Drill core shows Bendigo’s golden geology

The rehabilitation of two former mining sites near Bendigo are a step closer with the removal of drill core samples from the Woodvale Evaporation Ponds and the start of rehabilitation work at Kangaroo Flat.

The rehabilitation of two former mining sites near Bendigo are a step closer with the removal of drill core samples from the Woodvale Evaporation Ponds and the start of rehabilitation work at Kangaroo Flat.

The Earth Resources Regulator (ERR) is overseeing the rehabilitation of both sites as the former licensee was unable to meet its obligations.

Analysis of drill core is crucial to understanding a region’s geology. Preserving some of these samples, which were stockpiled by the former licensee, means they can now be studied without further drilling.

The Geological Survey of Victoria (GSV) catalogued more than 2,000 drill holes and almost 1,700 pallets of drill core at Woodvale before deciding to transfer 223 pallets to the Drill Core Library in Werribee for further evaluation and storage.

Stage two removal of the remaining drill core from the Woodvale site in now underway.

At the Kangaroo Flat site a range of work continues. The gateway to Bendigo’s historical underground mining, the Swan Decline, has been permanently sealed.

The Tailing Storage Facility at Kangaroo Flat has been covered with rock to suppress dust levels over summer.

In October 2022 ERR provided the Bendigo Historical Society and the Goldfields Library Corporation with 19 boxes of records and 1350 old photos dating back to the 1850s, following a clean-up at Kangaroo Flat. The Bendigo Historical Society has made the information available to researchers.

Quotes attributable to Resources Victoria CEO Matt Vincent

“The drill core to be stored at the Geological Survey of Victoria’s Drill Core Library are valuable geoscientific assets which will improve our understanding of Bendigo’s geology.”

“The Earth Resources Regulator has permanently sealed the Swan Decline, the primary gateway to Bendigo’s historical underground mining.”

“We’ve unearthed significant historical records and snapshots at Kangaroo Flat dating back to the 1850s and it’s great to be able to pass these on to the Bendigo Historical Society and Goldfields Library Corporation.”

Contact: Lewis Hill

Email: Lewis.Hill@deeca.vic.gov.au