The Forgotten Beach Gold Rush in New South Wales

Australia is known for its legendary goldfields, but few people realise New South Wales once hosted a genuine beach gold rush. Hidden behind the dunes near Evans Head, a fossilised ancient shoreline produced thousands of ounces of ultra-fine gold during the 1890s. This rare coastal placer formed when heavy minerals and gold from the New England highlands were reworked by shifting sea levels and storm-driven waves into a narrow, cemented strandline now buried beneath metres of sand. Forgotten for more than a century, this lost auriferous beach reveals one of the most unusual geological and mining stories in Australian history.