There were expectations that gold would be found in the exposed river bed, but despite the MOW taking out a mining licence and employing two experienced gold miners, the results were disappointing. Once free of water work commenced on the excavation of the foundations for the main block of the dam. A large gravel filled hole was discovered in the centre channel or "gullet" of the river bed. This gullet which was deep and varied in width from 50 ft to was dug out and filled with a mix of pozzolana (fly ash) and cement under the dam while under the powerhouse Prepakt concrete was used as this reduced demand on the batching plant which was fully occupied supplying concrete for the dam blocks.