Ballarat East, Victoria

Ballarat East, is a suburb of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia, 110 kilometers west of Melbourne.

History

The discovery of goldfields in 1851 led to heavy immigration. In 1854, in their resistance of an arbitrary tax, gold miners in the area came into armed conflict with the authorities. A commission was appointed to investigate their grievances and a charter was granted to the town in 1855.

The Ballarat East goldfield, which consists of three distinct areas known as "Ballarat East", "Ballarat West" and "Nerrina", has produced over 1.9 million ounces of gold from vein systems and over 16 million ounces from adjacent alluvial deposits. At the turn of the twentieth century, these alluvial goldfields were the richest ever opened. As these surface deposits were exhausted, the quartz reefs at deep levels were exploited and several mines worked at depths exceeding 600 metres.

Climate

Due to its elevation of 1438 feet, Ballarat East and surrounding suburbs share an exceptionally cool climate.

ee also

* Ballarat East District
* Ballarat