Yalwal, New South Wales

Yawal is the site of a former gold mining town of the same name situated 29km west of Nowra at the confluence of Dangera and Yarramunmun Creeks which then forms Yalwal Creek which then flows into the Shoalhaven River. It is now the site of a Shoalhaven Council managed picnic area and Dangera Dam.

Prior to European settlement this was Wandandian Aboriginal land.

Gold was first discovered in the area by Rev W.B. Clarke in 1852. Successful sluicing operations began in 1870 by J. Sivewright and party but were disrupted by the great flood of 1871. In 1872 open cut mining operations were begun at the Pinnacle when the main reef was discovered*. The first shafts were sunk in the Homeward Bound mine in 1872 with payable gold found in 1874**. In 1875 the first stamp battery (5 head) was erected.In 1880 a mail receiving station was opened and in 1884 a public school opened, it closed in 1918, reopened in 1924 and finally closed in 1928.In 1895 the nearby Grassy Gully mine was discovered. In 1990 all the usable scrap iron in the town was bought by scrap dealers from Nowra. Further dismantling of the town occurred during the first world war when building materials were used for the war effort.1934 was the last discovery with the Fountainhead.In 1939 devastating bushfire destroyed most of what was left of the town with only one residence, one shop and the Post Office surviving. There was one fatality. Mining operations after the fire dwindled until 1971 when the Shoalhaven Council finished construction of the Dangera Dam which flooded most of the former town site and the lower mines. Some mine shafts and other diggings, the graveyard (the oldest grave dated 1854) and a stamping battery (five head) can still be seen.

The valleys of the area cut into Devonian quartzite and phyllites while the plateau consists of Permian sandstones. Rhyolite and granite also outcrop in the area. Carboniferous granite intruded into the Upper Devonian sediments and the gold deposits are a result of replacement and impregnation by siliceous solutions bearing gold and sulphides***. Silver, copper, 'tin, lead, arsenic and zinc ores have also been found in the area.

The area is now the site of Dangera Dam a part of the Shoalhaven water supply and the site of a picnic area. Canoeing and swimming are allowed on the lake but power boats are prohibited. Recycling bins are provided.

Trivia

2 ounce nuggets found in Saw Pit Gully.The town at its height had a Town Hall, a hotel (The Pioneer), a few general stores, a fruiterer, a butcher, several banks, 2 tennis courts, a Post Office, a school and a School of the ArtsThe gold batteries used to operate 24 hours a day and were only stopped between midnight Saturday to midnight Sunday.
Mercury used to separate gold was still being found in Yalwal creek in the mid 1970s

* A date of 1873 reported in "An Introduction to the Geology of New South Wales", C.A. Sussmilch, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1914
* According to Rex Fletcher (who lived in the area) in “Yalwal Gold", David Glasson, Sprint Print, Ballina, 1987
* "The Geology of the Commonwealth of Australia Vol II", T.W. Edgeworth David, Edward Arnold & Co, London, (date unknown)

References

ources

*"Report on the Yalwal goldfield", E.C. Andrews, Government Printer, Sydney, 1901
*"The Mineral Resources of New South Wales", E.F. Pittman, Government Printer, Sydney, 1901
*"The Geology of New South Wales", G.H. Packham (ed), Geological Society of Australia, Sydney, 1969
*"An Introduction to the Geology of New South Wales", C.A. Sussmilch, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1914
*"Yalwal Gold", David Glasson, Sprint Print, Ballina, 1987
*"The Geology of the Commonwealth of Australia Vol II", T.W. Edgeworth David, Edward Arnold & Co, London, (date unknown)