In its prime, witnesses say the machine dominated the town, running seven days a week, creating a noise which could be heard 20 kilometres away.

The state-of-the-art dredge was the largest constructed in Australia and was built by Thompson’s Engineering and Pipe Company in Castlemaine after the price of gold more than doubled in the early 1930s, creating a strong incentive to mine deeply buried gold.

The dredge, which is listed on the State Register of Historic Buildings and the National Estate Register, is the subject of today’s pictorial essay by Border Mail photographers David Thorpe and Kylie Esler as part of an occasional summer series on the region’s hidden historical treasures.

The huge dredge now quietly floats on the lake it created at Eldorado, and a visit will bring back memories for those involved in its operation all the way up until 1954 when it closed due to the rising costs of processing.

It now forms part of the story for tourists of the history of the dredge and all the gold that was mined from the lake during the many years it was in operation.