Burraga


Burraga is located in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, 47 kilometres south west of Oberon and about south of Bathurst. It is within Oberon Shire. At the, Burraga had a population of 251.
The Burraga village developed as the Thompsons Creek copper mine developed. Copper was discovered around 1877 and was reported on by the Inspector of Mines in 1878. Mining developed but was hampered by poor management and under capitalisation until the mine was purchased by Lewis Lloyd "the copper king" in 1879 being then known as Lloyds Copper Mine.
As the mine expanded, workers settled on the nearby land resulting in the reservation of a site for a village in October 1883. A village was surveyed in December 1884 and a formal plan was reserved on 29 October 1887.
As there were no other industries to provide employment the fortunes of the village rose and fell in line with those of the associated Burraga copper mine. In 1883 it was stated that the mine employed about 200 men and that the population of Burruaga was about 500 persons including 60 children. The town had "the usual businesses" and a Post-Office and a Public School.
Mining continued from 1880. A fire in 1913 destroyed one of the locomotives. Mining was closed down in 1919 and a lot of material, including the other locomotive, was sold off in 1920. Mining continued on and off up until 1961. Studies around 2012 were being conducted looking for worthwhile lodes of copper and gold at the nearby Lucky Draw Gold Mine.