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Moolort is a locality in the
Shire of Central Goldfields Shire of Central Goldfields is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the central part of the state. It covers an area of and, in August 2021 had a population of 13,48 ...
and the
Shire of Mount Alexander The Mount Alexander Shire (officially Shire of Mount Alexander) is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the central part of the state. It covers an area of and, in ...
,
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. At the , Moolort had a population of 44.


Industry

The main industry is currently agriculture with sheep and crop
farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
ing being the most prevalent although over the last 15 years some smaller farms have started growing grapes for
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
and conifers for Christmas trees. In the past however, Moolort was a large
gold mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from Alluvium, alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to mor ...
area which at one point had rivalled other local mining towns in the area for population. There is one mine on the outskirts of Moolort that currently mines
vivianite Vivianite () is a hydrated iron(II) phosphate mineral found in a number of geological environments. Small amounts of manganese Mn2+, magnesium Mg2+, and calcium Ca2+ may substitute for iron Fe2+ in its structure.Gaines et al (1997) Dana's New ...
and
siderite Siderite is a mineral composed of iron(II) carbonate (FeCO3). Its name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "iron". A valuable iron ore, it consists of 48% iron and lacks sulfur and phosphorus. Zinc, magnesium, and manganese commonly ...
.


Goldfields

Due to a mistake with calculations, the first shaft of the Moolort mines was sunk approximately to the west of the main lead; this meant that the miners had to dig across to the lead while underground after already having dug down to , until a new shaft was sunk. This new shaft was at Keystone and allowed the mines to extract material closer to its source. But the heads of the mining companies did not believe that colonial workmanship was up to the task of constructing the equipment that was needed, especially the water pumps. The pumps were needed to clear water from the mines as a water basin is under a large part of the Moolort plains; at the height of operations the mines were pumping out 20,000,000 gallons (91 megalitres) of water every day. This led them to buy the equipment from
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
as well as from the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
at a price of £500,000 at a time when gold was selling for about £2 per ounce. It was this excessive capitalisation that ultimately led to the downfall of the Moolort mines as even though the mines were quite rich they were never able to pay dividends. The mines around Moolort were significant because they were the first deep lead mines in the Maldon Mining Division and among the first to use electrical power. Victorian Colonial Government "Electric Light and Power Act 1896" Report Archives reveal that the Deep Leads Electric Transmission Company was formed and was approved by the Government (under Electric Supply Order-In-Council #14) in 1899, to build and operate a substantial private Electric Supply Undertaking serving the mines of Charlotte Plains, New Havilah, Junction Deep Leads and Victorian Deep Leads in Moolort. The records advise that the main purpose of the electrical undertaking was to operate the pumps to de-water the mining operations and to provide lighting. These records also indicate that this electrical operation ceased in July 1909. According to Bannear (1993), many of Moolort's mines hold cultural significance due to the difficulties experienced in running deep lead mines as well as the various means used to extract water from the mines to keep them dry and relatively safe. Most of the gold mines were closed by 1906, with the last of the equipment and property being sold off by 1916. The tailings were sold to the State Rivers Board for use as road base. Between 1905 and 1925 Moolort's population shrank quite quickly. A town that once had twenty-eight pubs and three post offices became little more than a village that could no longer even field a
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
team. In the next fifty years even the state school, general store and the last post office were closed, with locals having to travel to
Carisbrook Carisbrook (sometimes incorrectly referred to as Carisbrook Stadium) was a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. The city's main domestic and international rugby union venue, it was also used for other sports such as cricket, football, ...
or sixteen (10 miles) to Newstead for their needs.


Topography

Most of Moolort consists of basaltic soil laid down by the eruption of Bald Hill approximately 10,000 years ago. Most of Moolort consists of low, rolling plains although there are at least three unnamed hills. At the southern end of Moolort Long Swamp is the only major wetlands. Towards the east, the Cairn Curran reservoir was formed between the
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
of Moolort and the
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
formations of the Maldon area. Sheoak Hill or Mt Moolort (difference of opinion on its name) is a volcanic crater, north of the Pyrenees Highway and east of the Baringhup-Moolort Rd., is more probably the source of the basalt of the Moolort Plains. This crater is on private property and can't be seen from the roads, it appears as a small hill or rise from the Highway. There are approximately 50 wetlands scattered across the plains.


References

*Bannear, D.;
Historic Mining Sites in the Maldon Mining Division: Part Two: Site Gazetteer
', (1993), Retrieved 28 September 2007 {{authority control Mining towns in Victoria (state) Towns in Victoria (state)