Mining sludge

Mining sludge is the waste product of alluvial mining, and in particular hydraulic sluicing. It has been particularly prominent in gold fields in Australia and California in the nineteenth century.[1]

In the 1840s in California and 1850s in Australia, methods for extracting alluvial gold were developed which involved washing soil and gravel through sluice boxes using diverted streams and other water sources. The waste or tailings were released into the waterways forming large deposits of highly mobile sediment. This 'sludge' as it was generally termed, blocked the stream channels causing flooding and burial of land downstream.[2]

The cyanide process also involved releasing sediment contaminated with cyanide, while other sludge deposits have a variety of contaminants used in the mining process.

Large areas of land were affected by sludge, particularly in Victoria, where a Royal Commission was established in 1858-9 to investigate and manage the problem.[3] This resulted in a number of regulations and the construction of large stone-lined sludge channels to concentrate and divert the sludge away from settled areas and buildings. the towns of Bendigo, Ballarat, Castlemaine, Creswick and Maryborough have channelized streams running through them as a result.[4]

Ultimately hydraulic sluicing was banned in 1904 as a result of the continuing environmental damage caused to waterways in places such as Omeo, and a Sludge Abatement Board was established to regulate and repair the problem.[1]

References

Water and Gold: Interpreting the Landscape of Creswick Creek, Peter Davies, Susan Lawrence and Jodi Turnbull, Messmate Press Melbourne 2015 p.64
Lawrence, Susan; Davies, Peter, (author.) (2019), Sludge : disaster on Victoria's goldfields, La Trobe University Press in conjunction with Black Inc, ISBN 978-1-76064-110-8CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Victoria. Report of the Royal Commission Appointed to Enquire Into the Best Method of Removing the Sludge From the Gold Fields: Together With Proceedings of the Commission, Minutes of Evidence, and Appendices. Melbourne: John Ferres, Government Printer, 1859.
"David Bannear, Historic Gold Mining Sites: North East Victoria, Draft, DNRE, Melbourne, 1996". Archived from the original on 2009-08-24. Retrieved 2009-08-24.

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[Water_and_Gold-1] Water and Gold: Interpreting the Landscape of Creswick Creek, Peter Davies, Susan Lawrence and Jodi Turnbull, Messmate Press Melbourne 2015 p.64

[2] Lawrence, Susan; Davies, Peter, (author.) (2019), Sludge : disaster on Victoria's goldfields, La Trobe University Press in conjunction with Black Inc, ISBN 978-1-76064-110-8CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[3] Victoria. Report of the Royal Commission Appointed to Enquire Into the Best Method of Removing the Sludge From the Gold Fields: Together With Proceedings of the Commission, Minutes of Evidence, and Appendices. Melbourne: John Ferres, Government Printer, 1859.

[4] "David Bannear, Historic Gold Mining Sites: North East Victoria, Draft, DNRE, Melbourne, 1996". Archived from the original on 2009-08-24. Retrieved 2009-08-24.