Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	37° 33' 44'' South , 143° 51' 29'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-37.56250,143.85820
GeoHash:	G#: r1q639fqd
Köppen climate type:	Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate

In 1925, the old 160 foot deep, well timbered Unicorn Mine shaft was uncovered at the back of the Unicorn Hotel during sewerage works. The hotel itself had been built in 1854 by R. Underwood, and was one of the earliest hotels in Ballarat. It is located on the main Sturt Street (Western Highway), with The Corner next door. This was the local name for the share-broking exchange, and the scene sometimes of crowds of investors from the 1850's to 1880's. The hotel itself was closed in 1973, and left to become derelict, until restored, and opened as a cafe in 2012. Old shop fronts can be accessed below the hotel, at a time when Sturt Street was being developed at a lower level.

The lease was originally known as the Green Harp in 1856, worked by J.P. Fitzgerald, Daniel Brophy, Thomas Colgan, and Simon Jackson.

The Unicorn Company was operating at the site from the late 1850's to late 1860's. Machinery from the Ballarat Extension Company was purchased for the mine in 1868. The mine was on the Golden Point Lead, as it traverses the centre of Ballarat. The deep leads of Ballarat were auriferous gravels representing ancient river systems, before they were covered over by basalt and alluvium.

In one of the oddest letters ever to grace the pages of a Ballarat newspaper, the Unicorn Company rebutted claims of encroachment into neighbouring claims in 1857, styling itself as the mythical unicorn beast itself.

Henry Williams died early 1868, when the bucket he was riding in fell to the bottom of the shaft. Mine manager James Vowles was charged with neglect causing death. Seriously injured William Hockey (who later died from his injuries) stated at a bed side court hearing, the mine manager was not at fault. However, the only compensation either the Hockey or Williams families were likely to receive was a one off donation from the company, which it was not legally obliged to provide, and this may have influenced the comments.

Regional Geology

This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found.

Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org

Holocene - Miocene 0 - 23.03 Ma ID: 704630

Newer Volcanic Group Age: Cenozoic (0 - 23.03 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Newer Volcanic Group Description: Cinder cones - scoria, minor ash and agglutinates; Lava flows - tholeiitic to minor alkaline and basanitic lavas. Comments: igneous mafic volcanic; synthesis of multiple published descriptions Lithology: Igneous mafic volcanic Reference: Raymond, O.L., Liu, S., Gallagher, R., Zhang, W., Highet, L.M. Surface Geology of Australia 1:1 million scale dataset 2012 edition. Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia). [5]

Early Silurian - Cambrian 427.4 - 541 Ma ID: 3185333

Paleozoic sedimentary rocks Age: Paleozoic (427.4 - 541 Ma) Comments: Lachlan Fold Belt Lithology: Sedimentary rocks Reference: Chorlton, L.B. Generalized geology of the world: bedrock domains and major faults in GIS format: a small-scale world geology map with an extended geological attribute database. doi: 10.4095/223767. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5529. [154]

Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

References

External Links