Cooinda Reserve Excavator Bucket
Highlights
Overview
The Liebherr 994B Excavator Bucket, donated to Bland Shire Council by Evolution Mining's Cowal Gold Operation in 2020, serves as a lasting tribute to the mine's impact on the Bland Shire community.
Located 40 kilometres north-east of West Wyalong, the Cowal Gold Operation spans the Bland, Lachlan, and Forbes Shires on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri people.
This bucket, originally fitted to EXC302—a 294-tonne mining backhoe excavator—was made from bisalloy 80, a high tensile and abrasion-resistant steel. It was in operation at the Cowal Gold Operation from 2005 to 2018, accumulating 50,000 hours of digging before being placed in Cooinda Reserve.
The bucket symbolizes the connection between the region's gold mining history and its current operations.