Edward Hargraves, accompanied by John Lister, found five specks of alluvial gold at Summerhill near Bathurst in February 1851. Then, in April 1851, John Lister and William Tom, trained by Edward Hargraves, found 120 grams of gold. This discovery, instigated by Hargraves, led directly to the beginning of the gold rush in New South Wales. This was the first gold rush in Australia and was in full operation by May 1851,[68] even before it was officially proclaimed on 14 May 1851,[42] with already an estimated 300 diggers in place by 15 May 1851.[69] Before 14 May 1851 gold was already flowing from Bathurst to Sydney,[70] an example being when Edward Austin[71] brought to Sydney a nugget of gold worth £35, which had been found in the Bathurst District.
In 1872 a large gold and quartz “Holtermann Nugget” discovered by the night shift in a mine part owned by Bernhardt Holtermann at Hill End, near Bathurst, New South Wales: the largest specimen of reef gold ever found, 1.5 meters (59 inches) long, weighing 286 kg (630 pounds), in Hill End, near Bathurst, and with an estimated gold content of 5000 ounces (57 kg). More Australian Gold History Click Here