page_title: Bethanga, Victoria
section_title: Mining 1876 - 1910
hierarchical_section_title: Bethanga, Victoria / Mining History / Mining 1876 - 1910
caption_attribution_description: English: Portion of parish of Berringa, Bethanga gold field, county of Benambra /​ geologically and topographically surveyed by J.P.L Kenny, B. C. E Assistant Field Geologist, 1908.
context_page_description: Bethanga is a town in north-eastern Victoria, Australia in the Shire of Towong local government area, 390 kilometres from the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2016 census, Bethanga had a population of 471 and gives its name to the Bethanga Bridge.
context_section_description: 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.
caption: Portion of parish of Berringa, Bethanga gold field, county of Benambra / geologically and topographically surveyed by J.P.L Kenny, B. C. E Assistant Field Geologist, 1908.
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