A little Gold was found near the base of Mt.Wheeler ( Gawula ) in 1886, but tremendous excitement followed the discovery of some big nuggets on 14th July 1887. The first nugget was found on a claim registered by Cadden ,a storekeeper from Cawarral . It was irregular in shape ,about 9 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide, weighing 258 ounces and 11 pennyweights…..The largest ever found in Central Queensland.
On the following day a nugget weighing 179 ounces and 14 pennyweights was found on an adjoining claim. All together about 1000 ounces was found in this area in the first week !!!! Most of the gold was lying on top of the ground. Within a month there were 300 miners working the area.
As in most gold mining areas some of the miners were chinese. Legend tells us that the cave in the large rock at the base of the Mountain was the living quarters for some of these chinese miners.
You'll pass the cave on the track between the parking co-ords and GZ so don't forget to take your camera.
For those interested in the gold history of the Mt.Wheeler area here are a few more details.
The Galawa Mine on 12 Acres on Limestone Creek at the NW corner of Mt. Wheeler was started in 1881 and worked to a depth of 105 feet and a distance of over 200 feet. During 1882 it yielded 1558 ounces from 556 tons of stone. The mine was worked almost continuously up to 1988.
A friend of Temingi's had one of the leases in the area in the 1980's and he showed me some of the small nuggets he had uncovered. Because of their interesting shapes they were “ worth more than their weight in gold “.
Unlike the early Gold finds the cache will not be found " Lying on top of the ground ".... you'll have to search for it. May be a bit challenging with the large mountain close by so let your GPS settle and be tenacious like the old prospectors.
Enjoy your visit.