Theme Thursday - Mineral

This country that once grew on the sheep’s back has in recent years become completely dependent on the mineral rush once again. We export gold, silver, copper, bauxite, iron ore, yellow cake to name a few . . our landscape is dotted with enormous open cut mines and pillaging their contents to sate the Chinese desire to modernise has stood us in good stead over the past 10 years.

It took a long time for anyone here to actually realise the potential of Australia’s mineral deposits and it all began with one very special mineral . . . gold.

In 1851, a portly and slightly ridiculous Edward Hargraves travelled with his companion Lister and the Brother’s Tom just over the Great Dividing Range. Despite being very unsuccessful in his hunt for Gold in California he was confident that this was gold rush country and declared to his friend:

" The resemblance of its formations to that of California could not be doubted or mistaken. I felt myself surrounded by gold.

"This is a memorable day in the history of New South Wales, I shall be a baronet, you will be knighted, and my old horse will be stuffed, put in a glass case, and sent to the British Museum!"

Hargraves did find a small deposit of alluvial gold and was willing to reveal the location of the field, but he cleverly ensured he would be rewarded regardless of whether any further gold was mined there. The field was examined and five hundred pounds paid to Hargraves for his discovery.

The government declared a gold discovery on May 22, 1851. Prospectors cancelled their trips to California. Clerks, labourers and servants failed to appear for work as thousands rushed west for the newly named "Ophir" gold field,soon to be followed by digs at Bathurst, Sofala and Hill End. The Australian gold rush was on. In 1852 alone, 370,000 immigrants arrived here and the economy began to boom.

Speculators spread to Victoria at Bendigo and Ballarat where more than one third of the world's gold output in the 1850s was found. Australia’s burgeoning economy boomed turning the wide brown land in the arse end of the world from a colony, into a bustling national economy.

Just as he had prophesised, Hargraves was appointed Crown Commissioner of the Goldfields, and paid 10,000 pounds for his trouble. Hargraves never shared his wealth his companions Lister and the Tom Brothers, despite their protests and he made a hasty effort to silence his original financier, ensuring no claims would be made on his wealth.

The audacity of Hargraves knew no bounds,

"it was never my intention ... to work for gold, my only desire was to make the discovery, and rely on the Government and the country for my reward".

Of course in those days, Gold was the standard – the mineral against which all promissory notes (money) were levied. Who knows what drives the value of today’s notes . . .

I think Mae West had a point :

“No gold-digging for me, I take Diamonds,we may be off the gold standard one day.”