Victoria's gold rush scars: LiDAR reveals 230,000 hidden mining features

Victoria's landscape holds a hidden history of its gold rush past, with a recent four-year project using LiDAR technology dramatically revising the number of mapped mining features. Initially estimated at 30,000, official records have been updated to reflect an astonishing 230,000 features, including mineshafts, pits, tunnels, and waste heaps, left behind from the gold discoveries that began in July 1851.

The Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system, deployed from a light aircraft, uses laser beams to create a detailed 3D map of the Earth's surface. This technology effectively "sees" through vegetation and other surface elements to reveal the underlying topography, identifying patterns that indicate historical mining activity. Geological Survey of Victoria director Louise Goldie Divko described the process as similar to echolocation, but with light.

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It's a bit like echolocation, but with light instead of sound. It sends out little tiny laser beams, and they hit objects … and then they bounce back, and then the sensor measures how long it takes for each beam to return.

This extensive mapping project, which focused on areas like the Golden Plains, Greater Melbourne, Central Goldfields, and the High Country, has provided a much clearer picture of the scale of gold rush mining. The data is expected to be invaluable for land managers, firefighting, and emergency services, offering a better understanding of potential hazards such as sinkholes that can open up after heavy rain, often linked to historic mining activity. The final report, due soon, will further detail these findings, with the potential for even more features to be identified on private land.

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Through this program, we've got a much better idea of what we've got to look after.