The Belmore Reefs

It is commonly acknowledged that the Belmore was first discovered and mined in 1866 by Thomas"Ophir Joe" Christopherson,however according to reports in the Sydney Morning Herald,this is not the case.This dicovery was supposed to have kick started reefing at Ophir,but it is likely reefing had been engaged in prior to this.The above items taken from the SMH relating to the Belmore.

An Early Map of OPHIR

This is an early map,not to scale,of the Ophir Goldfields by L.Oakes circa 1944

Gold at Ophir

The gold rush at Ophir got underway in May of 1851,after the discovery of gold at Radigan's Gully and a little later at Yorkey's Corner,soon to be known as OPHIR.This was Australia's first gold rush.The alluvial rush that followed soon had digger's prospecting far and wide looking for gold.The size of the nuggets and the sheer amount of gold found in the next few years was to amaze the population and the world.On the pages following will be a look at these events as was reported in newspapers and mining records of the day.