Donnelly's Creek was a
gold rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...
town located in the mountains of
Gippsland
Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...
,
Victoria, Australia
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...
, approximately 40 kilometres north of
Walhalla. In its heyday it was home to over 1,200 miners and other residents. Today the town is deserted; however, it still attracts many four-wheel-drive and mining enthusiasts.
History
Donnelly's Creek was named after John Donnelly, the leader of a party of miners who discovered gold there in August 1862. The other members of his group included Soloman Chalmers and a miner by the name of De Crocket.
Donnelly and De Crocket left the creek to register the claim in Sale. In the meantime, Chalmers went back to the gold-mining town of Jericho to obtain tools and supplies. On Chalmers' return he was followed by four miners who jumped half of the Donnelly group's claim. Despite appeals to the authorities, they were unsuccessful in regaining control of the ground because of legal technicalities. In the meantime the publicity attracted more miners to the area, who quickly pegged out the entire creek. The claims returned an average of one ounce per man per claim per day.
[ (In 1866 Donnelly and his two mates finally received a reward of £650 from the Victorian Government Gold Reward Board for the discovery.)
By the end of 1862 the source of the ]alluvial gold
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
found in the creek had been uncovered. Four reefs were found, the most prominent of these was named Edwards' Reef, after George Edwards. Mining continued in the area until 1911, when the last mine – the White Star – closed. By 1922 the region had been all but forgotten; however, it was worked by scattered individual prospectors
Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by Mining engineering#Pre-mining, exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking.
...
up until the outbreak of World War 2.
Since then, the area has been mostly used for outdoor recreation: four-wheel driving, fishing, and camping. In February 2013, fires destroyed four shelter huts in the area from Donnelly's Creek to Aberfeldy.
Mining
The four main reefs found at Donnelly's Creek were
* Edwards' Reef, which returned 5,877 oz. of gold from 8,151 tons of quartz
* Crinoline Reef, which yielded 4,938 oz. from 9,893 tons
* White Star Reef, which produced 2,801 oz. from 6,854 tons
* Bismark (United Star) Beef, which crushed 7,424 tons for 11,488 oz. of gold[
There were a number of other, smaller mining operations in the district, including the Hit or Miss, Boy's Reef (discovered by a nine-year-old boy, James Frederick Porter), the Nil Desperandum and Watson's Reward.
]
See also
* Gold mining
Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface ...
References
{{coord, -37.75, 146.44, type:city_region:AU-VIC, display=title
Ghost towns in Victoria (state)