The Blacksand "Blow-Up" Elevator on Charleston beach. 1954. - 2 PHOTOS -

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DescriptionThe blacksand "Blow-Up" elevator on Charleston beach. 1954. Gold saving tables at Blow-upDate of Photo1954Map^[1]ContributorGraham Schaef

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Location (city or town)CharlestonOrganisation (eg business) Blacksand "Blow-Up" Elevator EventThe Blacksand "Blow-Up" Elevator on Charleston beach. 1954.

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Category TagGoldmining

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Date Created5th July 2020CommentsDorothy Wills
What do you mean by Blow Up elevator

Trevor Taylor
A high pressure jet of water is shot up the upright pipe.The upright pipe has a circular constriction at the bottom, called the chamber. The high pressure water entering the chamber causes suction to be developed at the intake end of the pipe. This was slightly below ground and had a grate over it. (To Keep large rocks out). The blacksand was fed into the grate and then blown up (elevated) to a top chute where it was then fed to the tables.
Christine Stewart
Would be interested in knowing also pls

Flag Mckenzie
The main water supply was the Cronninville water race that also powered the sawmill at the little totara river. Iused to go and watch the Powell brothers sluicing and operating the blowup when Ilived on an adjacent farm in the late 50s and early 60s… See More
Warner Nut Curry
Flag Mckenzie So lucky Flag so interesting,
I can remember a sawmill by the road that had a huge amount of water coming too it,
Very interesting as we both know the Karamea mills just ran water on the saws and enough to was the sawdust away,
I reckon if i had seen the Blowup working i would have never gone back to the farm
Flag Mckenzie
Warner Nut Curry It was a big operation Warner. The second photo shows less than half the tables. Dont know if you remember Geof Hill from millerton he mined the black sand there for 20 years recently and made a good living.

Wonder how many square feet of tables, copper and mercury or coconut matting. The gold at Addison's flat was as fine as talcum powder and very hard to catch.
Flag Mckenzie
John Kerr The tables were all copper plate with mercury. This system shifted a large volume of sand.
Warner Nut Curry
Thanks a million Graham and always you Heather,

Trevor Alty The actual term is Hydraulic Elevator, the term Blow Up came into use by the operators, as it blew the water and sand upwards, hence "Blow Up".

John Kerr Trevor Alty I think they used the same system to strip the overburden at Addisons Flat? Then they sluiced the blacksand down a 3 mile tunnel in papa to 16000 sq feet of tables, apparently.

Trevor Alty Not to sure on that one John. The only pics I have seen of stripping devices at Addisons are of a water balance. Which comprised of two railway lines going down into the workings. The ore wagons, worked by a filling one with water which when going down…See More

John Kerr Trevor Alty There definitely was a tunnel going out towards the coast where the tables were. There were dams up on top of the terrace which I think is about 200 ft above Addisons flat

Trevor Alty They were the Shamrock claim tunnels. I did locate an old geological map somewhere on the net.(cant find the link now) that showed the line the tunnels took and the location of the tables. On An earlier google earth of the area I was able to locate the line they took and the table location. Now that the area has been turned over by landcorp, I struggle to find them.

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The Blacksand "Blow-Up" Elevator on Charleston beach. 1954. - 2 PHOTOS -

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