Australian gold rushes 5000 ounces (57 kg). In January 1851, before Hargraves' find of gold in February 1851 at Ophir near Orange in New South Wales which started the first Australian gold rush, George Hermann Bruhn had left Melbourne to explore the mineral resources of the countryside of Victoria. On his trek Bruhn found, on a date unknown, indications of gold in quartz about 2 miles (3 km) from Edward Stone Parker's station at Franklinford (between Castlemaine and Daylesford). After leaving Parker's station Bruhn arrived at Donald Cameron's station at Clunes in April 1851. Cameron showed Bruhn samples of the gold that had
New South Wales gold rush find was proclaimed on 14 May 1851 and within days the first Australian gold rush began with 100 diggers searching for their gold. By June there were over 2000 people digging around Bathurst, and thousands more were on their way. In 1852, the yield was 850,000 ounces (24½ tonnes). The Great Western Road to Bathurst became choked with men from all walks of life, with all they could carry to live and mine. The newspaper "Bathurst Free Press" reported on 17 May 1851: "A complete mental madness appears to have seized almost every member of the community. There has been