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{{Short description|Gold discovery triggering an onrush of miners seeking fortune}}{{For|other uses of the term|Gold Rush (disambiguation)|California gold rush}}[[Image:California Clipper 500.jpg|280px|thumb|The fastest [[clipper ships]] cut the travel time from New York to San Francisco from seven months to four months in the 1849 [[California Gold Rush]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Ralph K. Andrist|title=The Gold Rush|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s8JPCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT29|year=2015|publisher=New Word City|page=29|isbn=978-1612308975}}</ref>]]
{{otheruses|Gold rush (disambiguation)}}
A '''gold rush''' or '''gold fever''' is a discovery of [[gold]]—sometimes accompanied by other [[precious metals]] and [[rare-earth mineral]]s—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in [[Australia]], [[Greece]], [[New Zealand]], [[Brazil]], [[Chile]], [[South Africa]], the [[United States]], and [[Canada]] while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.
A '''gold rush''' is a period of feverish migration of workers into the area of a dramatic discovery of commercial quantities of [[gold]].
Gold rushes took place in the 19th century in [[Australia]], [[Brazil]], [[Canada]], [[South Africa]], and the [[United States]].


In the 19th century, the wealth that resulted was distributed widely because of reduced [[human migration |migration]] costs and low barriers to entry. While [[gold mining]] itself proved unprofitable for most diggers and mine owners, some people made large fortunes, and [[merchant]]s and transportation facilities made large profits. The resulting increase in the world's gold supply stimulated global trade and investment. Historians have written extensively about the mass migration, trade, colonization, and environmental history associated with gold rushes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reeves |first1=Keir |last2=Frost |first2=Lionel |last3=Fahey |first3=Charles |title=Integrating the Historiography of the Nineteenth-Century Gold Rushes |journal=Australian Economic History Review |date=22 June 2010 |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=111–128 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8446.2010.00296.x }}</ref>
Gold rushes were typically marked by a general buoyant feeling of a "free for all" in income mobility, in which any single individual might become abundantly wealthy almost instantly. The significance of gold rushes in history has given a longer life to the term, and it is now applied generally to denote any [[Capitalism|capitalist]] [[Economics|economic]] activity in which the participants aspire to race each other in common pursuit of a new and apparently highly lucrative market, often precipitated by an advance in [[technology]].{{Facts|date=March 2008}}


Gold rushes were typically marked by a general buoyant feeling of a "free-for-all" in [[income mobility]], in which any single individual might become abundantly wealthy almost instantly, as expressed in the [[California Dream]].
Gold rushes helped spur permanent non-indigenous settlement of new regions and define a significant part of the culture of the North American and Australian [[frontier]]s. As well, at a time when [[money]] was based on [[Gold standard|gold]], the newly-mined gold provided economic stimulus far beyond the gold fields. Gold rushes presumably extend back as far as [[gold mining]], to the [[Roman Empire]], whose gold mining was described by [[Diodorus Siculus]] and [[Pliny the Elder]], and probably further back to [[Ancient Egypt]].


Gold rushes helped spur waves of immigration that often led to the permanent settlement of new regions. Activities propelled by gold rushes define significant aspects of the culture of the Australian and [[American frontier | North American frontier]]s. At a time when the world's money supply was based on [[Gold standard |gold]], the newly-mined gold provided economic stimulus far beyond the goldfields, feeding into local and wider [[economic boom]]s.
There are about 13 million to 20 million small-scale miners around the world, according to Communities and Small-Scale Mining (CASM). Approximately 100 million people are directly or indirectly dependent on small-scale mining. There are 800,000 to 1.5 million artisanal miners in [[Democratic Republic of Congo]], 350,000 to 650,000 in [[Sierra Leone]], and 150,000 to 250,000 in [[Ghana]], with millions more across [[Africa]].<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/14/africa/mine.php Soaring prices drive a modern, illegal gold rush], International Herald Tribune, July 14, 2008
</ref>


The Gold Rush was a topic that inspired many TV shows and books considering it was a very important topic at the time. During the time, many books were published including ''[[The Call of the Wild]]'', which had much success during the period.
==Life cycle of a gold rush==
[[Image:Cassilis historical area02.jpg|thumb|250px|Many gold rush towns boom overnight and expand rapidly, only to eventually be abandoned]]
Within each mining rush there is typically a transition through progressively higher capital expenditures, larger organizations, and more specialized knowledge. They may also progress from high-unit value to lower unit value minerals (from gold to silver to base metals). hey alll lol


Gold rushes occurred as early as the times of [[ancient Greece]], whose gold mining was described by Diodarus Sicules and [[Pliny the Elder]].
The rush is started by a discovery of placer gold made by an individual. At first the gold may be washed from the sand and gravel by individual miners with little training, using a gold pan or similar simple instrument. Once it is clear that the volume of gold-bearing sediment is larger than a few cubic meters, the placer miners will build rockers or sluice boxes, with which a small group can wash gold from the sediment many times faster than using gold pans. ''(See [[placer mining]] for details.)'' Winning the gold in this manner requires almost no capital investment, only a simple pan or equipment that may be built on the spot, and only simple organization. The low investment, the high value per unit weight of gold, and the ability of gold dust and gold nuggets to serve as a medium of exchange, allow placer gold rushes to occur even in remote locations.


==Surviving the gold rush==
After the sluice-box stage, placer mining may become increasingly large scale, requiring larger organizations, and higher capital expenditures. Small claims owned and mined by individuals may need to be merged into larger tracts. Difficult-to-reach placer deposits may be mined by tunnels. Water may be diverted by dams and canals to placer mine active river beds or to deliver water needed to wash dry placers. The more advanced techniques of [[ground sluicing]], [[hydraulic mining]], and [[Gold dredge|dredging]] may be used.


[[Image:Wooden gold sluice in California between 1890 and 1915..jpg|thumb|A man leans over a wooden sluice. Rocks line the outside of the wood boards that create the sluice.]]
Typically the heyday of a placer gold rush would last only a few years. The free gold supply in stream beds would become depleted somewhat quickly, and the initial phase would be followed by prospecting for veins of [[lode gold]] that were the original source of the placer gold. Hardrock mining, like placer mining, may evolve from low capital investment and simple technology to progressively higher capital and technology. The surface outcrop of a gold-bearing vein may be oxidized, so that the gold occurs as native gold, and the ore needs only to be crushed and washed (free milling ore). The first miners may at first build a simple [[arrastre]] to crush their ore; later, they may build stamp mills to crush ore more quickly. As the miners dig down, they may find that the deeper part of vein contains gold locked in [[sulfur|sulfide]] or [[tellurium|telluride]] minerals, which will require [[smelting]]. If the ore is still sufficiently rich, it may be worth shipping to a distant smelter (direct shipping ore). Lower-grade ore may require on-site treatment to either recover the gold or to produce a concentrate sufficiently rich for transport to the smelter. As the district turns to lower-grade ore, the mining may change from underground mining to large open-pit mining.
[[File:NMA.0039209 Emigration. Svenskar i Amerika. Guldvaskare vid Black Foots River, Montana.jpg|thumb|Swedish gold panners by the [[Blackfoot River (Montana)|Blackfoot River]], [[Montana]] in the 1860s]]
[[File:Kullanhuuhdontaa Ivalossa.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Gold prospecting at the [[Ivalo River]] in 1898]]
Many [[silver rush]]es followed upon gold rushes. As transportation and infrastructure improve, the focus may change progressively from gold to silver to base metals. In this way, [[Leadville, Colorado]] started as a placer gold discovery, achieved fame as a silver-mining district, then relied on lead and zinc in its later days. [[Butte, Montana]] began mining placer gold, then became a silver-mining district, then became for a time the world’s largest copper producer.
[[Image:Hydraulic mining in Dutch Flat, California, between 1857 and 1870.jpg|thumb|Jets of water at a placer mine in [[Dutch Flat, California]] sometime between 1857 and 1870]]
Within each mining rush there is typically a transition through progressively higher capital expenditures, larger organizations, and more specialized knowledge.


A rush typically begins with the discovery of [[placer gold]] made by an individual. At first the gold may be washed from the sand and gravel by individual miners with little training, using a gold pan or similar simple instrument. Once it is clear that the volume of gold-bearing sediment is larger than a few cubic metres, the [[placer mining|placer miners]] will build rockers or sluice boxes, with which a small group can wash gold from the sediment many times faster than using gold pans. Winning the gold in this manner requires almost no capital investment, only a simple pan or equipment that may be built on the spot, and only simple organisation. The low investment, the high value per unit weight of gold, and the ability of gold dust and gold nuggets to serve as a medium of exchange, allow placer gold rushes to occur even in remote locations.
==Gold rushes by region==
===Australian Gold rushes===


After the sluice-box stage, placer mining may become increasingly large scale, requiring larger organisations and higher capital expenditures. Small claims owned and mined by individuals may need to be merged into larger tracts. Difficult-to-reach placer deposits may be mined by tunnels. Water may be diverted by dams and canals to placer mine active river beds or to deliver water needed to wash dry placers. The more advanced techniques of [[ground sluicing]], [[hydraulic mining]] and [[Gold dredge|dredging]] may be used.
The [[Victorian gold rush]], which occurred in Australia in 1851 soon after the California gold rush, was the biggest of several [[Australian gold rushes]]. That gold rush was highly significant to Australia’s, and especially [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]'s and [[Melbourne]]'s, political and economic development. With the Australian gold rushes came the construction of the first [[railway]]s and [[telegraph]] lines, [[multiculturalism]] and [[racism]], the [[Eureka Stockade]] and the end of [[penal transportation]].


Typically the heyday of a placer gold rush would last only a few years. The free gold supply in stream beds would become depleted somewhat quickly, and the initial phase would be followed by prospecting for veins of [[lode]] gold that were the original source of the placer gold. Hard rock mining, like placer mining, may evolve from low capital investment and simple technology to progressively higher capital and technology. The surface outcrop of a gold-bearing vein may be oxidized, so that the gold occurs as native gold, and the ore needs only to be crushed and washed (free milling ore). The first miners may at first build a simple [[arrastra]] to crush their ore; later, they may build [[stamp mill]]s to crush ore at greater speed. As the miners venture downwards, they may find that the deeper part of vein contains gold locked in [[Sulfide mineral|sulfide]] or [[telluride mineral]]s, which will require [[smelting]]. If the ore is still sufficiently rich, it may be worth shipping to a distant smelter (direct shipping ore). Lower-grade ore may require on-site treatment to either recover the gold or to produce a concentrate sufficiently rich for transport to the smelter. As the district turns to lower-grade ore, the mining may change from underground mining to large [[open-pit mining]].
Gold rushes happened at or around:
*[[Coolgardie]]
*[[Charters Towers]]
*[[Kalgoorlie]]
*[[Bathurst, New South Wales|Bathurst]]
*[[Bendigo]]
*[[Ballarat]]
*[[Hill End, New South Wales|Hill End]]


Many [[silver rush]]es followed upon gold rushes. As transportation and infrastructure improve, the focus may change progressively from gold to silver to base metals. In this way, [[Leadville, Colorado]] started as a placer gold discovery, achieved fame as a silver-mining district, then relied on lead and zinc in its later days. [[Butte, Montana]] began mining placer gold, then became a silver-mining district, then became for a time the world's largest copper producer.
In 1852 alone, 370,000 immigrants arrived in Australia and the economy of the nation boomed. The 'rush' was well and truly on. Victoria contributed more than one third of the world's gold output in the 1850s and in just two years the State's population had grown from 77,000 to 540,000.


==By region==
The number of new arrivals to Australia was greater than the number of convicts who had landed there in the previous seventy years. The total population trebled from 430,000 in 1851 to 1.7 million in 1871.
=== Australia and New Zealand ===
{{Main article|Australian gold rushes}}
[[File:Ballarat 1853-54 von guerard.jpg|thumb|[[Ballarat]]'s tent city in the summer of 1853–54, oil painting from an original sketch by [[Eugene von Guerard]]]]
Various gold rushes occurred in Australia over the second half of the 19th century. The most significant of these, although not the only ones, were the [[New South Wales gold rush]] and [[Victorian gold rush]] in 1851,<ref>{{cite book | author=[[Wendy Lewis]], Simon Balderstone and John Bowan | title=Events That Shaped Australia | publisher=New Holland | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-74110-492-9 }}</ref> and the [[Western Australian gold rushes]] of the 1890s. They were highly significant to their respective colonies' political and economic development as they brought many immigrants, and promoted massive government spending on infrastructure to support the new arrivals who came looking for gold. While some found their fortune, those who did not often remained in the colonies and took advantage of extremely liberal land laws to take up farming.
[[File:A chart showing the great nuggets of Victoria.jpg|thumb|A chart showing the great nuggets of Victoria at [[Museums Victoria]]]]
Gold rushes happened at or around:
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
*[[Ballarat]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]
*[[Bathurst, New South Wales]]
*[[Beechworth]], Victoria
*[[Bendigo]], Victoria
*[[Canoona, Queensland]]
*[[Charters Towers]], Queensland
*[[Coolgardie, Western Australia]]
*[[Gympie]], Queensland
*[[Gulgong, New South Wales]]
*[[Halls Creek, Western Australia]]
*[[Hill End, New South Wales]]
*[[Kalgoorlie]], Western Australia
*[[Queenstown, Tasmania]]
}}

In New Zealand the [[Otago gold rush]] from 1861 attracted prospectors from the [[California gold rush]] and the [[Victorian gold rush]] and many moved on to the [[West Coast gold rush]] from 1864.


===North America===
===North America===
[[Image:California Gold Rush handbill.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A California Gold Rush handbill.]]
{{Seealso|Gold mining in the United States}}
The first significant gold rush in the [[United States]] was the [[Georgia Gold Rush]] in the southern [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachians]], which started in 1829. It was followed by the [[California Gold Rush]] of 1848&ndash;52 in the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]], which captured the popular imagination. The California gold rush led directly to the settlement of [[History of California|California]] by Americans and the rapid entry of that state into the union in 1850. The gold rush in 1849 stimulated worldwide interest in prospecting for gold, and led to new rushes in [[Australia]], [[South Africa]], [[Wales]] and [[Scotland]].-
Successive gold rushes occurred in western North America, moving north and east from California: [[Fraser Canyon]], the [[Cariboo]] district and other parts of British Columbia, and the [[Rocky Mountains]]. Resurrection Creek, near [[Hope, Alaska]] was the site of [[Alaska]]'s first gold rush more than a century ago, and [[placer mining]] continues today.<ref>{{cite web|title=Resurrection Creek Restoration Phase II Project Environmental Impact Statement|url=http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-IMPACT/2008/January/Day-28/i347.htm|work=[[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]], US|date=2008-01-17|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Other notable Alaska Gold Rushes were [[Nome]] and the [[Fortymile River]].


{{further information|Gold mining in the United States|Klondike Gold Rush}}
==== Klondike ====
The first significant gold rush in the United States was in [[Cabarrus County, North Carolina]] (east of Charlotte), in 1799 at today's [[Reed's Gold Mine]].<ref name="The North Carolina Gold Rush">{{cite web|title=The North Carolina Gold Rush|url=http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newnation/4374|work=Tar Heel Junior Historian 45, no. 2 (Spring 2006) copyright North Carolina Museum of History.}}</ref> Thirty years later, in 1829, the [[Georgia Gold Rush]] in the southern [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachians]] occurred. It was followed by the [[California Gold Rush]] of 1848–55 in the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]], which captured the popular imagination. The California Gold Rush led to an influx of gold miners and newfound gold wealth, which led to California's rapid industrialization, as businesses sprung up to serve the increased population and financial and political institutions to handle the increased wealth.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Nash | first = Gerald D. | title = A Veritable Revolution: The Global Economic Significance of the California Gold Rush | journal = California History | date = 1998 | volume = 77 | issue = 4 | pages = 276–292 | doi = 10.2307/25462518 | jstor = 25462518 | url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/25462518}}</ref> One of these political institutions was statehood; the need for new laws in a sparsely-governed land led to the state's rapid entry into the Union in 1850.<ref>{{cite book | last = McPherson | first = James M. | title = Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era | year = 1988 | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford | isbn = 978-0-19-503863-7}}</ref>
{{Main|Klondike Gold Rush}}<!--Actually, this section serves no purpose; just make sure the list above is complete on these rushes, and merge this content into [[Klondike Gold Rush]] main article, if any needs merging at all.-->
One of the last "great gold rushes" was the [[Klondike Gold Rush]] in Canada's [[Yukon|Yukon Territory]] (1898&ndash;99), immortalized in the novels of [[Jack London]], the poetry of [[Robert W. Service]] and [[Charlie Chaplin]]'s film ''[[The Gold Rush]]''. The main goldfield was along the south flank of the [[Klondike River]] near its confluence with the [[Yukon River]] near what was to become Dawson City in Canada's Yukon Territory but it also helped open up the relatively new US possession of Alaska to exploration and settlement and promoted the discovery of other gold finds.


The gold rush in 1849 also stimulated worldwide interest in prospecting for gold, leading to further rushes in Australia, South Africa, Wales and Scotland. Successive gold rushes occurred in western North America: [[Fraser Canyon]], the [[Cariboo]] district and other parts of British Columbia, in [[Nevada]], in the [[Rocky Mountains]] in [[Colorado]], [[Idaho]], [[Montana]], eastern [[Oregon]], and western [[New Mexico Territory]] and along the lower [[Colorado River]]. There was a gold rush in Nova Scotia (1861–1876) which produced nearly 210,000 ounces of gold.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gold Rushes: The First Gold Rush |url=http://novascotiagold.ca/theme/exploitation_de_lor-mining/ruee_vers_lor_un-gold_rush_one-eng.php/ |website=Art Gallery of Nova Scotia |access-date=30 January 2022 |archive-date=30 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130232226/http://novascotiagold.ca/theme/exploitation_de_lor-mining/ruee_vers_lor_un-gold_rush_one-eng.php/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Resurrection Creek]], near [[Hope, Alaska]] was the site of Alaska's first gold rush in the mid–1890s.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Halloran|first1=Jim|title=Alaska's Hope-Sunrise Mining District|journal=Prospecting and Mining Journal|date=September 2010|volume=80|issue=1|url=http://www.icmj.com/article.php?id=901|access-date=28 November 2016}}</ref> Other notable Alaska Gold Rushes were [[Nome Gold Rush|Nome]], [[Fairbanks]], and the [[Fortymile River]].
===South Africa===
In South Africa, the [[Witwatersrand Gold Rush]] in the [[Transvaal]] was important to that country's history, leading to the founding of [[Johannesburg]] and tensions between the [[Boer]]s and British settlers.


[[Image:Miners climb Chilkoot.jpg|thumb|Miners and prospectors ascend the [[Chilkoot Trail]] during the Klondike Gold Rush.]]
South African gold production went from zero in 1886 to 23% of the total world output in 1896. At the time of the South African rush, gold production benefited from the newly discovered techniques by Scottish chemists, [[Gold cyanidation|the MacArthur-Forrest process]], of using [[potassium cyanide]] to extract gold from low-grade ore.<ref name="MicheloudCrime">{{cite web | last=Micheloud | first=François | year=2004 | url=http://www.micheloud.com/FXM/MH/Crime/Gold.htm | title=The Crime of 1873: Gold Inflation this time | work=FX Micheloud Monetary History | publisher=François Micheloud: www.micheloud.com}}</ref>


One of the last "great gold rushes" was the [[Klondike Gold Rush]] in the [[Yukon Territory]] (1896–99). This gold rush is featured in the novels of [[Jack London]], and [[Charlie Chaplin]]'s film ''[[The Gold Rush]]''. [[Robert William Service]] depicted in his poetries the Gold Rush, especially in the book ''[[The Trail of '98]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://robertwservice.blogspot.com/p/biographie.html|title = Biographie}}</ref> The main goldfield was along the south flank of the [[Klondike River]] near its confluence with the [[Yukon River]] near what was to become [[Dawson City]] in Yukon Territory, but it also helped open up the relatively new US possession of [[Alaska]] to exploration and settlement, and promoted the discovery of other gold finds.
==Notable gold rushes by date==
=== Rushes of the 1690s ===
* [[Brazil Gold Rush]], [[Minas Gerais]] (1695)<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Gold rush|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-237388/gold-rush |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.]]|date=2008|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>


The most successful of the North American gold rushes was the [[Porcupine Gold Rush]] in [[Timmins, Ontario]] area. This gold rush was unique compared to others by the method of extraction of the gold. Placer mining techniques were not able to be used to access the gold in the area due to it being embedded into the [[Canadian Shield]], so larger mining operations involving significantly more expensive equipment was required. While this gold rush peaked in the 1940s and 1950s, it is still active today with over 200 million<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/industry-news/mining/the-gold-exploration-surge-continues-in-timmins-5723008 | title=The gold exploration surge continues in Timmins | date=22 August 2022 }}</ref> ounces of gold having been produced from the region. The gold deposits in this area are identified as one of the largest in the world.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Turner |first1=Bob |title=Timmins: Canada's greatest goldfields! |url=https://files.ontario.ca/ndmnrf-geotours-3/ndmnrf-geotours-timmins-en-2021-12-13.pdf |work=Natural Resources Canada and Ontario Geological Survey 2015 |publication-date=2015 |publisher=GeoTours Northern Ontario series |last2=Quat |first2=Marianne |last3=Debicki |first3=Ruth |last4=Thurston |first4=Phil}}</ref>
=== Rushes of the 1820s ===
* [[Georgia Gold Rush]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[United States|US]] (1828)


=== Rushes of the 1840s ===
===Africa===
In South Africa, the [[Witwatersrand Gold Rush]] in the [[South African Republic|Transvaal]] was important to that country's history, leading to the founding of [[Johannesburg]] and tensions between the [[Boer]]s and British settlers as well as the Chinese miners.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ngai |first=Mae M. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1196176649 |title=The Chinese question : the gold rushes and global politics |date=2021 |isbn=978-0-393-63416-7 |edition= |location=New York|oclc=1196176649}}</ref>
* [[California Gold Rush]], [[California]] (1848)


South African gold production went from zero in 1886 to 23% of the total world output in 1896. At the time of the South African rush, gold production benefited from the newly discovered techniques by Scottish chemists, [[Gold cyanidation|the MacArthur-Forrest process]], of using [[potassium cyanide]] to extract gold from low-grade ore.<ref name="MicheloudCrime">{{cite web |last=Micheloud |first=François |year=2004 |url=http://www.micheloud.com/FXM/MH/Crime/Gold.htm |title=The Crime of 1873: Gold Inflation this time |work=FX Micheloud Monetary History |publisher=François Micheloud: www.micheloud.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060520104428/http://www.micheloud.com/FXM/MH/Crime/Gold.htm |archive-date=2006-05-20 }}</ref>
=== Rushes of the 1850s ===

===South America===
[[Image:Moneda Popper 5 Gramos.jpg|thumb|5-gram gold coin from [[Tierra del Fuego]] issued by [[Julius Popper]]]]
{{further information|Brazilian Gold Rush|Tierra del Fuego gold rush}}
The gold mine at El Callao (Venezuela), started in 1871, was for a time one of the richest in the world, and the goldfields as a whole saw over a million ounces exported between 1860 and 1883. The gold mining was dominated by immigrants from the British Isles and the British West Indies, giving an appearance of almost creating an English colony on Venezuelan territory.

Between 1883 and 1906 [[Tierra del Fuego]] experienced a gold rush attracting many Chileans, Argentines and Europeans to the archipelago. The gold rush began in 1884 following discovery of gold during the rescue of the French steamship ''Arctique'' near [[Cape Virgenes]].<ref name=Martinic>Martinic Beros, Mateo. ''Crónica de las Tierras del Canal Beagle''. 1973. Editorial Francisco de Aguirre S.A. pp. 55–65</ref>

==Mining industry today==
There are about 10 to 30 million small-scale miners around the world, according to Communities and Small-Scale Mining (CASM). Approximately 100 million people are directly or indirectly dependent on small-scale mining. For example, there are 800,000 to 1.5 million [[Artisanal mining|artisanal miners]] in [[Democratic Republic of Congo]], 350,000 to 650,000 in [[Sierra Leone]], and 150,000 to 250,000 in [[Ghana]], with millions more across Africa.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/world/africa/14iht-mine.1.14477935.html Soaring prices drive a modern, illegal gold rush], ''New York Times'', July 14, 2008
</ref>

In an exclusive report, [[Reuters]] accounted the smuggling of billions of dollars' worth of gold out of [[Africa]] through the [[United Arab Emirates]] in the [[Middle East]], which further acts as a gateway to the markets in the [[United States]], [[Europe]] and more. The news agency evaluated the worth and magnitude of illegal gold trade occurring in African nations like [[Ghana]], [[Tanzania]], and [[Zambia]], by comparing the total gold imports recorded into the UAE with the exports affirmed by the African states. According to Africa's industrial mining firms, they have not exported any amount of gold to the UAE – confirming that the imports come from other, illegal sources. As per customs data, the UAE imported gold worth $15.1 billion from Africa in 2016, with a total weight of 446 tons, in variable degrees of purity. Much of the exports were not recorded in the African states, which means a huge volume of gold imports were carried out with no taxes paid to the states producing it.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/gold-africa-smuggling/|title=Gold worth billions smuggled out of Africa|access-date=24 April 2019|website=Reuters}}</ref>

==By date==

===Before 1860===
* [[Zacatecas]] Gold Rush, [[Viceroyalty of New Spain]] (1546)
* [[Parral, Chihuahua|Parral]], [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]] (1631)
* [[Brazilian Gold Rush]], [[Minas Gerais]] (1695)<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title= Gold rush|url= https://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-237388/gold-rush |encyclopedia= [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|year= 2008|access-date= 2008-08-31}}</ref>
* El Oro Gold Rush, [[El Oro de Hidalgo]] (1787)
* [[Carolina Gold Rush]], [[Cabarrus County, North Carolina]], US (1799)<ref name="The North Carolina Gold Rush"/>
* [[Georgia Gold Rush]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], US (1828)
* [[California Gold Rush]] (1848–55)
* {{ill|Siberian Gold Rush|ru|Золотая_лихорадка_в_Сибири}}, [[Siberia]], [[Russian Empire]] (19th century)
* [[Queen Charlottes Gold Rush]], [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]] (1850); the first of many [[British Columbia gold rushes]]
* [[Queen Charlottes Gold Rush]], [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]] (1850); the first of many [[British Columbia gold rushes]]
* Northern Nevada Gold Rush (1850–1934){{Clarify|date= March 2008}}<!--More specific year range needed.-->
* [[Victorian gold rush|Victorian Gold Rush]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]]
* [[Victorian gold rush]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], Australia (1851–late 1860s). Known as the Golden Triangle, it incorporated areas such as [[Ararat, Victoria|Ararat]], [[Castlemaine, Victoria|Castlemaine]], [[Maryborough, Queensland|Marybororgh]], [[Clunes, Victoria|Clunes]], [[Bendigo]], [[Ballarat]], [[Daylesford, Victoria|Daylesford]], [[Beechworth]], and [[Eldorado, Victoria|Eldorado]].
* [[Fraser Canyon Gold Rush]], British Columbia (1858&ndash;1861)
* [[Stockton – Los Angeles Road#Kern River Gold Rush|Kern River Gold Rush]], [[California]] (1853–58)
* [[Rock Creek Gold Rush]], British Columbia (1859&ndash;1860s){{Clarifyme|date=March 2008}}<!--More specific year range needed.-->
* Idaho Gold Rush, near [[Colville, Washington]] (1855; also known as the [[Fort Colville]] Gold Rush)
* [[Pikes Peak Gold Rush]], [[Pikes Peak]], Colorado (1859)
* [[Steamboats of the Colorado River#Mohave War and the first gold rush on the Colorado|Gila Placers Rush]], [[New Mexico Territory]] (present-day [[Arizona]]; 1858–59)
* [[Northern Nevada Gold Rush]] (from 1850 - 1934){{Clarifyme|date=March 2008}}<!--More specific year range needed.-->
* [[Fraser Canyon Gold Rush]], British Columbia (1858–61)
* [[Rock Creek Gold Rush]], British Columbia (1859–60s){{Clarify|date=March 2008}}<!--More specific year range needed.-->
* [[Pike's Peak Gold Rush]], [[Pikes Peak]], [[Kansas Territory]] (present-day Colorado; 1859)


=== Rushes of the 1860s ===
=== 1860s ===
* [[Holcomb Valley Gold Rush]], California (1860–61)
* [[Idaho Gold Rush]], also known as the [[Fort Colville]] Gold Rush, near [[Colville, Washington|Colville]], [[Washington]] state (1860)
* [[Cariboo Gold Rush]], British Columbia (1862&ndash;65)
* Clearwater Gold Rush, [[Idaho]] (1860)
* [[Otago gold rush]], New Zealand (1861)
* [[Steamboats of the Colorado River#Eldorado Canyon Rush|Eldorado Canyon Rush]], [[New Mexico Territory]] (present-day [[Nevada]]; 1861)
* [[Steamboats of the Colorado River#Colorado River Gold Rush|Colorado River Gold Rush]], [[Arizona Territory]] (1862–64)
* [[Boise Basin Gold Rush]], Idaho (1862)
* [[Cariboo Gold Rush]], British Columbia (1862–65)
* [[Confederate Gulch and Diamond City#Initial gold discovery|Montana Gold Rush]] (1862–69), including:<ref name="MaloneRoederLangChap4">{{cite book|last1=Malone|first1=Michael P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p-P59FkOPg0C|title=Montana : a history of two centuries|last2=Roeder|first2=Richard B.|last3=Lang|first3=William L.|date=1991|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-97129-2|edition=Rev.|location=Seattle, WA|pages=64–91|chapter=Chapter 4, The Mining Frontier|access-date=19 December 2014}}</ref>
** [[Bannack, Montana|Bannack]], [[Virginia City, Montana|Virginia City]] ([[Alder Gulch]]), and [[Helena, Montana|Helena]] ([[Last Chance Gulch]]) (1862–64)
** [[Confederate Gulch and Diamond City|Confederate Gulch]] (1864–69)
* [[Stikine Gold Rush]], British Columbia (1863)
* [[Stikine Gold Rush]], British Columbia (1863)
* [[Big Bend Gold Rush]], British Columbia (1865&mdash;66)
* [[Owyhee Gold Rush]], [[Southeastern Oregon]], [[Southwestern Idaho]] (1863)
* [[Owens Valley Indian War#Apparent peace.2C mining rush.2C new settlements and minor incidents|Owens Valley Rush]], [[Owens Valley]], California (1863–64)
* [[Leechtown]] Gold Rush, (south of [[Sooke Lake]]), Leech River, [[Vancouver Island]] (1864–65)
* [[West Coast gold rush]], South Island, New Zealand (1864–67)
* [[Big Bend Gold Rush]], British Columbia (1865—66)
* [[Francistown]] Gold Rush, [[Bechuanaland Protectorate| British Protectorate of Bechuanaland]] (1867)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oMKf-rqYjFgC&pg=PA85|title=Southern Africa|first1=Alan|last1=Murphy|first2=Kate|last2=Armstrong|first3=James|last3=Bainbridge|first4=Matthew D.|last4=Firestone|date=January 27, 2010|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=9781740595452 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
* [[Omineca Gold Rush]], British Columbia (1869)
* [[Omineca Gold Rush]], British Columbia (1869)
* [[Wild Horse Creek Gold Rush]], British Columbia (1860s),{{Clarifyme|date=March 2008}}<!--More specific year or year range needed.-->
* Wild Horse Creek Gold Rush, British Columbia (1860s){{Clarify|date= March 2008}}<!--More specific year or year range needed.-->
* [[Black Hills Gold Rush]], [[Black Hills]] of [[South Dakota]] and [[Wyoming]] (1863, later extending into [[Montana]]){{Clarifyme|date=March 2008}}<!--More specific year or year range needed.-->
* Eastern Oregon Gold Rush (1860s–70s){{Clarify|date= March 2008}}<!--More specific year or year range needed.-->
* [[Kildonan Gold Rush]], [[Sutherland]], Scotland (1869)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.baileanor.org/ |title=''The Baile an Or project– Scotland's Gold Rush'' Retrieved: 2010-03-31. |access-date=2010-03-31 |archive-date=2011-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110625002621/http://baileanor.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Eastern Oregon Gold Rush]] (1860s&ndash;1870s){{Clarifyme|date=March 2008}}<!--More specific year or year range needed.-->
* [[Kildonnan Gold Rush]], [[Sutherland]], [[Scotland]] (1869)


=== Rushes of the 1870s ===
=== 1870s ===
* [[Lapland gold rush]], Finland, 1870
* [[El Callao]] Gold Rush, Venezuela, 1871
* [[Cassiar Gold Rush]], British Columbia, 1871
* [[Cassiar Gold Rush]], British Columbia, 1871
* [[Palmer River Gold Rush]], [[Palmer River]], [[Queensland]], Australia (1872)
* [[Palmer River Gold Rush]], [[Palmer River]], [[Queensland]], Australia (1872)
* [[Black Hills Gold Rush]], [[The Black Hills]], [[South Dakota]] (1874)
* [[Pilgrim's Rest, South Africa]] (1873)
* [[Bodie Gold Rush]], [[Bodie, California|Bodie]], California (1876)
* [[Black Hills Gold Rush]], [[Black Hills]] of [[South Dakota]] and [[Wyoming]] (1874–78)
* Bodie Gold Rush, [[Bodie, California]] (1876)
* Kumara Gold Rush, [[Kumara, New Zealand|Kumara]] and Dillmanstown, [[New Zealand]] (1876)<ref name=ENZ1966>Dollimore, Edward Stewart. - [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/K/KumaraWestland/KumaraWestland/en "Kumara, Westland"]. - ''[[Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966)]]''.</ref>
* Kumara Gold Rush, [[Kumara, New Zealand|Kumara]] and Dillmanstown, New Zealand (1876)<ref name=ENZ1966>Dollimore, Edward Stewart. – [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/K/KumaraWestland/KumaraWestland/en "Kumara, Westland"]. – ''[[Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966)]]''.</ref>
* [[Hungen]], [[Hesse]], [[Germany]] (1877)
* [[Millwood, South Africa]] (1876)


=== Rushes of the 1880s ===
=== 1880s ===
* [[Barberton, Mpumalanga|Barberton]] Gold Rush, South Africa (1883)
* [[Witwatersrand Gold Rush]], [[Transvaal]], [[South Africa]] (1886); the resulting influx of miners was one of the triggers of the [[Second Boer War]]
* [[Witwatersrand Gold Rush]], [[South African Republic|Transvaal]], South Africa (1886); discovery of the [[Witwatersrand Basin|largest deposit]] of gold in the world. The resulting influx of miners became one of the triggers of the [[Second Boer War]] of 1899-1902.
* [[Cayoosh Gold Rush]] in [[Lillooet, British Columbia|Lillooet]], British Columbia (1884&mdash;87)
* [[Tulameen Gold Rush]] near [[Princeton, British Columbia|Princeton]] British Columbia{{Clarifyme|date=March 2008}}<!--When?-->
* [[Cayoosh Gold Rush]] in [[Lillooet, British Columbia]] (1884—87)
* [[Tulameen Gold Rush]], near [[Princeton, British Columbia]]{{When|date=June 2020}}
* [[Tierra del Fuego Gold Rush]], southernmost [[Chile]] and [[Argentina]] (1884–1906)
* [[Baja California Gold Rush]], in the [[Sierra de San Pedro Mártir|Santa Clara mountains]] about sixty miles southeast of [[Ensenada, Baja California|Ensenada]] (1889)<ref name="Flanigan">{{cite journal |last1=Flanigan |first1=Sylvia K. |title=The Baja California gold rush of 1889 |url=https://sandiegohistory.org/journal/1980/january/gold |website=The Journal of San Diego History |publisher=San Diego Historical Society Quarterly | editor=Thomas L. Scharf |volume= 26 |number= 1 |date=Winter 1980}}</ref>
* [[Amur]] gold rush, on the China-Russia border. Some miners in the region formed independent proto-states such as the [[Zheltuga Republic]].


=== Rushes of the 1890s ===
=== 1890s ===
* [[Cripple Creek Gold Rush]], [[Cripple Creek, Colorado]] (1891)
*[[Tierra del Fuego Gold Rush]], [[Tierra del Fuego]], southern [[Chile]] and [[Argentina]]{{Clarifyme|date=March 2008}}<!--When?-->
* [[Western Australian gold rushes]], [[Kalgoorlie]] and [[Coolgardie]], Western Australia (1893, 1896)
*[[Cripple Creek Gold Rush]], [[Cripple Creek, Colorado|Cripple Creek]], Colorado (1891)
*[[Westralia Gold Rush]], [[Kalgoorlie]], [[Western Australia]]{{Clarifyme|date=March 2008}}<!--When?-->
* [[Mount Baker Gold Rush]], [[Whatcom County, Washington]], United States (1897–1920s)
*[[Klondike Gold Rush]], centered on [[Dawson City]], [[Yukon]], Canada (1896&ndash;1898)
* [[Klondike Gold Rush]], centered on [[Dawson City]], [[Yukon]], Canada (1896–99)
*[[Atlin Gold Rush]], [[Atlin, British Columbia|Atlin]], British Columbia (1898)
* [[Atlin Gold Rush]], [[Atlin, British Columbia]] (1898)
*[[Nome Gold Rush]], [[Nome, Alaska|Nome]], [[Alaska]] (1898&ndash;99)
* [[Nome Gold Rush]], [[Nome, Alaska]] (1899–1909)
* Fairview Goldrush, Oliver (Fairview), British Columbia, Canada


=== Rushes of the 1900s<!--NOTE: "1900s" means "1900-1909" not "20th century".--> ===
=== 20th century ===
*[[Fairbanks Gold Rush]], [[Fairbanks, Alaska|Fairbanks]], Alaska (1902&ndash;1905)
* [[Fairbanks Gold Rush]], [[Fairbanks, Alaska]] (1902–05)
*[[Goldfield Gold Rush]], [[Goldfield, Nevada|Goldfield]], Nevada{{Clarifyme|date=March 2008}}<!--When?-->
* Goldfield Gold Rush, [[Goldfield, Nevada]]{{When|date=June 2020}}
*[[Cobalt Silver Rush]], 1903-5, [[Cobalt, Ontario]], [[Canada]]
* [[Porcupine Gold Rush]], 1909–11, [[Timmins, Ontario]], Canada – little known, but one of the largest in terms of gold mined, 67 million ounces as of 2001
*[[Porcupine Gold Rush]], 1909-11, [[Timmins, Ontario]], [[Canada]] &ndash; little known, but one of the largest in terms of gold mined, 67 million ounces as of 2001


* [[Iditarod Gold Rush]], [[Flat, Alaska]], 1910–12, where gold was discovered by [[John Beaton (miner)|John Beaton]] and William A. Dikeman in 1908
=== Rushes of the 1930s ===
*[[Kakamega gold rush]], Kenya, 1932


* Soviet gold rush - notably involving [[Gulag]] slave labor in the [[Kolyma]] region<ref>
=== Rushes of the 1970s ===
{{cite book
* [[Upper Amazon Gold Rush]], [[Amazon River#Source of the river|Upper Amazon]] region, [[Brazil]] and [[Peru]]{{Clarifyme|date=March 2008}}<!--When?-->
| last1 = Levitan
| first1 = Gregory
| chapter = 1: History of gold exploration and mining in the CIS
| title = Gold Deposits Of The CIS
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=H24TvKS9qGcC
| publisher = Xlibris Corporation
| date = 2008
| page = 24
| isbn = 9781462836024
| access-date = 2017-10-29
| quote = The early 1930s were marked by the decision of the Communist Party Politburo to reinstate the institution of prospectors who had been banned as antisocialist elements in the second half of the 1920s. [[Jack Littlepage|Littlepage]] described in his book (1938) that by 1933 all plans to put prospectors back to work in the field had been worked out and implemented as rapidly as possible. Regulations to govern relations between prospectors and Gold Thrust were drawn up, setting in motion a Soviet gold rush.
}}
</ref>
* [[Kakamega gold rush]], Kenya, 1932
* [[Vatukoula]] Gold Rush, Fiji, 1932
* [[Serra Pelada]], [[Brazil]]
* [[Mount Diwata]] Gold Rush, [[Monkayo]], [[Philippines]], 1983-1987<ref>[https://www.geolsocphil.org/geocon_abstracts/geocon2005_47.htm Rationalizing Mining Operations at the Diwalwal Gold Rush Area, Monkayo, Compostela Valley]</ref>

* Amazon Gold Rush, [[Amazon Rainforest|Amazon]] region, Brazil{{When|date=June 2020}}<ref>{{cite web|author= Marlise Simons|title= In Amazon Jungle, a Gold Rush Like None Before |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE0D91038F936A15757C0A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |work= [[The New York Times]]|date= 1988-04-25|access-date= 2008-08-31}}</ref>
* Mount Kare Gold Rush, [[Enga Province]], [[Papua New Guinea]]<ref>Henton, Dave, and Andi Flower. 2007. ''Mount Kare Gold Rush: Papua New Guinea 1988 – 1994''. {{ISBN|978-0646482811}}.</ref><ref>Ryan, Peter. 1991. ''Black Bonanza: A Landslide of Gold''. [[Hyland House Museum|Hyland House]]. {{ISBN|978-0947062804}}.</ref>


=== Rushes of the 1980s ===
=== 21st century ===
* Great Mongolian Gold Rush, [[Mongolia]] (2001)<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/12/22/356094/index.htm|title= The Great Mongolian Gold Rush The land of Genghis Khan has the biggest mining find in a very long time. A visit to the core of a frenzy in the middle of nowhere|author= Grainger David|date= December 22, 2003|website= [[CNNMoney.com]]|access-date= 2011-04-24}}</ref>
* [[Amazon Gold Rush]], [[Amazon Rainforest|Amazon]] region, Brazil{{Clarifyme|date=March 2008}}<!--When?--><ref>{{cite web|author=Marlise Simons|title=In Amazon Jungle, a Gold Rush Like None Before |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE0D91038F936A15757C0A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |work=[[The New York Times]]|date=1988-04-25|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>
* [[Bouaflé]] Gold Rush, [[Ivory Coast]] (2005)<ref name=":3">{{cite news|language=en|author1=Yassin Ciyow|title=In Côte d'Ivoire, the precarious life of women gold prospectors|periodical=Le Monde.fr|date=2021-07-06|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2021/07/06/en-cote-d-ivoire-la-vie-precaire-des-chercheuses-d-or_6087252_3212.html|access-date=2022-02-07}}</ref>
* [[Mount Kare Gold Rush]], [[Enga Province]], [[Papua New Guinea]]<ref>Mount Kare gold rush : Papua New Guinea 1988 - 1994 / Dave Henton and Andi Flower </ref><ref>Black bonanza : a landslide of gold / Peter Ryan </ref>
* Apuí Gold Rush, [[Apuí]], [[Amazonas (Brazilian state)|Amazonas]], Brazil (2006);<ref>{{Cite news|url= http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,464732,00.html|title= Gold Rush in the Rainforest: Brazilians Flock to Seek their Fortunes in the Amazon|author= Jens Glüsing|date=February 9, 2007|access-date= 2011-04-24|work= [[Der Spiegel]]}}</ref> approximately 500,000 miners are thought to work in the Amazon's gold mines ({{Langx|pt-BR|garimpos}}).<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/brazil/story/0,,1987511,00.html|title= Brazilian goldminers flock to 'new Eldorado'|author= Tom Phillips|date= January 11, 2007|access-date= 2011-04-24|work= [[The Guardian]]}}</ref>
* [[Peruvian Amazon]] gold rush, [[Madre de Dios Region | Madre de Dios]] (2009)<ref>
{{Cite news
|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/18/AR2009121804139.html
|title= Rising prices spark a new gold rush in Peruvian Amazon
|newspaper= [[The Washington Post]]|author= Lauren Keane
|date= December 19, 2009|access-date= 2011-04-24
}}</ref>
* [[Tibesti Mountains]] gold rush, [[Chad]], [[Libya]] and [[Niger]] (2012)<ref>{{cite news |last=Chamberlain |first=Gethin |title=The deadly African gold rush fuelled by people smugglers' promises |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=January 17, 2018 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/jan/17/deadly-african-gold-rush-people-smugglers-northern-chad-mines |access-date=2019-02-27}}</ref>
* [[Djado Plateau]] Gold Rush, Ténéré Desert and Aïr Massif, [[Niger]] (2014)<ref>{{cite news|language=English|author=Alissa Descotes-Toyosaki|title=Niger: the gold rush|periodical=Paris Match|date=2 April 2018|url=https://www.parismatch.com/Actu/International/Niger-la-ruee-vers-l-or-1489445|access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>
*Gold rush in [[South Kivu]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] (2021)<ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-12-19|title=In Congo's gold rush, the money is in beer and brothels|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2020/12/19/in-congos-gold-rush-the-money-is-in-beer-and-brothels|access-date=2021-03-29|issn=0013-0613}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=2021-03-04|title=Congo bans mining in South Kivu village after gold rush|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/congo-mining-idUSL5N2L27AI|access-date=2021-03-29}}</ref>


==See also==
=== Rushes of the 2000s ===
* [[Bandwagon effect]]
* [[Great Mongolian Gold Rush]], [[Mongolia]] (2001)<ref>[http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/12/22/356094/index.htm The Great Mongolian Gold Rush The land of Genghis Khan has the biggest mining find in a very long time. A visit to the core of a frenzy in the middle of nowhere.], money.cnn.com, December 22, 2003</ref>
* [[Diamond rush]]
* [[Apuí Gold Rush]], [[Apuí]], [[Amazonas (Brazilian state)|Amazonas]], Brazil (2006);<ref>[http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,464732,00.html Gold Rush in the Rainforest: Brazilians Flock to Seek their Fortunes in the Amazon]</ref> approximately 500,000 miners are thought to work in the Amazon's "garimpos" (gold mines).<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/brazil/story/0,,1987511,00.html Brazilian goldminers flock to 'new Eldorado']</ref>


==References==
==References==


{{reflist|2}}
{{reflist|30em}}


==External links==
==Further reading==
* Ngai, Mae. ''The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics'' (2021), Mid 19c in California, Australia and South Africa {{ISBN?}}


* White, Franklin.'' Miner with a Heart of Gold – Biography of a Mineral Science and Engineering Educator''. FriesenPress. 2020. ISBN 978-1-5255-7765-9 (Hardcover) ISBN 978-1-5255-7766-6 (Paperback) ISBN 978-1-5255-7767-3 (eBook).


==External links==
{{Commons|Gold rush}}
{{Commons and category|Gold rush|Gold rushes}}
*[http://objectofhistory.org/objects/intro/goldnugget/ Object of History: the Gold Nugget]
*[http://objectofhistory.org/objects/intro/goldnugget/ Object of History: the Gold Nugget]
*[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush PBS' American Experience: The Gold Rush]
*[https://www.pbs.org/video/american-experience-the-gold-rush-preview/ ''PBS' American Experience: The Gold Rush'']
*[http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/goldrush/ The Australian Gold Rush]
*[http://www.library.ca.gov/goldrush/ Exploring the California Gold Rush]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050923200923/http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/goldrush/ The Australian Gold Rush]
*[http://www.musee-mccord.qc.ca/en/keys/webtours/GE_P2_5_EN.html Off to the Klondike! The Search for Gold] &mdash; Illustrated Historical Essay
*[http://www.musee-mccord.qc.ca/en/keys/webtours/GE_P2_5_EN.html Off to the Klondike! The Search for Gold] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402151908/http://www.musee-mccord.qc.ca/en/keys/webtours/GE_P2_5_EN.html |date=2016-04-02 }} – illustrated historical essay
*[http://www.mazatlandecimononico.com/fiebredeloro.html California Gold Rush; diggers in Mazatlan on their way to California]

*[http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/whaples.goldrush Article on the California Gold Rush from EH.NET's Encyclopedia]
{{Gold rush}}
*[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/ulsters-gold-rush-447844.html The Independent (7 May 2007): ''Ulster's Gold Rush'']
{{American frontier}}


{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Gold rushes|*]]
[[Category:History of mining]]
[[Category:Gold mining]]


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[[Category:History of money]]
[[da:Guldfeber]]
[[Category:Western (genre) staples and terminology]]
[[de:Goldrausch]]
[[es:Fiebre del oro]]
[[fr:Ruée vers l'or]]
[[ko:골드 러시]]
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[[lt:Aukso karštinė]]
[[hu:Aranyláz]]
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Latest revision as of 00:55, 19 December 2024

For other uses of the term, see Gold Rush (disambiguation) and California gold rush.
The fastest clipper ships cut the travel time from New York to San Francisco from seven months to four months in the 1849 California Gold Rush.[1]

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, Greece, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, South Africa, the United States, and Canada while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.

In the 19th century, the wealth that resulted was distributed widely because of reduced migration costs and low barriers to entry. While gold mining itself proved unprofitable for most diggers and mine owners, some people made large fortunes, and merchants and transportation facilities made large profits. The resulting increase in the world's gold supply stimulated global trade and investment. Historians have written extensively about the mass migration, trade, colonization, and environmental history associated with gold rushes.[2]

Gold rushes were typically marked by a general buoyant feeling of a "free-for-all" in income mobility, in which any single individual might become abundantly wealthy almost instantly, as expressed in the California Dream.

Gold rushes helped spur waves of immigration that often led to the permanent settlement of new regions. Activities propelled by gold rushes define significant aspects of the culture of the Australian and North American frontiers. At a time when the world's money supply was based on gold, the newly-mined gold provided economic stimulus far beyond the goldfields, feeding into local and wider economic booms.

The Gold Rush was a topic that inspired many TV shows and books considering it was a very important topic at the time. During the time, many books were published including The Call of the Wild, which had much success during the period.

Gold rushes occurred as early as the times of ancient Greece, whose gold mining was described by Diodarus Sicules and Pliny the Elder.

Surviving the gold rush

[edit]
A man leans over a wooden sluice. Rocks line the outside of the wood boards that create the sluice.
Swedish gold panners by the Blackfoot River, Montana in the 1860s
Gold prospecting at the Ivalo River in 1898
Jets of water at a placer mine in Dutch Flat, California sometime between 1857 and 1870

Within each mining rush there is typically a transition through progressively higher capital expenditures, larger organizations, and more specialized knowledge.

A rush typically begins with the discovery of placer gold made by an individual. At first the gold may be washed from the sand and gravel by individual miners with little training, using a gold pan or similar simple instrument. Once it is clear that the volume of gold-bearing sediment is larger than a few cubic metres, the placer miners will build rockers or sluice boxes, with which a small group can wash gold from the sediment many times faster than using gold pans. Winning the gold in this manner requires almost no capital investment, only a simple pan or equipment that may be built on the spot, and only simple organisation. The low investment, the high value per unit weight of gold, and the ability of gold dust and gold nuggets to serve as a medium of exchange, allow placer gold rushes to occur even in remote locations.

After the sluice-box stage, placer mining may become increasingly large scale, requiring larger organisations and higher capital expenditures. Small claims owned and mined by individuals may need to be merged into larger tracts. Difficult-to-reach placer deposits may be mined by tunnels. Water may be diverted by dams and canals to placer mine active river beds or to deliver water needed to wash dry placers. The more advanced techniques of ground sluicing, hydraulic mining and dredging may be used.

Typically the heyday of a placer gold rush would last only a few years. The free gold supply in stream beds would become depleted somewhat quickly, and the initial phase would be followed by prospecting for veins of lode gold that were the original source of the placer gold. Hard rock mining, like placer mining, may evolve from low capital investment and simple technology to progressively higher capital and technology. The surface outcrop of a gold-bearing vein may be oxidized, so that the gold occurs as native gold, and the ore needs only to be crushed and washed (free milling ore). The first miners may at first build a simple arrastra to crush their ore; later, they may build stamp mills to crush ore at greater speed. As the miners venture downwards, they may find that the deeper part of vein contains gold locked in sulfide or telluride minerals, which will require smelting. If the ore is still sufficiently rich, it may be worth shipping to a distant smelter (direct shipping ore). Lower-grade ore may require on-site treatment to either recover the gold or to produce a concentrate sufficiently rich for transport to the smelter. As the district turns to lower-grade ore, the mining may change from underground mining to large open-pit mining.

Many silver rushes followed upon gold rushes. As transportation and infrastructure improve, the focus may change progressively from gold to silver to base metals. In this way, Leadville, Colorado started as a placer gold discovery, achieved fame as a silver-mining district, then relied on lead and zinc in its later days. Butte, Montana began mining placer gold, then became a silver-mining district, then became for a time the world's largest copper producer.

By region

[edit]

Australia and New Zealand

[edit]
Main article: Australian gold rushes
Ballarat's tent city in the summer of 1853–54, oil painting from an original sketch by Eugene von Guerard

Various gold rushes occurred in Australia over the second half of the 19th century. The most significant of these, although not the only ones, were the New South Wales gold rush and Victorian gold rush in 1851,[3] and the Western Australian gold rushes of the 1890s. They were highly significant to their respective colonies' political and economic development as they brought many immigrants, and promoted massive government spending on infrastructure to support the new arrivals who came looking for gold. While some found their fortune, those who did not often remained in the colonies and took advantage of extremely liberal land laws to take up farming.

A chart showing the great nuggets of Victoria at Museums Victoria

Gold rushes happened at or around:

In New Zealand the Otago gold rush from 1861 attracted prospectors from the California gold rush and the Victorian gold rush and many moved on to the West Coast gold rush from 1864.

North America

[edit]
Further information: Gold mining in the United States and Klondike Gold Rush

The first significant gold rush in the United States was in Cabarrus County, North Carolina (east of Charlotte), in 1799 at today's Reed's Gold Mine.[4] Thirty years later, in 1829, the Georgia Gold Rush in the southern Appalachians occurred. It was followed by the California Gold Rush of 1848–55 in the Sierra Nevada, which captured the popular imagination. The California Gold Rush led to an influx of gold miners and newfound gold wealth, which led to California's rapid industrialization, as businesses sprung up to serve the increased population and financial and political institutions to handle the increased wealth.[5] One of these political institutions was statehood; the need for new laws in a sparsely-governed land led to the state's rapid entry into the Union in 1850.[6]

The gold rush in 1849 also stimulated worldwide interest in prospecting for gold, leading to further rushes in Australia, South Africa, Wales and Scotland. Successive gold rushes occurred in western North America: Fraser Canyon, the Cariboo district and other parts of British Columbia, in Nevada, in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, and western New Mexico Territory and along the lower Colorado River. There was a gold rush in Nova Scotia (1861–1876) which produced nearly 210,000 ounces of gold.[7] Resurrection Creek, near Hope, Alaska was the site of Alaska's first gold rush in the mid–1890s.[8] Other notable Alaska Gold Rushes were Nome, Fairbanks, and the Fortymile River.

Miners and prospectors ascend the Chilkoot Trail during the Klondike Gold Rush.

One of the last "great gold rushes" was the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon Territory (1896–99). This gold rush is featured in the novels of Jack London, and Charlie Chaplin's film The Gold Rush. Robert William Service depicted in his poetries the Gold Rush, especially in the book The Trail of '98.[9] The main goldfield was along the south flank of the Klondike River near its confluence with the Yukon River near what was to become Dawson City in Yukon Territory, but it also helped open up the relatively new US possession of Alaska to exploration and settlement, and promoted the discovery of other gold finds.

The most successful of the North American gold rushes was the Porcupine Gold Rush in Timmins, Ontario area. This gold rush was unique compared to others by the method of extraction of the gold. Placer mining techniques were not able to be used to access the gold in the area due to it being embedded into the Canadian Shield, so larger mining operations involving significantly more expensive equipment was required. While this gold rush peaked in the 1940s and 1950s, it is still active today with over 200 million[10] ounces of gold having been produced from the region. The gold deposits in this area are identified as one of the largest in the world.[11]

Africa

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In South Africa, the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in the Transvaal was important to that country's history, leading to the founding of Johannesburg and tensions between the Boers and British settlers as well as the Chinese miners.[12]

South African gold production went from zero in 1886 to 23% of the total world output in 1896. At the time of the South African rush, gold production benefited from the newly discovered techniques by Scottish chemists, the MacArthur-Forrest process, of using potassium cyanide to extract gold from low-grade ore.[13]

South America

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5-gram gold coin from Tierra del Fuego issued by Julius Popper
Further information: Brazilian Gold Rush and Tierra del Fuego gold rush

The gold mine at El Callao (Venezuela), started in 1871, was for a time one of the richest in the world, and the goldfields as a whole saw over a million ounces exported between 1860 and 1883. The gold mining was dominated by immigrants from the British Isles and the British West Indies, giving an appearance of almost creating an English colony on Venezuelan territory.

Between 1883 and 1906 Tierra del Fuego experienced a gold rush attracting many Chileans, Argentines and Europeans to the archipelago. The gold rush began in 1884 following discovery of gold during the rescue of the French steamship Arctique near Cape Virgenes.[14]

Mining industry today

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There are about 10 to 30 million small-scale miners around the world, according to Communities and Small-Scale Mining (CASM). Approximately 100 million people are directly or indirectly dependent on small-scale mining. For example, there are 800,000 to 1.5 million artisanal miners in Democratic Republic of Congo, 350,000 to 650,000 in Sierra Leone, and 150,000 to 250,000 in Ghana, with millions more across Africa.[15]

In an exclusive report, Reuters accounted the smuggling of billions of dollars' worth of gold out of Africa through the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East, which further acts as a gateway to the markets in the United States, Europe and more. The news agency evaluated the worth and magnitude of illegal gold trade occurring in African nations like Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia, by comparing the total gold imports recorded into the UAE with the exports affirmed by the African states. According to Africa's industrial mining firms, they have not exported any amount of gold to the UAE – confirming that the imports come from other, illegal sources. As per customs data, the UAE imported gold worth $15.1 billion from Africa in 2016, with a total weight of 446 tons, in variable degrees of purity. Much of the exports were not recorded in the African states, which means a huge volume of gold imports were carried out with no taxes paid to the states producing it.[16]

By date

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Before 1860

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1860s

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1870s

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1880s

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1890s

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20th century

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21st century

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ralph K. Andrist (2015). The Gold Rush. New Word City. p. 29. ISBN 978-1612308975.
  2. ^ Reeves, Keir; Frost, Lionel; Fahey, Charles (22 June 2010). "Integrating the Historiography of the Nineteenth-Century Gold Rushes". Australian Economic History Review. 50 (2): 111–128. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8446.2010.00296.x.
  3. ^ Wendy Lewis, Simon Balderstone and John Bowan (2006). Events That Shaped Australia. New Holland. ISBN 978-1-74110-492-9.
  4. ^ a b "The North Carolina Gold Rush". Tar Heel Junior Historian 45, no. 2 (Spring 2006) copyright North Carolina Museum of History.
  5. ^ Nash, Gerald D. (1998). "A Veritable Revolution: The Global Economic Significance of the California Gold Rush". California History. 77 (4): 276–292. doi:10.2307/25462518. JSTOR 25462518.
  6. ^ McPherson, James M. (1988). Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-503863-7.
  7. ^ "Gold Rushes: The First Gold Rush". Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Archived from the original on 30 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  8. ^ Halloran, Jim (September 2010). "Alaska's Hope-Sunrise Mining District". Prospecting and Mining Journal. 80 (1). Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  9. ^ "Biographie".
  10. ^ "The gold exploration surge continues in Timmins". 22 August 2022.
  11. ^ Turner, Bob; Quat, Marianne; Debicki, Ruth; Thurston, Phil (2015), "Timmins: Canada's greatest goldfields!" (PDF), Natural Resources Canada and Ontario Geological Survey 2015, GeoTours Northern Ontario series
  12. ^ Ngai, Mae M. (2021). The Chinese question : the gold rushes and global politics. New York. ISBN 978-0-393-63416-7. OCLC 1196176649.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ Micheloud, François (2004). "The Crime of 1873: Gold Inflation this time". FX Micheloud Monetary History. François Micheloud: www.micheloud.com. Archived from the original on 2006-05-20.
  14. ^ Martinic Beros, Mateo. Crónica de las Tierras del Canal Beagle. 1973. Editorial Francisco de Aguirre S.A. pp. 55–65
  15. ^ Soaring prices drive a modern, illegal gold rush, New York Times, July 14, 2008
  16. ^ "Gold worth billions smuggled out of Africa". Reuters. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  17. ^ "Gold rush". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
  18. ^ Malone, Michael P.; Roeder, Richard B.; Lang, William L. (1991). "Chapter 4, The Mining Frontier". Montana : a history of two centuries (Rev. ed.). Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. pp. 64–91. ISBN 978-0-295-97129-2. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  19. ^ Murphy, Alan; Armstrong, Kate; Bainbridge, James; Firestone, Matthew D. (January 27, 2010). Southern Africa. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781740595452 – via Google Books.
  20. ^ "The Baile an Or project– Scotland's Gold Rush Retrieved: 2010-03-31". Archived from the original on 2011-06-25. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
  21. ^ Dollimore, Edward Stewart. – "Kumara, Westland". – Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966).
  22. ^ Flanigan, Sylvia K. (Winter 1980). Thomas L. Scharf (ed.). "The Baja California gold rush of 1889". The Journal of San Diego History. 26 (1). San Diego Historical Society Quarterly.
  23. ^ Levitan, Gregory (2008). "1: History of gold exploration and mining in the CIS". Gold Deposits Of The CIS. Xlibris Corporation. p. 24. ISBN 9781462836024. Retrieved 2017-10-29. The early 1930s were marked by the decision of the Communist Party Politburo to reinstate the institution of prospectors who had been banned as antisocialist elements in the second half of the 1920s. Littlepage described in his book (1938) that by 1933 all plans to put prospectors back to work in the field had been worked out and implemented as rapidly as possible. Regulations to govern relations between prospectors and Gold Thrust were drawn up, setting in motion a Soviet gold rush.
  24. ^ Rationalizing Mining Operations at the Diwalwal Gold Rush Area, Monkayo, Compostela Valley
  25. ^ Marlise Simons (1988-04-25). "In Amazon Jungle, a Gold Rush Like None Before". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
  26. ^ Henton, Dave, and Andi Flower. 2007. Mount Kare Gold Rush: Papua New Guinea 1988 – 1994. ISBN 978-0646482811.
  27. ^ Ryan, Peter. 1991. Black Bonanza: A Landslide of Gold. Hyland House. ISBN 978-0947062804.
  28. ^ Grainger David (December 22, 2003). "The Great Mongolian Gold Rush The land of Genghis Khan has the biggest mining find in a very long time. A visit to the core of a frenzy in the middle of nowhere". CNNMoney.com. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
  29. ^ Yassin Ciyow (2021-07-06). "In Côte d'Ivoire, the precarious life of women gold prospectors". Le Monde.fr. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  30. ^ Jens Glüsing (February 9, 2007). "Gold Rush in the Rainforest: Brazilians Flock to Seek their Fortunes in the Amazon". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
  31. ^ Tom Phillips (January 11, 2007). "Brazilian goldminers flock to 'new Eldorado'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
  32. ^ Lauren Keane (December 19, 2009). "Rising prices spark a new gold rush in Peruvian Amazon". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
  33. ^ Chamberlain, Gethin (January 17, 2018). "The deadly African gold rush fuelled by people smugglers' promises". The Guardian. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  34. ^ Alissa Descotes-Toyosaki (2 April 2018). "Niger: the gold rush". Paris Match. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  35. ^ "In Congo's gold rush, the money is in beer and brothels". The Economist. 2020-12-19. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  36. ^ "Congo bans mining in South Kivu village after gold rush". Reuters. 2021-03-04. Retrieved 2021-03-29.

Further reading

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  • Ngai, Mae. The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics (2021), Mid 19c in California, Australia and South Africa [ISBN missing]
  • White, Franklin. Miner with a Heart of Gold – Biography of a Mineral Science and Engineering Educator. FriesenPress. 2020. ISBN 978-1-5255-7765-9 (Hardcover) ISBN 978-1-5255-7766-6 (Paperback) ISBN 978-1-5255-7767-3 (eBook).
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