Did You Know Gympie Had Its Own “Fool’s Gold”?

When thousands of hopeful prospectors rushed to Gympie after James Nash discovered payable alluvial gold in 1867, they weren’t finding pure gold everywhere.

They were also encountering pyrite - the shiny, brassy-yellow mineral better known as “fool’s gold.”

And here’s where things get interesting…

Pyrite was an important part of the story of Gympie’s gold-bearing reefs. Historical accounts of the Gympie goldfield describe pyrite in the ore, with pyrite-bearing concentrates being sent to specialised “pyrites works” for further treatment to recover valuable material.

So, for a 19th-century prospector, finding a shiny, golden-looking mineral certainly didn’t automatically mean they had struck it rich!

Pyrite and gold can look deceptively similar, but they behave very differently:

Pyrite: brittle and much less dense than gold. It can fracture or shatter when struck.

Gold: extremely dense and malleable. It can be bent, flattened or hammered without breaking.

The amount of pyrite associated with Gympie’s mining operations became significant enough for the goldfield to develop dedicated pyrites works - plants where pyrite-bearing concentrates could be further processed.

The first pyrites works was established in Commissioner’s Gully, just north of the Gympie Hospital. It served miners during the early shallow-reefing era.

Then, in 1879, Mark Curtis established an ore-treatment plant, pyrites works and assaying works on Deep Creek. A larger plant was also built near the Gympie Crushing Battery, with grinding pans and roasting furnaces. A cyaniding plant was later added, capable of processing up to 300 tonnes of concentrates per month.

And Deep Creek remains part of Gympie’s golden story today.

The Deep Creek Fossicking Area is an officially designated Queensland fossicking area where visitors can still try their luck panning for alluvial gold. Queensland Government records state that the gold there was derived from the weathering and erosion of several historic reefs, including the Columbia, Smithfield, Monkland, Never Mind and Russell reefs.

So next time you see a shiny, golden-looking mineral around the Gympie goldfields, remember…

It might be gold… or it might just be fooling you!

Another fascinating chapter in the story of one of Queensland’s great gold rushes.

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Did You Know Gympie Had Its Own “Fool’s Gold”?

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