Albert Goldfield / Warratta Town

Item details


Name of item:	Albert Goldfield / Warratta Town
Type of item:	Archaeological-Terrestrial
Group/Collection:	Mining and Mineral Processing
Category:	Mineral Discovery site
Location:	Lat: -29.5966488502 Long: 141.8390315560
Primary address:	25km south of Silver City Highway, Tibooburra, NSW 2880
Local govt. area:	Unincorporated
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Tibooburra

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
PART LOT	843		DP	762124

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
25km south of Silver City Highway	Tibooburra	Unincorporated			Primary Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
National Parks and Wildlife Service	State Government	26 Nov 98

Statement of significance:


	The Albert Goldfield is of state significance. It irrevocably altered the nature of the northwest of the state, giving it considerable regional importance. It was the first mining locality to tap into the arid country mineral fields of Australia and as such paved the way for the mineral exploration of the Australian interior using a range of technologies for arid country goldmining that originated on the Albert Goldfield. The overall integrity and intactness of the structures is high allowing their form, function and interrelationship to be easily established. The archaeological remains are particularly illustrative and informative of geological and mining techniques of the period and have the potential to provide further research information relating to the miners responses to their surroundings, especially distance from service and population centres, aridity, the area's geology and the skewed sex ratios of the area.
	Date significance updated: 03 Apr 06
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Construction years:	1880-
Physical description:	Albert Goldfield and Albert Town are situated approximately 25 kilometres south of Tibooburra along the Silver City Highway. Nine structures built of local stone are standing above the surface of the ground and another three masonry structures are fairly close to the ground. The remains are spread over an area of c. 50 metres north - south and 150 metres east - west (c.0.55ha). The masonry structures generally consist of fire places and wall alignments mostly constructed of mass angular sedimentary chunks of slate. Evidence of superstructures is limited.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	The overall integrity and intactness of the structures is high allowing their form, function and interrelationship to be easily established. The archaeological remains are particularly illustrative and informative of geological and mining techniques of the period and have the potential to provide further research information relating to the miners responses to their surroundings, especially distance from service and population centres, aridity, the area's geology and the skewed sex ratios of the area.
	Date condition updated:31 Mar 06


Current use:	National Park
Former use:	Aboriginal land, Gold Mine

History

Historical notes:

Gold was first discovered in the area during October 1880, when John Thompson and a friend found payable gold at Mt Poole. About five months later James Evans found found about 14 ounces of alluvial gold at Mount Brown. News of the find caused a rush to this remote location. As the country was opened up, rushes also occurred at Easter Monday, Good Friday, Nuggety Hill, The Granites and many other areas as gold was found. Reefs such as the Pioneer and Warratta Creek were found. In a very short space of time as auriferous belt some 50 miles by 10 ahd been opened up.

This became known as the Albert goldfield with Milparinka as the main settlement. Milparinka is an Aboriginal word meaning water can be found here. As there was no water at Mt Browne, the miner's chose to camp at Evelyn Creek, which later became known as Milparinka

The discovery of gold at Mt Browne, some twenty miles south of Mt Poole was announced in February 1881 amid much scepticism from the print media. Newspapers warned prospective miners of the many deaths from thirst and heat which had occurred when a similar rush had occurred 150 miles south of Mt Poole. Despite these dire warnings, over one thousand men soon flocked to the site of the new discovery. The Albert or Mt Browne goldrush had begun.

The Albert Goldfield was declared in early 1881. By the end of 1881, several of the 25 quartz claims near Warratta Creek had been formed into public companies, based in Melbourne and Adelaide. It was reported that gold showed freely in the quartz veins, but the Mining Warden warned that shortages of timber, firewood and the high cost of transporting materials and equipment would make the cost of extraction high.

Conditions were harsh and miners tended to converge on sites where water, no matter how small the amount, existed. Such supplies were quickly exhausted. Water shortages prompted the carting of excavated soil from Mt Browne to Milparinka for washing. Other miners resorted to dry-blowing to extract the gold. At times, neither teams of bullocks or horses could transport supplies into the field and miners were reported to go for days without flour, subsisting on mutton and ?wild spinach' which grew near the creeks. Camel trains, travelling overland from Beltana in South Australia were introduced to help alleviate transportation problems. Illness also took its toll on the miners. In 1882 temporary hospitals had to be established at Milparinka and Tibooburra as scurvy and ophthalmia (Barcoo Rot) were rife and there were many deaths from dysentery and a fever similar to typhoid fever.

Albert Town was established in 1882 and sits between two arms of Warratta Creek. Warratta Reef (later known as The Reefs), discovered in 1881 as part of the initial exploration of the Albert Goldfield, and worked continuously from that time onwards is immediately to the west, while the Pioneer, Elizabeth, Phoenix and Rosemount reefs are to the east of the creek.

Warratta Reef was mined by trenching following particular visible quartz seams and other exploratory trenches running across the line of reefs to intercept buried reefs. A number of shafts and shallow holes were dug. Because of the aridity of the area the technique of dry-blowing was a major source of gold yield. Initially this was through dish winnowing, and later machines were developed.

The goldfield had a great impact on the remote region, bringing a range of resources, including goods, labour, capital investment and public awareness to the Corner Country. The influx of resources can be seen in how the area competed, although only for a year or two, with Silverton as a successful centre in the far west of New South Wales.

By the end of 1882 the goldfield had settled into an established demographic pattern which saw Milparinka and Tibooburra as the major centres, Mt Browne as a struggling community with sporadic bursts of alluvial mining and Albert as a struggling community which was abandoned before the turn of the century.

While initially producing 11,900 ounces in 1881 gold production declined markedly with only 387 ounces produced in 1906. Both the drought and Depression of the 1890s severally impacted on the Albert Goldfield and can be related to the decline in production.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Parks-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Other open space-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Changing the environment-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Cultural: Plains and plateaux supporting human activities-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Cultural: Plains and plateaux supporting human activities-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Modification of terrain-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Park reserve-
2. Peopling-Peopling the continent	Migration-Activities and processes associated with the resettling of people from one place to another (international, interstate, intrastate) and the impacts of such movements	Gold rush-led migration-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Communication-Activities relating to the creation and conveyance of information	Communicating by camel trains-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Mining-Activities associated with the identification, extraction, processing and distribution of mineral ores, precious stones and other such inorganic substances.	prospecting for gold-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Mining-Activities associated with the identification, extraction, processing and distribution of mineral ores, precious stones and other such inorganic substances.	miner's cottage-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Mining-Activities associated with the identification, extraction, processing and distribution of mineral ores, precious stones and other such inorganic substances.	Mining for gold-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Mining-Activities associated with the identification, extraction, processing and distribution of mineral ores, precious stones and other such inorganic substances.	Miners' accommodation and living conditions-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Mining-Activities associated with the identification, extraction, processing and distribution of mineral ores, precious stones and other such inorganic substances.	staking claims-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Mining-Activities associated with the identification, extraction, processing and distribution of mineral ores, precious stones and other such inorganic substances.	Transporting gold-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Living as a hermit-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal	Leasing land for mining-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal	Townships-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Urban landscapes inspiring creative responses-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	A quiet Rural District-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Vernacular towns serving a specific industry-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Shaping inland settlements-
5. Working-Working	Labour-Activities associated with work practises and organised and unorganised labour	Working in mines and quarries-
5. Working-Working	Labour-Activities associated with work practises and organised and unorganised labour	Gold mining-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Tourism-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Enjoying public parks and gardens-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Going bushwalking-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Going to the park-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Visiting heritage places-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Activities associated with relaxation and recreation-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	Has a national significant because the Albert Goldfield was the first mining locality to tap into the arid country mineral fields of Australia, and as such paved the way for mineral exploration of the Australian interior. The Albert Goldfield saw the start of a range of technologies being developed for arid country gold mining which were used to great effect elsewhere in the Northern Territory, Queensland and especially Western Australia. It was effectively, the springboard for the desert goldfields of Australia.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	The setting of the Albert Goldfield and Albert Town are aesthetically pleasing as an arid landscape. The appearance of the building remains, ash heaps, mining trenches and other cultural remains within the complex is evocative of the romance of the historical period of gold mining.
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance]	Albert Goldfield is socially significant as Albert Town and the Albert Goldfield reveal the responses of the miners to their surroundings, especially distance from service and population centres, aridity, the area's geology and the skewed sex ratios of the area.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	That distinctive Australian arid country adaptation for gold prospecting, dry-blowing originated on the Albert Goldfield. Some of the archaeological remains are particularly illustrative and informative of geological and mining techniques of the period, while other remains can contribute useful information on the lifestyles of miners and others, all of which has the capacity to contribute to a range of pertinent research issues in historical archaeology and social history.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	Albert Goldfield is the oldest Australian example of the response to gold prospecting in arid conditions in the form of dry-blowing.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	Albert Goldfield is representative of a unique response to mining in an arid environment.
Integrity/Intactness:	Integrity and intactness are high. Almost all of the structures retain enough original fabric to allow their form, function and interrelationship to be easily established.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of act	Description	Title	Comments	Action date
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	HERITAGE ACT 1977 ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) TO GRANT STANDARD EXEMPTIONS FROM APPROVAL I, Penny Sharpe, the Minister for Heritage, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales and under section 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977: revoke the order made on 2 June 2022 and published in the Government Gazette Number 262 of 17 June 2022; and grant an exemption from section 57(1) of the Act in respect of the engaging in or carrying out the class of activities described in clause 2 Schedule A in such circumstances specified by the relevant standards in clause 2 Schedule A and General Conditions in clause 3 Schedule A. This Order takes effect on the date it is published in the NSW Government Gazette. Dated this 29th day of October 2025 The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC Minister for Heritage For more information on standard exemptions click on the link below.	Nov 7 2025

Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register		00975	02 Apr 99	27	1546
Heritage Act - s.170 NSW State agency heritage register

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
National Parks & Wildlife Service Section 170 Register			National Parks & Wildlife Service		No

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Tourism	Attraction Homepage	2007	Albert Goldfield (within Sturt National Park)	View detail
Tourism	Tourism NSW	2007	Sturt National Park	View detail

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Heritage NSW
Database number:	5014102

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