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Golden past - Victoria’s vast mineral resources continue to underpin economic growth old was officially discovered in Victoria at Clunes, near Ballarat in 1851, transforming Victoria and Australia, from struggling penal colonies into a rapidly developing industrial nation. Word that gold had been discovered in Victoria quickly attracted Gthousands of immigrants determined to discover a fortune and start a new life. Gold mining brought incredible wealth to Victoria between 1851 and 1915 by which time virtually all gold production in the state had stopped. In 65 years Australia had progressed into one of the wealthiest nations on earth. Victoria's economic development was significantly built on its world-class mineral endowment. That early mineral wealth, which set Victoria on the path to becoming the most glamorous and sophisticated of Australia’s regions has been repeated at intervals in the state’s history and is on the verge of revival, through the re-development of the gold industry and a range of other Images reproduced courtesy of Sovereign Hill Museums Association energy and mineral commodities. was the discovery and utilisation of the state’s vast brown MINERALS UNDERPIN EXPANSION coal resources in the Latrobe Valley which underpinned rapid The discovery of gold and the subsequent gold rushes industrial growth. transformed the quiet colony of Victoria and the city of Vast energy reserves producing cheap electricity close to Melbourne into the financial centre of the country in the late Melbourne fuelled a large and diverse manufacturing 19th and early 20th centuries. industry and provided generations with jobs and prosperity And while gold gave the Victorian economy the foundation it that supported further waves of immigrants. needed to support a rapidly expanding agricultural base, it In the 1960’s the discovery and development of Australia’s Minister’s foreword Minister commemorates Eureka anniversary 150 years on from the Eureka Stockade, Victoria is set to experience another gold rush. This is the result of the dynamic and growing gold industry responding, as our forefathers did, to global demand for gold in Victoria. The gold rush of the 1850's was a time of major economic growth and development in Victoria and helped to shape the character of our state and Australia as a nation. The discovery of gold influenced our social and political evolution with Melbourne becoming the world's wealthiest city and Statehood being granted in June 1851. Victoria's Mining Statute of 1865 is the foundation of all Australian mining laws. The discovery of gold also marked a time of social unrest and conflict. The working conditions and exploitation of the gold prospectors is something I am glad we have left behind in the 19th century. But the hard work and investment in the future of that era is something I am glad we have been able to 02 DISCOVERY Golden future most important reserves of oil and gas in the rough waters of The political temperature was also rising with the realisation Left: Miners at the Bass Strait again placed Victoria at the head of Australia’s that hard work, not birthright or privilege, had become the famous Brittania economic development queue. And that resource is now most important factor in attaining wealth, threatening the Mine entrance, being boosted by the development of gas reserves off status quo. 1889. Victoria’s south west coast in the Otway Basin which are Nothing more threatening to the establishment has occurred helping cement the state as south east Australia’s energy hub. in Australia’s recent history than the Eureka uprising of 1854, Today, the emerging world-class heavy mineral sands an armed rebellion in protest at high mining fees and other province in northwest Victoria has the potential to continue grievances against the government of Victoria. The Eureka the pivotal role the minerals industry has played in the Stockade rebellion was crushed by British troops but some of economic development of the state. the leaders of the rebellion subsequently became influential But it is the reawakening of the gold industry in central members of Victoria’s Parliament. Victoria that is leading the way back to prosperity for a new The rebellion is still regarded as a pivotal moment in the generation. New gold mine developments at Bendigo, Ballarat development of Australia democracy. and Stawell and a rush of new exploration, much of it in Peter Lalor, a name well known in Australian history, was previously unmined areas, are establishing a new industry. one of the miners’ leaders at the Eureka Stockade uprising. He New exploration techniques are indicating resources that was born in the village of Raheen, in County Laois, Ireland, were unknown in early decades. and emigrated to Victoria with his brother Richard in 1852. In 1853 Peter Lalor left Melbourne for the Ovens gold SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGE diggings, near Wangaratta and later moved to Ballarat where The 1848 rush in California had demonstrated the prosperity a 30 shilling a month mining licence fee incensed miners. gold could bring to ordinary working men through hard work, Later the practice of 'digger-hunting' by British troopers but some early Victorians were worried. Men were leaving searching out unlicensed miners sparked open rebellion on their homes and jobs en-masse to head for the goldfields. the diggings leading to the construction of a timber and Homelessness became common because of the rapid earthworks stockade where miners defied the troopers. increase in immigration and prices for commodities were But in the early hours of Saturday, December 3, 1854, police rising sharply in line with the increased demand. and troops stormed the stockade killing thirty diggers and nurture and develop over the last 150 years. More Victoria gold was produced in the 65 years after the first discoveries at Clunes, Castlemaine and Warrandyte in 1851 than at anytime since. Carrying on from this legacy and in the same gold producing region of Central Victoria, we are again emerging as a major gold producer. New technology is allowing us to make productive the same gold fields the Eureka prospectors worked. Victorian gold production is set to reach its highest level for many decades. In the past year almost $500 million has been raised to support the construction of four significant new gold projects in Victoria. This includes the development of the Fosterville, Stawell and New Bendigo mines. Work on the feasibility of reopening mining at Ballarat is also well advanced. The Victorian gold industry has become truly modern and dynamic, but we must remember that it was built on the hard work of people like those at Eureka. Hon Theo Theophanous, Minister for Energy Industries and Resources This special section in Discovery celebrates the 150 year history and looks forward to a bright future for the Victorian gold industry. DECEMBER 2004 03 Images reproduced courtesy of Sovereign Hill Museums Association Victorian Energy and Resources Minister, Theo Theophanous, said recently that a $A270 million commitment to mineral sands development in the Mallee region, “is the latest in a series of announcements that heralds the emergence of Victoria as a key player in the [Australian] taking over a hundred prisoners. Lalor was shot but escaped resources sector.” although a reward was offered for his capture. The resources sector in Victoria now employs, “around 4500 The reward was later revoked and 13 diggers who had been people directly and turns over $4.2 billion a year in economic charged with treason were acquitted in April. activity and produces more than 22 per cent of Australia's oil A Commission appointed to inquire into conditions on the and gas,” Mr Theophanous said. goldfields, resulted in the license fee being scrapped and In the past year almost $A500 million has been raised to Victoria’s Legislative Council was enlarged to include support the construction of four significant new gold projects goldfields' representatives. Peter Lalor was elected in Victoria including the development of the Fosterville and unopposed to represent the area in November 1855 beginning New Bendigo mines, an expansion of output at the Stawell a 32 year career in state politics capped by becoming mine and advanced feasibility work on the re-opening of Speaker of the Parliament in 1880. mining at Ballarat. It is often stated that the goldfields not only gave Victoria the In Victoria multiple gas discoveries in the Otway Basin economic start it desperately needed but that the diggings also region in the state's south west have been made and 3D inspired the first real breath of democracy in the state seismic is also driving a two year Bass Strait petroleum government system. The rise of the state economy and the exploration program by Esso/BHP Billiton, expected to cost creation of a true representative system of government were around $A200 million. the catalysts for a century of remarkable growth. One of the biggest investments to be made in Victoria in the latest resources boom is a $A270 million commitment by RESOURCES ARE DRIVING NEW GROWTH minerals sands miner Iluka Resources Ltd which is developing The re-emergence and investment growth of Victoria’s a mineral sands project in the Murray Basin in western resources sector is driven partly by the vast markets of China, Victoria. The Douglas project comprises a mineral separation now playing its second major role in helping Victoria realise plant near Hamilton and a mine to the north west of the town. its true economic potential. One hundred and fifty years ago The Murray Basin is predicted to hold heavy minerals worth Chinese workers flooded into the Victorian goldfields to help $A20 billion with a predicted resource life of more than Clockwise from establish the state’s economic prosperity.

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