On Tuesday 22^nd October Mrs Kent’s Year 9 and Year 10 Science classes went on an excursion to the Barossa Goldfields and Museum, The Mantina Quarries and the Kapunda Copper Mine. The Year 10 students just finished a unit of work on Mining and this excursion was a way of seeing for themselves the hardships that Miners would have experienced and to see the differences between an underground mine and an open-cut mine.

The volunteers at the Barossa Goldfields explained how the gold was mined in this area and showed our students how gold was panned, and they gave us samples of different types of gold to look at. The volunteers explained how the miners were given licences (they were given a 10 metre square plot in which to mine and live; and at one point in time there were over 4,000 miners at the goldfield), they estimated that over 100,000 ounces of gold was taken out of the goldfields; they are not entirely sure as the gold was often taken to Victoria to sell as they were offering more money for the gold than the South Australian Government. Our students were given a tour of the Museum and then went on a walking trail down to the mines, where our guide explained how the miners worked in the mines (usually in pairs; one down the shaft and one above ground).

After our tour we headed off to Kapunda to Mantina Quarries where Rino and Michael hopped on our bus and took us down to the pits, they managed our safety by keeping radio contact with truck drivers and equipment operators whilst we were there. They explained what they mined (wide range of aggregates, road base materials and ready-mix concrete), how they broke up the rocks from the quarry and how they did their ‘blasting.’ Rino says that at the current rate of production they plan to be around for the next 100 years. When we arrived Rino gave our class a box of goodies (a hat, note pad and pen).

We then headed for the Kapunda Copper Mine where we had something to eat before walking the 1.5 km trail around the mine. There were lots of signs up for our class to read and learn about different aspects of the mine (smelting, transport, treatment plant, underground mining, Pickers, Tommyknockers, the Engine House, and The Whim). Our class particularly liked The Whim, which is used to haul materials from the underground mine to the surface and is horse drawn. The horse walks around in one direction to drop the drum down the shaft and is turned around to walk in the opposite direction to bring the drum back up to the surface.

Sharon Kent