Goldfields

1 ANSWERS

1. amomipais82
   

   Hi,
   Gold!" was the euphoric shout that echoed globally in the second half of the 19th century. This was the era of the great goldrushes that ignited passions, fuelled economies and created massive migrations to some of the world's most remote regions.
   
   The first big rush was to California in 1849-50. A year later, "Australia!" was the cry as discoveries in New South Wales, then Victoria, caused near hysteria. From 1858, new North American finds in Nevada, Utah, Colorado and British Columbia simply added temperature to the raging global fever. And soon rich strikes in New Zealand were also attracting adventurers. The world's focus switched back to Australia in the early 1870s - this time to new discoveries in Queensland. In the 1880s, the enduring wonders of South Africa's Witwatersrand were first unearthed. Western Australia was still waiting and praying for gold.
   
   In the final decade of the 19th century, economic storm clouds were congregating on every horizon. It had been a most remarkable century, but the money markets from London to New York to Melbourne were nervous. The boom times had been very good indeed. Unprecedented migration from Europe's "Old World" to the many "New Worlds" had created a global melting pot of nationalities. Fortunes on a scale previously unimaginable had been amassed from resource-rich frontiers, but it all came crashing down as decades of investments and speculations started to run dry. What the world needed was another good tonic in the form of yet another mighty rush for gold.
   
   Where was the next El Dorado to be found in these gloomy times? Fortuitously, it was Western Australia.
   
   In the decade that followed Bayley and Ford's discovery at Coolgardie in 1892, Western Australia was transformed by the wealth wrought from gold. Located almost 600 kilometres east of Perth, the colony's coastal capital, the wondrous new region was soon being officially referred to by Sir John Forrest's government as the Eastern Goldfields.
   
   During the "Roaring Nineties", the Eastern Goldfields were a magnet for thousands of prospectors and other adventurers. Most descended upon the region believing it to be an uninhabited, almost waterless wilderness. But, like the rest of the Australian continent, it had been inhabited for thousands of years by Aboriginal peoples who had developed an all-encompassing physical, social and spiritual connection with their land. The sudden influx of some 50,000 foreigners displaced and dispersed these people, changing their lives and their land irreversibly.
   
   The largest nugget discovered in the Eastern Goldfields wasn't unearthed until 1931. Called the "Golden Eagle", it tipped the scales at 1136 ounces. Its discovery by 16-year-old Jim Larcombe Jnr came at a time when the gold industry was once again experiencing a boom despite the Great Depression. Over 700 men rushed to "Larkinville" where the nugget was found.
   
   Few regions in Australia can claim to have played a more dynamic role in shaping the history and fortunes of the nation. Without the unearthing of its rich gold deposits, Australia would have been hit much harder by the global recession of the 1890s. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the region's gold was one of the few bright points on Australia's balance sheet. The late 20th century resurgence of gold as a desirable commodity has once again made the region one of the single greatest contributors to the nation's export income. After more than a century of mining, the Eastern Goldfields has yielded over 49 million ounces of gold. It is now also Australia's leading nickel producer.
   
   With 30,000 residents, the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is the nation's largest 'outback' city. Its history, architecture and unique character make it, quite simply, one of Australia's 'must visit' destinations.
   
   The Golden Quest Discovery Trail takes visitors on a 965-kilometre journey through the vast landscape of the Eastern Goldfields, revealing the region's vibrant history and its rich amalgam of natural, Aboriginal and European heritage.

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