Discovering Gold in NSW

Discovering GOLD in NSWGold has played a key role in the history ofNew South Wales and continues to make amajor contribution to the State’s economy.Gold was first discovered in New South Walesin 1823 and since that time over 150 depositswith more than 0.5 tonnes of gold and manythousands of smaller occurrences have beendiscovered in the State.New South Wales is host to a diverse range of gold deposit-types, with gold being producedas either a principal commodity (e.g. Cadia, Cowal) or occurring in small amounts in manyother deposits (e.g. Broken Hill, Tritton). The majority of known deposits occur in the Lachlanand New England orogens.Recent discoveries have indicated that there is significant potential for the discoveryof additional large to world class deposits in NSW. High-resolution aeromagnetic andradiometric datasets acquired as part of New South Wales government-funded explorationinitiatives now cover over 80% of the state and will assist explorers to identify new targets.The background to this map is a digital elevation model representing the topography (orheight) of NSW.map greater than 50 tonnes 0.5 to 10 tonnes goldguide 10 to 50 tonnes gold less than 0.5 tonnes goldUses of gold Did you knowGold has long been a medium of exchange and investment. It is widely used to Gold factsproduce coins such as the Australian Nugget. Although Governments of mostcountries include holdings of gold as part of their monetary reserves many are Did you knowstarting to reduce their holdings. Financial institutions and individuals also use gold • In 2009-10, 26,000kg of gold wasas a store of wealth. produced in NSW, valued at $1.04The main uses of gold are jewellery, dentistry, the adornment of buildings and for billion. (NSW Minerals Council) • NSW is currently Australia’s second Gold collectionartistic purposes. In jewellery, gold is often mixed with other metals to producealloys of different colours. White gold is an alloy of gold with silver, palladium, nickel largest gold producing state (NSW Minerals Council) Did you know The Geologicaland copper. Yellow, green and red golds are produced by alloying gold with copper • The discovery of gold in New South Survey of New South Wales maintains a wide range of scientific collections. These include the Maitland Bar Nuggetand silver in different proportions. The gold content of jewellery is expressed as a Wales by Californian prospectornumber of carats - pure gold is said to be 24 carat gold; 18 carat gold contains 18/24 Edward Hargraves in 1851 at Ophir, paleontological, thin section and economic mineral collections. As part of the economic Did you know At 9.73 kg (just over 313 ounces) of gold, the near Bathurst, is popularly regarded Maitland Bar nugget is the largest known remainingor 75% pure gold. mineral collection there are a as the start of the Australian gold nugget found in New South Wales during the period number of gold specimens,High electrical conductivity, malleability and ductility favour the use of gold in rushes. Earlier finds, notably by the 1851 to 1890. It was forgotten about for 20 years nuggets and samples of Reverend W.B. Clarke at Ophir in 1841 (from ~1936) until it was rediscovered duringelectronic and computer circuitry, radar equipment and satellites. Because of alluvial gold. The most were suppressed by Governor George an audit in April 1956. During the period itgold’s heat reflecting properties it was used as a film coating on the Apollo 14 important of these disappeared it was in a Wells Fargo box that had Gipps, who was worried about theirlunar module, the vehicle which first landed man on the moon. An important and potentially disruptive effects on convict is the Maitland Bar been used by Treasury Officers as the wicket forgrowing use is in the mechanism and circuitry of safety air bags in motor vehicles. order. nugget. impromptu cricket games.

Discovering Gold in NSW

by LandLearn NSW on May 11, 2011

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Discovering Gold in NSW — Presentation Transcript