Refractory Kiln Glen Dart
Known as the Refractory Kiln at Glen Dart.
Located: at the La Mascotte Gold Battery Site and Chlorination Works on Sipthorpe Track, near the Little Dart River in the Glen Dart historic area (VHR H1276; HI H8424-0021). From Corryong, approach via Benambra–Corryong Road and the Glen Dart forest-road network. The final approach is remote and unsealed; Parks Victoria reports fire impacts to tracks and visitor infrastructure in this area. The exact vehicle stopping point, current 2WD/4WD access and walking distance to the furnace remain unconfirmed. The GPS below is the reference point for the registered heritage site, which extends 150 m around it, rather than a surveyed position of the furnace itself.
History
The La Mascotte Gold Battery and Chlorination Works has been well scavenged but still retains a 60ft long roasting furnace. The furnace is constructed of rivetted iron panels and its interior still retains some of its brickwork. The La Mascotte Company erected the furnace (a mechanically rabbled one) on the site in 1897. The chlorination works proved unprofitable and was eventually closed in 1903.
The La Mascotte Gold Battery is historically and scientifically important as a characteristic and well preserved example of an important form of gold mining. When the greater part of the gold in some ores is contained in its pyritical contents, the gold is very difficult to extract. From the mid nineteenth century miners experimented with various metallurgical (or heat treatment) processes to unlock gold from heavily mineralised ore. Evidence of these metallurgical processes, such as the one carried out by the La Mascotte Company from 1897-1903, are extremely rare in the State of Victoria.
References
Victorian Heritage Database - La Mascotte
GPS reference: -36.51891, 147.76829 (registered-site reference point, Victoria Government Gazette, 16 November 2023; approximate for locating the furnace).