Victorian gold rush in the Melbourne "Argus" on 8 September 1851, leading to a rush to the Mount Alexander or Forest Creek diggings, centred on present-day Castlemaine, claimed as the richest shallow alluvial goldfield in the world. These discoveries were soon surpassed by Ballarat and Bendigo. Further discoveries including Beechworth in 1852, Bright, Omeo, Chiltern (1858–59) and Walhalla followed. The population of Melbourne grew swiftly as the gold fever took hold. The total number of people in Victoria also rose. By 1851 it was 75,000 people. Ten years later this rose to over 500,000. Surface alluvial gold was the first to be exploited.
Carolina Gold Rush of the much larger gold rush of 1849 in California, which drew many of these now skilled miners West. The Reed Gold Mine, was designated a National Historic Landmark. Visitors can explore reconstructed underground mining tunnels. Over 2,500 ounces of gold was deposited in the Philadelphia Mint by 1824. In 1835, Andrew Jackson signed into law a bill to open three branch mints: in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Dahlonega, Georgia, for minting gold coinage, and in New Orleans, Louisiana. The ones in Charlotte and Dahlonega were to mint the newly discovered gold. Carolina Gold Rush The Carolina Gold Rush, the