Gold

 Gold in NSW 

Isolated gold finds had been reported in New South Wales since the 1820s near the Blue Mountains. However, it was kept quiet.

Then in February 1851 a man named Hargraves who had returned from the California goldfields could see that the land was similiar. He was correct and he found a "grain of gold" in a waterhole near Bathurst, and word quickly spread. Within a week there were over 400 people digging there for gold, and by June there were 2000. They named the goldfield //Ophir// after a city of gold in the Bible. He was appointed a 'Commissioner of Land' and received a reward of £10,000, plus a life pension.

 The Australian gold rush had begun!

__Gold frenzy __

Ophir was home to more than 1000 prospectors just four months after Hargraves discovery. Gold fever gripped the nation and the colonial authorities responded by appointing 'Commissioners of Land' to regulate the diggings and collect licence fees for each 'claim'.

//"A complete mental madness appears to have seized almost every member of the community. There has been a universal rush to the diggings."//Bathurst Free Press

Hargraves could never have dreamt how significant his discovery would be. Interesting facts: New South Wales yielded 26.4 tonnes (850,000 ounces) of gold in 1852. This was small compared to what was found in neighbouring Victoria when they joined the rush for gold.

Between 1851 and 1861, Australia produced one third of the world's gold. By the end of that century, Australia was the largest producer of gold in the world. From the 1850's until the 1920's approximately 440 tons of officially recorded gold have been recovered from New South Wales.