with some pockets yielding over a hundred ounces. I still own a section of this creek and dredged a few spots many years ago, with mixed results. It is wild country and very difficult to access.
To the north of the valley lies Golden gully where there used to be a stamper run by a large water wheel. Dredging this creek yielded amalgam which had escaped from the copper plates of the crusher, which was lifted by helicopter out of the gully and is now on display at Orbost. The once restored water wheel I think succumbed to flood and bushfires.
For those who visit the valley, gold can easily be panned below the water testing station before the concrete bridge leading into the valley. Here the gold is relatively course and a few pickers used to be common.

I couldn't care less where it comes from, was enjoying a read, as long as it's stated it comes from somewhere. Otherwise it's just another Dud, pretending the words of others are their own.
As for old fart, another with an anus attraction!
The reason I picked your article so quick..Was because I'd already read it.

Oh come on Reg, for once in your life tell the truth!
Your combiembar project failed because you fucked up.
It was piss poor ground and that's why it failed not because your mate had an "accident" and you
could not find anyone else to work it with you.
You must think we are all dimwits on here like goodman and dave 68, to believe your fairy stories.
You remind me a lot of Pardee and his Avoca fuckup debacle, always blame the partner for your own failings never yourself.

Creswick Kid wrote:Oh come on Reg, for once in your life tell the truth!
Your combiembar project failed because you fucked up.
It was piss poor ground and that's why it failed not because your mate had an "accident" and you
could not find anyone else to work it with you.
You must think we are all dimwits on here like goodman and dave 68, to believe your fairy stories.
You remind me a lot of Pardee and his Avoca fuckup debacle, always blame the partner for your own failings never yourself.

Do I bite ??? Nah, never touched a QED and retired at 44 with no tattoos.
Dimwit I think not.

Creswick Kid wrote:Oh come on Reg, for once in your life tell the truth!
Your combiembar project failed because you fucked up.
It was piss poor ground and that's why it failed not because your mate had an "accident" and you
could not find anyone else to work it with you.
You must think we are all dimwits on here like goodman and dave 68, to believe your fairy stories.
You remind me a lot of Pardee and his Avoca fuckup debacle, always blame the partner for your own failings never yourself.

Kid did we do something to have the honour of having you here. Do not forget Duds forum, the Knitting Club, Prospecting Australia . A man who has all the answers like yourself,  needs to share himself around , it's just the right thing to do.

Kid, you have never been to Combienbar and only persist in inane snipes. I can only speculate on your state of mind, but you have all the traits of a loser, of which there are a number who have tried and failed. Get over it.

Of course I haven't been to bloody combienbar, only a moron would go to that piss poor godforsaken corner of the state to seek his fortune when there are so many richer
locations much closer to home to mine.
You should have stayed in the triangle where at least the pickings were much easier to obtain on the private properties.
And you recon you had an interest in the Red Robin mine as well eh?
Yeah sure whatever I believe you but thousands wouldn't.
Can't believe so many on here like clay and goodman lap up all your BS as being gospel truth.

Kid do you have anything constructive to say, something of value to share to the forum, something nice to say about anybody ?.So far all l see is a loud mouth obsessive blowhard.

Kid, you seem to have an obsession with private properties. I can only guess that you have had either a few knockbacks or lack the confidence to negotiate with land owners. Whatever the problem, it is yours, not mine. No need to get pissed off with me and make me some sort of scapegoat, just look in the mirror to see the real problem. Just sort out your reflexion and you may no longer feel the need to project your inadequacies on to others.

Creswick kid there was a time when I was deeply frustrated with where I was at in life.
I felt that no matter how hard I tried I was making no progress at all and found myself being a real negative prick on forums, trolling and carrying on like a degenerate fuck wit, much like what you’re doing now.

The thing you don’t understand is Reg has only ever been reasonable to me and even though things have pissed me off at times there is still an element of respect toward the man.
He has put me on to gold more than once and that is more than anyone else has done.

Now if you need to talk to someone about how shitty your life is shoot me a message and I will be happy to listen and offer some tips on overcoming the negativity that holds you back … till then, chin up champ.

Goodman you are about as good a prospector as that shitty creek you take your name from, you know the one near Bull Angarook

And save your pathetic dribble advice for other members of the lunatic asylum who suffer from the same delusional afflictions as yourself.

Creswick Kid wrote:Goodman you are about as good a prospector as that shitty creek you take your name from

Ive never heard of a creek being a prospector before.

Chin up champ

Speaking of Bullangarook, it is not all shitty prospecting ground, there is a stretch of auriferous ground starting a few miles west of Gisbone and continuing
all the way to Blackwood which contains good detectable gold.
There are patches of worked shallow ground all through the areas as well as deeper working in the creeks and some substantial reef mines as well, most are not
marked on the older mines department or more modern maps, so getting off your ass and walking is the only way to find them.
My best piece from here was just under an ounce and interestingly it was well-waterworn and enclosed almost entirely in ironstone rock which took over a month
to finally dissolve in acid and free the gold nugget.
But be warned this is tough overgrown terrain and surprisingly remote for being so close to the Melb metro area, please take a responsible adult with you if you plan
to visit this area, as I won't be held legally responsible if you get lost or injured out there.

Creswick Kid wrote:Goodman you are about as good a prospector as that shitty creek you take your name from, you know the one near Bull Angarook

And save your pathetic dribble advice for other members of the lunatic asylum who suffer from the same delusional afflictions as yourself.

Here you go Goodman, you could say this area has your "name written all over it"      
Could be a sign for you try the area out???    

https://forebears.io/australia/victoria/loddon-mallee-region/shire-of-macedon-ranges/bullengarook#sid43217

Goodman’s Creek runs from north to south, at a distance of half a wile from the township; the Pyrite Creek, which empties itself into the Coimadia Creek, being one mile S.E. from Bullengarook. Mount Blackwood lies about 16 miles S., and Mount Bullengarook about a quarter of a mile N.E. The nearest villages are Gisborne, 8 miles N.E., and Bacchus Marsh, 12 miles S.W. There are no public institutions, and only one hotel, the Shamrock. Although the district generally is an agricultural one, considerable quantities of gold have been obtained in the locality, principally on the Goodman’s and Pyrite Creek; and at the present time a number of men are obtaining payable gold in the several creeks and gullies around the township.

"Please take a responsible adult with you if you plan to visit this area, as I won't be held legally responsible if you get lost or injured out there."

   

It does sounds good doesn’t it, but I guess I have become an incredibly lazy loupe prospector (phd in self taught amateur geology). And now I’m spoilt with living on one of the richest goldfields the world has ever known I don’t really have to do it tough anymore to get my fix of Au.

Creswick Kid wrote:
My best piece from here was just under an ounce and interestingly it was well-waterworn and enclosed almost entirely in ironstone rock which took over a month
to finally dissolve in acid and free the gold nugget.

Was it an old timers throw out because it had no gold showing do you think or was this from unworked ground ?

Sounds very much like that piece may have come from ironstone conglomerate. An old decomposing lead?