~ GOLD ~



The economy of the diggings A new aristocracy Gold and ten mile towns Melbourne: built on gold The South Australian assay office Australia`s first mints From diggers to companies Impact of gold on Australia

SBS > Gold > Economy and Infrastructure

The economic impact of the gold rushes was felt most in Victoria, where the gold fields were rich and plentiful. Melbourne was transformed and gold field towns like Ballarat and Bendigo flourished with new wealth and a new population. As diggers made their fortunes, so too did storekeepers, butchers, sly grog sellers and of course, the government.

The economy of the diggings
Basic necessities cost a small fortune on the gold fields, which is what most diggers aimed to find. So how many diggers were lucky enough to be able to afford to eat?
A new aristocracy
Flush with gold wealth, a new class of nouveau riche diggers emerged, much to the chagrin of the upper classes.
Gold and ten mile towns
Towns grew wherever diggers needed services. Some flourished, others were abandoned.
Melbourne: built on gold
New found gold wealth transformed Melbourne from a small colonial outpost to the fourth largest city in the British Empire.
The South Australian assay office
Risking the wrath of Britain, the South Australian Government opened an assay office to save its ailing economy.
Australia's first mints
Australia wanted to convert its gold into currency, rather than ship it all to England.
From diggers to companies
When alluvial deposits dried up, companies moved in to mine deep gold laden quartz.
Impact of gold on Australia
The gold rushes had a lasting impact on Australia's economy.

Australian soldiers were called diggers, as many men who fought for Australia in WWI were diggers from the goldfields.

"Gold is not found in quartz alone; its richest lodes are in the eyes and ears of the public."
Samuel Butler.

It is estimated that at least 20% of all the gold mined since 1500 has been wrung from the earth during only fifty years' worth of gold rushes in the nineteenth century.

A 150th anniversary is a sesquicentenary.

In the first few years of Victoria's life as an independent colony, the Victorian Government sold �4,500,000 worth of Aboriginal land.

The Incas called gold the "sweat of the sun", while the Aztecs and the Mayans called it "the excrement of the sun".

A census of the Kimberly gold fields showed unqualified practitioners such as faith healers, tonic sellers and clairvoyants out-numbered legally qualified doctors three-to-one.

Australia now mines about 300 tonnes of gold annually � worth about $4.5million � making it the third-largest producer in the world, after South Africa and the United States. Gold is Australia�s second largest export after coal.

In 1965 archaeologists discovered the "Ramlah Hoard" � a collection of gold dinars and ingots dating from 761 to 976 � at Ramlah, near Jerusalem.

Gold fingerprinting technology, developed in Australia to help police trace the origin of stolen gold, is now being used to determine the origin of archaeological artefacts.