GOLDFIELDS OF AUSTRALIA
By ALAN HASSELL ?
Copyright 18/03/98 all rights reserved
Gold was first discovered in Ophir at Lewis Ponds near Bathurst N.S.W. which caused the first Gold Rush on 3/04/1851. The largest nugget found at the time weighed four pounds. Mr. E.H. Hargreaves, the discoverer of the new field had recently returned from the Californian Gold Rushes of 1849. With a very short period of time the discovery of gold was made at Warrandyte in Victoria, followed by Clunes and then Ballarat. Gold is found in every State, some states producing more gold than others. In 1979 a new gold rush started with the introduction of the metal detector, it is a rush that continues even to day. Victoria is described as being the nugget capital of Australia mainly because of the very large nuggets found there. The largest being the Welcome Stranger found at Moliagul 188 Km northwest of Melbourne, weighing 2,520 ounces. A monument now marks the spot where it was found. Moliagul lies in an area described as the Golden Triangle, covering vast areas of territory. Main nuggety area's are Dunnolly, Maryborough, Wedderburn, Inglewood, Kingower, where the famous hand of faith was found, and many more area's including Ballarat and Bendigo. The Next State of interest would have to be Western Australia, which is also the largest State on the Continent. Gold producing area's include Kalgoorlie, Kambalda, Broad Arrow, Ora-Banda, Menzies, Leonora, Halls Creek, Nullagine, Wilga, Laverton and a great many more area's where large nuggets have been found. Before travelling to Western Australia, you are advised to check with the Mines Department as many of the area's in the Kalgoorlie area are now mining tenements. Meaning you could be in for big trouble trespassing over someone's claim. A leading Authority of the Area is a guy named Bob Sheppard, I understand he does operate tours to the gold mining areas where you can try your luck. I saw a post he made on a gold prospecting forum a few months back. Therefore, he is on the Internet if you can find him. New South Wales. The gold bearing areas of NSW cover a large area from Tibooburra, in the northwest to Pambula on the East Coast. Nuggets were found in the following places, Summer Hill Creek, Mudgee, Gulgong, Forbes, Parkes, Hill-end, Ophir, Sofala, Cowra, Kiama, Yass, Young, Temora, Delgate, Grenfell, Braidwood, Kiandra and Orange. I could not name them all, because there are so many. NSW became famous for the monstrous reef nuggets like the famous Holterman weighing in at 630 ponds of conglomerate. (mixture of rock and solid gold). That came from reef mining so do not expect to find anything that large.
South Australia. Many of the goldfields of South Australia still produce nuggets, for some strange reason, people prefer to try their luck in the West or Victoria however, there are many goldfields awaiting the enthusiastic detectorists.
These Include, Teetulpa, Ulooloo, Echunga, Mintaro, Clare, Mongolata, Wadnaminga, Taltabooka, Nillinghoo, Tarcoola, Glen Loth, Mt. Grainger, Nillinghoo, Angepena and Mt. Ogilvie. There are a great many areas in South Australia yet to be prospected.
When travelling the outback, always carry maps, one can expect to find aboriginal reserves that can only be entered with a permit. Northern Territories Although The Famous Lassiter's lost reef is presumed to be somewhere in either the N/T or W/A no one has ever found it to date.
Although some may have claimed to have found it it's still out there waiting rediscovery. It's supposed to be a reef 10-foot thick and a mile long. A search for it in the depression days resulted in the death of Harold Lassiter.
The reef was claimed to be so rich it would have got Australia out of difficulties in those days. If it does exist one day someone might find it.
The main areas are the Granite's 526 Km from Alice Springs, Rabbit flat and the Tanami goldfields. Travelling in this part of the bush, you need plenty of water and petrol. A more comprehensive list can be obtained from the Northern Territories Department of minerals and energy. Although Tasmania and Queensland did have their goldfields,
I left them out in order to give you the most popular places where Australian's and tourists alike go to find gold, which are Victoria and W.A. You need a miner's right, or a fossicking licence in most States.
Detecting without one can involve heavy fines. Express Publications put out a magazine called Gold, gem & treasure hunter they are on the Internet at
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http://www.expresspublications.com.au
. It used to be a monthly journal, now it is only published 4 times a year. Other useful information can be gleaned by putting in a search on Alta-Vista for goldmining.au The au being the designation for Australia. Hope this info helps. Happy hunting. ?
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