This enormous gold nugget was discovered in the Red Hill Mine at Bakery Hill, Ballaarat in 1858. At the time it was the largest gold nugget ever discovered in the world, weighing in at a whopping 2,217 ounces!
Replica of the Welcome Nugget held in the Sovereign Hill Museums Association collection
It was described as being found "at a depth of 180 feet; apparently water-worn, and of no regular shape, its length being twenty inches, breadth twelve, depth seven; containing about 10 lbs. of quartz, clay, and oxyd of iron." (tabular record of gold nuggets by William Birkmyre, Esq.)
Discovery site of the Welcome Nugget marked on this geological map of the Ballarat goldfield, 1917. This brilliant map is available in our online shop
The Welcome Nugget remains the second largest alluvial gold nugget found in Australia, second to the famous Welcome Stranger of Moliagul.
Lithograph commissioned by Red Hill Mining Company to celebrate the discovery of the Welcome Nugget, Hermann Deutsch (lithographer), 1858 (Ballarat Historical Society collection)
The above lithograph was commissioned by the Red Hill Mining Company to celebrate the discovery of the Welcome Nugget in 1858. It shows miners discovering the enormous gold nugget in a drive of their mine at Bakery Hill.
Sovereign Hill has recreated the Red Hill Mine from this lithograph, and offer a Red Hill Mine Tour where you take a self-guided walk through the mine and discover the story of the Welcome Nugget.
Today a commemorative monument sits above the spot where the Welcome Nugget was discovered! This is situated on the corner of Mair and Humffray Streets in Bakery Hill.
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