Waanyarra is known to have produced the purest gold ever found in the world, being 99.9% pure. Waanyarra is also known for the large amount of alluvial nuggets found there. Nuggets fascinated the digger more than the awesome amount of finer gold produced on the fields. A dull time on the fields was always revitalized by the discovery of a nugget.This can be seen by the various rushes which occurred at Waanyarra over the years. The Inglewood Advertiser on 3rd January, 1862 reported "Mining at Jones' Creek is generally dull". But it was only a matter of weeks before the place was rushed after the news that a 52 lb. nugget had been found at "Secret Hill". Then followed larger finds and Waanyarra was bustling again.
Due to the unstable conditions of life on the goldfields diggers felt it was wiser to conceal their gold than to advertise it. The discovery of many large lumps of gold was often never disclosed, hence the very incomplete record of nuggets. It is safe therefore, to assume that less than half the nuggets found were recorded. No systematic list was ever kept of large gold finds by individuals. Local newspaper reports advertised the findings of huge nuggets, but many sizeable lumps were broken up before sale andthe details never came forth. The Chinese were known to have found vast amounts of nuggets but records were rarely kept.
Early reports of the Waanyarra area painted a vivid, if unrealistic picture of the Jones' Creek diggings:-

Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser, 1857.
"Specimens were being constantly discovered, so much so that the diggers used to enjoy their Sundays by strolling about the Ranges picking up nuggets in all directions, and of all sizes and richness".

1855 - Two nuggets, one 145 ozs. 5 dwt., the other 140 ozs. were found at a depth of 20 ft.
1856 - 281 ozs found in shallow ground by an undisclosed finder.
1857 - Henry Davey named the huge nugget he found at "The Shoots" Jones' Creek on 11 th July, "Schlemm". The nuggett which weighed 538 ozs.5 dwt. was located only three feet underground.
15th September. A short distance from Thomson and Turnbull's well established store two nuggets were unearthed. One weighed 62 ozs. and the other 58 ozs. Both were found in shallow ground.
1862 - March. A 52 lb. nugget was found at "Secret Hill".
October. Three men working a puddler found a 25 lb. nugget within a foot of the surface. The nugget was sold at the Inglewood Bank of Australasia for £1,190 and was described as pure gold.
1867 26th January. - Vaughan and party struck a rich leader which yielded £1,700 worth of gold.
1872 September - Henry Davey, the discoverer of the 'Schlemm' nugget in 1857 had more luck at 'The Shoots Gully' with the unearthing of a 45 oz. piece of gold in shallow ground.
November - A 20 oz. nugget found at the lower end of Jones' Creek was sold at Dunolly. The nugget was reported to be close to Calder's Reef.
1874 News Yeaes Eve - A splendid nugget containing 43 ozs. of pure gold was a bonanza for its finders, Captain Bragg and T. Robinson, two very old residents on the Creek. The nugget was unearthed near the Post Office at Waanyarra.
1875 7th January - Joseph Tyson and party were the discoverers of an 82 oz. nugget at Specimen Gully. The nugget was found at a depth of 14 ft.
March - A nugget found in shallow ground at Jones' Creek weighed 34 ozs. 1 0 dwt. Two others weighing 36 ozs. and 26 ozs. were found in 'Specimen Gully'.
September - Two old fossickers found an 1 1 oz. 3 dwt. nugget in comparatively new ground six foot from the surface. The nugget was sold to Thomson and Cornrie, Storekeepers at Tamagulla.
22nd December - At a depth of 13 feet Robinson and Methven had two good finds. The nuggets weighing 48 and 32 ounces were found at one of the best yieldmg places in that year - 'Specimen Gully'.
1876 December - More finds at "Specimen Gully". A 43 oz. nugget was found at a depth of 26 fl
1885 - March. At the Bank of Victoria in Dunolly this month a 12 oz. 17 dwt. nugget from Waanyarra was sold.
1887 - July. A 2 lb. weight was unearthed at Gourley's reef.
1888 - 23rd July. Imadoe Jerold found a 46 oz. 6 dwt. nugget at a depth of
14 feet.
22nd December. John Pearce and John McEvoy, who had been puddling for some time in an alluvial gully at Waanyarra found a 99 oz. 2 dwt. nugget. The gully, which had been worked in the early days of the diggings, had been famous for its large nuggets. The nugget which was found on bedrock of soft slate, about 6 ft. from the surface, was a solid piece of gold, waterworn and of irregular shape. It was also coated in parts with iron and contained small particles of ironstone and quartz.
1895 - Christinas Eve. At 'Secret Hill' in old ground, H. Raven and J. Gourley found two "small specks" totalling 53/4 ozs in weight.
1896 - 'Secret Hill' produced £20 worth of gold for A. Gourley and M. Flynn.
1903 - Waanyarra Rush. Baker's Orchard yielded 56 ozs. of gold found at 20 ft
Smith and Mason, Pallot, Hertinann and party bottomed at 26 feet and got 5Oozs, 51 ozs. and 70 ozs respectively, while Taig, Rymer and Storer found 106 ozs. Two feet above bedrock at 26 ft.
January - Donohue brothers bottomed at 15 ft., 20 chains west of their previous claim, and got a 20 oz. nugget. Hancock brothers got a 15 oz. piece in Mr. Montaigne's paddock.
February 24 - Lancaster and party got a nugget weighing 80 ozs and Connolly and Clarridge one of 12 ozs. The next day Smith and party found two nuggets, one weighing 50 ozs. and the other 40 ozs.
March 31 -A party of Waanyarra diggers sold £100 worth of gold in Tarnagulla, and nuggets weighing 27 ozs., 15 ozs. and 5 ozs. were found at Waanyarra by undisclosed diggers.
June - Jarry and Baker discovered 2 ozs. of gold, but greater discoveries were being made at the rush.
C. DeSantis and party 27 ozs. at 26 ft.
Lockett and Scholes 27 ozs. at 26 fL
J. Connolly and party 44 ozs. and 26 ozs. at 26 ft.
E. Williamson 29 ozs. at 26 ft.
1904. 22ndApril-Haywood and party produced a 9Oozs. nugget from a shaft they sunk in Baker's Orchard. The gold was found at a depth of 20 ft.
1906 - The Poseidon Rush.
8th December. 'The Poseidon Nugget' was unearthed in the Parish of Waanyarra. The huge nugget weighed 95 3 ozs. gross and 703 ozs. net. Woodall and party found the nugget 10 inches underground, 2 inches above bedrock with much quartz. This find began the last of the big rushes to the area.
The Jubilee Reef - 1887
19th July. 120 shares at £10 each had been taken out to work the Jubilee Reef Co. at Waanyarra.
Work had begun on the Jubilee mine. By March 1888 the shaft had reached 73 feet. The sinking was hard but the water level had not increased. By April the shaft had reached 97 feet and had been timbered. There was much water which was kept down with one horse and a whip bucket. A changing room had been built for the men.
Reef mining and quartz crushing was also carried out at Waanyarra.
1867 saw several groups trying ground in the Canadian and Anglesea reefs but alluvial mining was more common. Several attempts were made to open the quartz reefs in the Jones' Creek neighbourhood but were unsuccessful although in some instances some very rich stone had been obtained. A 2 lb. weight had been taken from Gourley's Reef in July, 1887.
Quartz Crushing
The Dunolly Government Battery was managed by Mr. Hamilton. Stone was carted to Dunolly from Waanyarra for crushing. In February Raven and Gourley crushed two ton of stone for 55 1/2 ozs. of gold and another load of quartz weighing six ton yielded 5 2 ozs. 12 dwt.
The Mines Department called tenders for moving the Government Battery from Dunolly to Waanyarra in April, 1902. The equipment weighed 13 ton. The heaviest piece of machinery was the engine which weighed 41/2 ton. By the end of the month the machinery was dismantled and ready for removal to Waanyarra. Mr. Hamilton, who had been in charge of the Battery at Dunolly, was leaving the district.
Raven, Gourley and Thomson's claim had been worked profitably for about three years. In April, 1 903 they worked 20 loads of stone through the battery and it yielded 50 ozs. The stone was taken from the south end of the reef adjoining Jarry and Baker's claim which also had good stone.
Weather conditions affected mining operations to a great degree. The lack or surplus of water was an important factor on the goldfields. During the summer of 1862 temperatures soared to 120degrees F. in shade, and mining operations had ceased. There was little water in the creek for washing gold. There was often a great scarcity of water on the fields and for farming purposes at Waanyarra.
In 1888 the Shire of Bet Bet had built a dam which saved many animals from death. In the drought year of 1902 dust storms whipped through the area ruining orchards and vegetable gardens. Diggers were taking wash dirt to the Loddon River for washing as water was so scarce in the Waanyarra area, in January, 1903. Authorities quickly gave notice that washing in the Loddon River Backwater was forbidden.
Lack of water was a drawback at the Waanyarra Rush.
The Dunolly Express, 20th January, 1903, reported that parties were leaving the Waanyarra Rush daily. Many claims were getting payable wash, but many were getting nothing.
Workings at Waanyarra were upset by a heavy storm and flooding in March, 1903. Recorded fmds for March were made by the following parties:-
Carroll and Baker 9 ozs. (nuggets)
Lowrie and party 1 % oz. piece
Ampher and party 4V4 from 9 loads
Cain and Chivers 9 dwt. from 3 loads
Taig and Scorer 5 dwt. to the load
Nicholls and Radnell 2% from 5 loads
Young and Peppin 11/4 oz from 4 loads
By the end of March the Waanyarra Rush was still recovering from the recent flood and the latest gold returns were the smallest for some time. Parties still working included Lockett and Scholes (3 oz. 14 dwt.), Wilson and party, Brooker, O'Brien brothers (6 1/2 oz.'Speck'), E. Williamson and party's claim was said to be the best on the creek at the time. But work was made slow because holes in the creek had fallen in and were too dangerous to work.
Radnell brothers and Nicholls had discovered an 8 oz. nugget and had obtained 3 1/2 ozs. of gold from 4 loads of dirt. An undisclosed party had sold £ 1 00 worth of gold in Tarnagulla some time in the last week of March, 1903. Another party had finds of nuggets weighing 5 ozs., 15 ozs. and 27 ozs.
April, 1903, saw a falling of numbers at the Waanyarra Rush. The large volume of water in the creek made work dangerous. McPherson and Co.'s claim near the creek was suddenly flooded, but the miners escaped in time. Water was being pumped from many claims.
A party of miners, which had been clearing out a portion of the creek with the idea of paddocking the ground, had difficulties, as the ground had fallen in on all sides. It was intended to timber the workings before removing the wash dirt. Claim holders stored wash dirt to put through puddlers.
For about three years, Raven, Gourley and Thomson had worked indicators in a profitable claim. About the beginning of April, 1903, a reef 5 ft wide was struck at the south end of the lease, where 20 loads of stone yielded 50 ozs. Jarry and Baker's adjoining claim also had good stone.
J. McEvoy applied to select a water reserve in the Parish of Waanyarra in April, 1903, but the Mining Board refused his application, its reason being that all water should be available for miners and others.
May, 1903, saw the Williams brothers discover a rich reef in Tipperary Gully, a 1/4 mile east of the Waanyarra Post Office. A dish of stone from the 2 ft. wide reef yielded 5 ozs. of gold. The next month Morton, Neil and party discovered a rich patch near the Government Battery where 111/2 Ibs. of stone yielded 3 ozs. of gold.
June 1903 - Waanyarra Rush was described as 'almost a thing of the past' because of the rising of the creek, but still diggers were working and having success. Baker and Jarry found a 2 oz. nugget. Many other finds were not reported, or recorded. The people who lived at Waanyarra kept on with their claims and managed to keep their families by small finds and by producing their own food.
September, 1907 saw Goodman and Malone, Howard, O'Brien, Strahan and Baker, Hill and Schiller, and Baker and Jones working in the area. Yields at Nuggetty Gully, Waanyarra were improving.
Dunolly Borough Council sought a reduction of fees (6/- a ton) at the Waanyarra Battery. Cr. Desmond said there were two other Batteries at Waanyarra besides the Government one. Mr. Brooker and Mr. Nankervis said they would cart stone to Waanyarra if the rates were reduced.
Prospecting and stone crushing continued on at Waanyarra with small and substantial finds at various intervals. The next 'Rush' was in the 1930's when the Great Depression saw many men 'shipped off to the goldfields with a pan and pick, a tent and 6/- a week to supplement their finds. This was one way the government relieved the burden from the city's unemployment problem.
There was a canvas township at Waanyarra Rush where nearly 100 were camped. Claims were 7 x 11 ft. It was like a revival of the early days where men with little experience were trying to survive on the gold. The 'old hands' were still unearthing nuggets. Cooper and Neal found a 221/2 oz. nugget on Morton's ground.
Two hundred men were on the field where water was scarce in February, 1932. J. Morton and Neal found another nugget this time weighing 25 ozs. and adjoining Mr. Graaf s claim. Mr Graaf recently got 56 ozs.