Thars gold in them thar hills - still by iandsmith
During 1854 - 1858 more than 2 1/2 million ounces, worth about 10 million pounds in those days, was taken from Ballaarat (original spelling) using pick and shovel, and probably much more was taken away by lucky diggers in their boxes and bags of goldbelts. And just this note in passing - the total amount of gold secured in the Ballaarat district from 1851 till today is more than 21 million ounces, or 643 tons; worth, at the present price of gold, the tidy sum of $440,000,000.Since that piece was written, the price of gold has gone up!
There are mines still here and one, where there are known reserves of gold, is held up because of water flooding the mine. This occurred when the First World War erupted and miners, who were paid a pittance, went off to the services where they could get a reasonable pay and feed. This act left the mines without labour and so they just sat there and the water found its way in; so much so that these days they haven't worked out how they can pump it all out. It seems almost incongruous in times of severe drought that you couldn't sell the water first and then dig for the gold.
