Gold was first discovered in Yalgoo in 1892. The Emerald Reward gold mine was established and mined for gold until it closed in 1908. The mine has left a legacy of abandoned shafts and a shallow pit.
The local community raised safety concerns about the Emerald Reward mine shaft, which is located 250m from Yalgoo Primary School across an open field. Works to install fencing and signage at the site were completed in 2019. The shaft falls within the scope of the current Safer Shafts for Towns project at Yalgoo and will be reassessed as part of that project.
