Bethanga
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Bethanga Victoria |
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General store
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 Bethanga
Location in Shire of Towong, Victoria
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| Coordinates | 36°07′S 147°06′E / 36.117°S 147.100°ECoordinates: 36°07′S 147°06′E / 36.117°S 147.100°E |
| Population | 589 (2006 census) |
| Postcode(s) | 3691 |
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | Shire of Towong |
| State electorate(s) | Benambra |
| Federal Division(s) | Indi |
Bethanga is a town in north-eastern Victoria, Australia in the Shire of Towong local government area, 390 kilometres (242 mi) from the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Bethanga had a population of 589 and gives its name to the Bethanga Bridge.
Prior to 1876 gold mining in the Bethanga district occurred to the north of the town and were known as the 'Talgarno diggings'. Reports of alluvial gold date back to 1852. Early gold fields were worked at Ruby Creek, Gold Creek and Jarvis Creek. The opening of the Bethanga goldfields began with the discovery of a gold-bearing quartz reef on New Years Day 1876. The 'Gift' mine site is located south east of Kurrajong Gap lookout to the west of Bethanga township.
Bethanga was established as a result of the discovery of gold. Gold was first reported in the Bethanga area in 1852, but it was not until 1876 that the discovery of a reef led to the development of the Bethanga goldfields.
The Great Eastern Copper Smelting Works was opened in 1878.
The post office opened on 22 July 1876, was renamed Granya in 1879 when a new office named Bethanga opened nearby which closed in 1952. The Bethanga Lower office was renamed Bethanga in 1984.
Due to the nature of the gold-bearing quartz reef, the gold was difficult to extract and the discovery of copper led to a change in focus. It was not until the early 1890s that an efficient technique for extracting the gold from the ore was discovered, and once again gold became the primary focus, with copper a by-product. Bethanga was removed from the list of goldfields in 1912, however some mining activity has taken place since.
The Bethanga township is located in the Lachlan orogen. Compression and folding of Ordovician sediments during the Benambram orogeny, resulted in the creation of the gneisses and schists found in the Bethanga area. Bethanga gneisses are found on the hilltops and ridges around the Bethanga area. The sulphides of Iead, copper, iron, zinc, together with gold and silver, have been found associated with the gneissic rocks, both in lodes and disseminated. Auriferous quartz reefs which occur through the gneiss were mined over a period from 1875 to about 1911.
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