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This paper reports on preliminary research into gold-mining-related mercury contamination in nineteenth-century Victoria. Data drawn from contemporary sources, including Mineral Statistics of Victoria and Mining Surveyors Reports from 1868‒1888, are used to calculate quantities of mercury used by miners to amalgamate gold in stamp batteries and the rates of mercury lost in the process. Some of the mercury discharged from mining and ore milling flowed into nearby waterways and some remained in the waste residue, the tailings near the mills. We estimate that a minimum of 121 tons of mercury were discharged from stamp batteries in this period. Although the figures fluctuate through time and space, they allow a good estimate of how much mercury was leaving the mine workings and entering Victorian creeks and rivers. Better understanding of historic mercury loss can provide the basis for improved mapping of mercury distribution in modern waterways, which can in turn inform the management of catchment systems.

Abstract

Mobilisation of large volumes of bedrock, regolith and soil has long been a characteristic feature of metal mining. Before the 20th century this was most efficiently achieved through harnessing the motive power of water. Large‐scale water use in mining produced waste sands, gravels and silts that were flushed downstream, triggering changes in stream and floodplain morphology and function. During the 19th century the shift from artisanal to industrialised mining resulted in a rapid increase in the scale and extent of environmental change. This paper presents results from a multidisciplinary research programme investigating the environmental effects of 19th‐century gold mining on waterways in south‐eastern Australia. Archaeological and geospatial landscape survey are combined with historical data modelling and geomorphological analysis to examine the extractive processes that produced sediment in headwater regions and how this influenced fluvial processes operating on downstream waterways and floodplains. Our case study of the Three Mile‐Hodgson Creek system on the Ovens (Beechworth) goldfield in north‐east Victoria indicates that miners mobilised up to 7.3 million m3 of sediment in this small catchment alone. Results of the research suggest that tailings dams and sludge channels in this catchment are important archaeological evidence for early attempts to manage industrial waste.

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