Discovering in NSWGOLD

New South Wales is host to a diverse range of gold deposit-types, with gold being produced

as either a principal commodity (e.g. Cadia, Cowal) or occurring in small amounts in many

other deposits (e.g. Broken Hill, Tritton). The majority of known deposits occur in the Lachlan

and New England orogens.

Recent discoveries have indicated that there is signifi cant potential for the discovery

of additional large to world class deposits in NSW. High-resolution aeromagnetic and

radiometric datasets acquired as part of New South Wales government-funded exploration

initiatives 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 (or

height) of NSW.

the Maitland Bar Nuggetthe Maitland Bar NuggetDid you know At 9.73 kg (just over 313 ounces) of gold, the

Maitland Bar nugget is the largest known remaining

nugget found in New South Wales during the period

1851 to 1890. It was forgotten about for 20 years

(from ~1936) until it was rediscovered during

an audit in April 1956. During the period it

disappeared it was in a Wells Fargo box that had

been used by Treasury Offi cers as the wicket for

impromptu cricket games.

Gold collectionGold collectionDid you know The Geological

Survey of New South Wales maintains a wide

range of scientifi c collections. These include

paleontological, thin section and economic

mineral collections. As part of the economic

mineral collection there are a

number of gold specimens,

nuggets and samples of

alluvial gold. The most

important of these

is the Maitland Bar

nugget.

Uses of gold Uses of gold Did you know

Gold has long been a medium of exchange and investment. It is widely used to

produce coins such as the Australian Nugget. Although Governments of most

countries include holdings of gold as part of their monetary reserves many are

starting to reduce their holdings. Financial institutions and individuals also use gold

as a store of wealth.

The main uses of gold are jewellery, dentistry, the adornment of buildings and for

artistic purposes. In jewellery, gold is often mixed with other metals to produce

alloys of diff erent colours. White gold is an alloy of gold with silver, palladium, nickel

and copper. Yellow, green and red golds are produced by alloying gold with copper

and silver in diff erent proportions. The gold content of jewellery is expressed as a

number of carats - pure gold is said to be 24 carat gold; 18 carat gold contains 18/24

or 75% pure gold.

High electrical conductivity, malleability and ductility favour the use of gold in

electronic and computer circuitry, radar equipment and satellites. Because of

gold’s heat refl ecting properties it was used as a fi lm coating on the Apollo 14

lunar module, the vehicle which fi rst landed man on the moon. An important and

growing use is in the mechanism and circuitry of safety air bags in motor vehicles.

Gold factsGold factsDid you know • In 2009-10, 26,000kg of gold was

produced in NSW, valued at $1.04

billion. (NSW Minerals Council)

• NSW is currently Australia’s second

largest gold producing state (NSW

Minerals Council)

• The discovery of gold in New South

Wales by Californian prospector

Edward Hargraves in 1851 at Ophir,

near Bathurst, is popularly regarded

as the start of the Australian gold

rushes. Earlier fi nds, notably by the

Reverend W.B. Clarke at Ophir in 1841

were suppressed by Governor George

Gipps, who was worried about their

potentially disruptive eff ects on convict

order.

Gold has played a key role in the history of

New South Wales and continues to make a

major contribution to the State’s economy.

Gold was fi rst discovered in New South Wales

in 1823 and since that time over 150 deposits

with more than 0.5 tonnes of gold and many

thousands of smaller occurrences have been

discovered in the State.

greater than 50 tonnes

10 to 50 tonnes gold

0.5 to 10 tonnes gold

less than 0.5 tonnes gold

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