Junee was an outpost in NSW goldmining when it first came to public prominence in 1868. At that time the block of country north of Gundagai and east of Young was blank on the gold map of NSW.
This was actualy an error as the were very significant gold reserves across this region waiting to be discovered.
Junee proved that the gold bearing region of NSW actually extended further westwards than previously imagined.
The full significance of this discovery would take some time to realise. While the Junee field was not without its own heyday around 1870, the spectacular finds at Gulgong drew many miners away from their work on the field and its development slowed.
The real significance of the Junee breakthough really only came to be appreciated in the 1880s and 90s, when the riches of the fields in a line to the north – Temora and Wyalong – helped revive the ailing fortunes of the NSW gold industry. Throughout this time, operations at Junee continued, without however ever really commanding much attention outside of the region.
Below: Section of the Minerals Map of NSW published by the NSW Mines Department 1930. Reproduced courtesy of NSW Trade & Resources, Minerals & Energy
As this minerals map of NSW from 1930 shows, Junee sits at the base of a major tract of gold bearing country extending northwards through Temora, Barmedman and Wyalong.
The establishment of major gold mining operations at these centres in the 1880s and 1890s was a crucial step forward in reviving an ailing NSW gold industry.
At that time goldmining was still struggling in the wake of a major drought in the late 1870s and the aftermath of the speculative gold boom brought on in the chase for the riches of Hill End’s reef mines.
