Berringa, Victoria

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Berringa
state = vic


caption = Birthday Mine, First Stope 200 ft level
lga = Golden Plains Shire
postcode = 3351
est =
pop = 259
elevation= 504
maxtemp = 16.9
mintemp = 7.7
rainfall = 705.4
stategov = Ripon
fedgov = Corangamite
dist1 = 153
dir1 = W
location1= Melbourne
dist2 = 37
dir2 = S
location2= Ballarat
dist3 = 20
dir3 = SW
location3= Linton

Berringa is a small township in west-central Victoria, Australia. It is situated in Golden Plains Shire, about 43km southwest of Ballarat.

The township and surrounding rural community are located on the southern extremity of a range of Silurian slate and sandstone rock. The area was a centre of intensive gold mining in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The township was known as Kangaroo between 1880 and 1900. Gold has been mined at Berringa since the 1850s, with the main period of production being from 1898 to 1917, during which time about 280,000 ounces of gold were extracted from five major mines and several other, smaller operations. Mining continued after World War I on a lesser scale until the area was abandoned in the 1950s.

Ballarat Goldfields NL, through its subsidiary, Berringa Resources Pty. Ltd., still conducts exploration operations at Berringa.

Gold mining had a direct effect on Berringa's population, which increased from 150 in 1899 to a peak of about 4000 in 1908. By 1922, with the gold mining boom over, the population had fallen to about 100. As of the 2006 census, Berringa and the surrounding area had a population of 259.Census 2006 AUS
id=SSC25139
name=Berringa (State Suburb)
accessdate=2007-07-21
quick=on] The Berringa district is showing a modest population revival with the tree change phenomenon. The district was the site of a significant bushfire in February 1995.

External links

* [http://www.goldenplains.vic.gov.au/ Golden Plains Shire] Municipality website
* [http://www.ballarat-goldfields.com.au/ Ballarat Mining company with operations at Berringa]
* [http://www.farlang.com/gemstones/bradford-berringa/page_001 Berringa Gold Field: Victoria Geol. Survey 1904] W.M. Bradford: Geological and Historical description of the Berringa Gold Field.
* [http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenfoe.nsf/LinkView/CEAE4BC16C537BB94A2568620022F1827B3EF002FA04DC3A4A256DEA0013F3CB DSE] Berringa Bushfire 1995

References

*Menhennet, Marion Joy. 1987. "The History of Berringa". Australian Print Group, Maryborough, Victoria. ISBN 0-7316-0076-2