Clymene Gold Rush

The Clymene Gold Rush is the name given to a period from 1893 to 1898 in what is now Clymene (the Northern Territory).

History
In 1893 a few settlers discovered silver deposits on land north of Sofasi, and word quickly spread to other areas. Other people in Lovia, Americans and some Chinese in California and China came here to get rich.

The discovery of Gold on the Clymene Creek prompted a mass rush of Americans and US immigrants (many from Eastern Europe) to Clymene and Seven in search of a fortune. Sofasi (Bruke's Town), a sleepy little village, exploded in population to around 9000 in 1895. Saloons, hotels, brothels and gambling houses were set up, and the Chinese even ran an opium den. In its heyday, Bruke's Town was the richest town in Lovia. The gold that was found was quickly mined and dried up, with the majority of "gold" being pyrite "fools gold", which had no worth.

Clymene broke into lawlessness, with robberies and fighting common. Everything became very expensive and miners often spent what little they had on alcohol.

By 1896 most of the silver was depleted. News of massive gold finds in the Klondike (Yukon) and later Nome, Alaska saw the mostly miserable and unlucky miners abandon Lovia for there. By 1898 over 90% of Sofasi's inhabitants had left and the region suffered economically.