The following report focuses primarily on the technology of gold mining activities in the Sherbrooke Gold District during the latter half of the nineteenth century.
It identifies three periods of gold mining in Goldenville (i.e. The Sherbrooke Gold District): 1861-1872, 1873-1893, and 1894-1906. the report considers the techniques of shaft sinking, underground mining methods employed during the first and third periods. Included within each of the above descriptions is a look at the physical structures and technology used.
The gold mining industry of Nova Scotia was marked by uneven development. Although it is difficult to find detailed descriptions of the structures and processes used in the earliest phase, it seems that the same type of buildings and methods were employed by independent miners or prospectors throughout the period 1894-1906. For example, the shaft structure at he Royal Oak Pit, 1861, ILLUS. 1 had not changed much over a thirty year period when compared with the small shaft houses, Crow's Nest, 1897 ILLUS. 47. Similarly the system of hoisting photographed in Goldenville c. 1920-1930, ILLUS. 19, and in Mount Uniacke, ILLUS. 35, and in Goldenville, 1897, ILLUS. 36, were not substantially different from the methods used during the earliest phase of gold mining in Nova Scotia.
Again, although larger-scale steam equipment was introduced into the various provincial gold fields after the 1880s, ILLUS. 20 miners (independent miners and those affiliated with large companies) continued to work with the primitive sledgehammer and handsteel, ILLUS. 43 & 45. The stamp mill did not change significantly during this forty-year period of mining although the number of stamps per battery increased, as did the weight of the stamps and the height of drop. A major difference in the mill would occur in the construction of the building. More care was expressed in using the surrounding landscape to the mill's advantage. They would build stronger mortar block foundations, and show more concern to construct a stronger building to withstand the continuous vibrations of the stamps.
Another difference would be seen in the power plants. During the 1860s the engines and boilers had a smaller capacity than those of the later period; similarly the structures designed to cover them appear to have undergone a change as well. ILLUS. 2, 3, & 24. Yet another difference between the earlier and later phases was the addition of concentrating equipment. During the 1860s there were few attempts made to treat the tailings in order to recover the fine particles of the gold that had escaped battery amalgamation. After 1870 greater concern was expressed about the possible amounts of gold being lost, and many companies installed frue vanners, Wilfley tables, or at least blanket systems to recover the gold. The North Brookfield Mine built a substantial chlorination plant in the 1890s.