A fascinating book which chronicles the tales of the first Australian gold rushes and early gold mining in Tasmania.
It focuses on the unbelievable deprivations that the miners endured as they battled the rugged West Coast, some to make their fortune, others to leave their bones there, as a testimony to their failed efforts.
Contents:
Part 1
The Australian gold rushes
Early gold mining in Tasmania
Mr W.B. Clarke's theories
Mt Arrowsmith, a false hope
Charles Gould arrive in Tasmania
The New Zealand gold rushes
Gould's second and third expedition to the West Coast
Gordon Burgess' expedition
Early gold discoveries not payable
The Tasmanian Government offers rewards for discovery of profitable goldfields
The discovery of tin at Mt Bischoff
Charles Sprent's two expeditions
The Heemskirk tin field
The settlement at Pieman Heads
Part 2
Jack Brown, the first successful gold digger
The discovery of gold at Middletons Creek
The beginning of gold mining on the West Coast
The Corinna Goldfield
The rush to Long Plains
Smiths Creek
Corinna, a gold rush village
Specimen Reef
The Golden Ridge
The discovery of Tasmania's biggest gold nugget
Con. Lynch finds a new goldfield
Lynchs Creek
The King River Min, the first mine to crush gold-bearing quartz
Part 3
Early mining at Mt Lyell
Flanigans Creek
The Princess Gold Mine
The Macquarie Gold Mine
The Madam Howard Gold Mine
The Wood Hill Gold Mine
The Harris' Reward Gold Mine
The workings of a stamper battery
The Ring River gold rush
Rosebery
Hydraulic gold mining near Corinna
Osmiridium
Dredging for gold on the West Coast
Decline of gold mining
The Holdfast Gold Mining Company
The Jane River Goldfield
