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Mining the Yarrowee: Environmental Change on the Ballarat Goldfield

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posted on 2025-03-31, 03:53 authored by Susan LawrenceSusan Lawrence, Peter DaviesPeter Davies, Gregory HilGregory Hil, I Rutherfurd, James Grove, Jodi TurnbullJodi Turnbull, Mark MacklinMark Macklin
Ballarat’s mining history is celebrated, but less known is the environmental damage to local waterways. Ballarat’s goldmines were amongst the richest in Australia, and they all sent their waste into the Yarrowee River. An interdisciplinary approach that integrates documentary evidence with insights from archaeology and geomorphology reveals the effects of mine waste on the river during the nineteenth century and how those effects continue to be felt. Deposits of mine tailings remain on the floodplains from Ballarat East downstream to Inverleigh and the junction with the Barwon River. Historical perspectives provide crucial context for understanding lasting changes to the Yarrowee and its catchment and how the effects of goldmining continue to have lasting impacts on heritage, ecosystems, and river health.

History

Publication Date

2023-12-01

Journal

Victorian Historical Journal

Volume

94

Issue

2

Pagination

19p. (p. 433-452)

Publisher

Royal Historical Society of Victoria

ISSN

1030-7710

Rights Statement

© The Authors 2023. This manuscript version is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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