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Oldham Gold District

One gold nugget found at Oldham in the late 1800’s weighed 61 troy ounces and at the time was worth $1,135. In 2012 prices, that nugget would be worth $107,055.

Discovery: Spring of 1861 by Edward Horne and Samuel Isner
Years of Production: 1862-1946
Total Gold Production (troy oz.): 85178
Photograph of miner Henry Reeves examining a piece of quartz with a gold pan in his lap.

Henry N. Reeves, typical old general miner at Oldham, 1912. E. R. Faribault.

Geological Survey of Canada Photo #21583.

Plan map detailing land leases for the Oldham Gold District c. 1864.

Plan map of the Oldham Gold District ca. 1864.

N.S. Department of Natural Resources Historical Mine Photo Collection: Photo: 204761.tif

Example of a government lease for gold mining.

Government mine lease in the name of the Oldham and Boston Gold Mining Co., Oldham Gold District, 1863.

N.S. Department of Natural Resources Historical Mine Photo Collection: Photo: 204762.tif

Photograph of a miner wearing heavy protective gloves pouring molten gold into a bar mould.

Gold pour at the Oldham Gold District.

N.S. Department of Natural Resources Historical Mine Photo Collection: Photo: 204770.tif

Photograph of pick axe, shovel and sticks of dynamite in a mine near a quartz vein.

Preparing for a blast on a quartz vein underground in the Oldham Gold District.

N.S. Department of Natural Resources Historical Mine Photo Collection: Photo: 204780.tif

Photograph of a miner and ore cart in a mine.

Miner and ore cart underground at the Oldham Gold District.

N.S. Department of Natural Resources Historical Mine Photo Collection: Photo: 204800.tif

Photograph of two men collecting mercury from a retort.

Decanting (recollecting) mercury from a retort (at right) in a mill at the Oldham Gold District.

N.S. Department of Natural Resources Historical Mine Photo Collection: Photo: 204810.tif

Photograph of surface buildings and homes in the Oldham Gold District.

Mine buildings and homes at one of the mining operations at the Oldham Gold District.

N.S. Department of Natural Resources Historical Mine Photo Collection: Photo: 204820.tif

Photograph of a group of miners holding their lamps underground in the Evangeline Gold Mine.

Miners underground in a drift on a quartz lead at the Evangeline Gold Mine, Oldham Gold District, 1931. Photograph by J. P. Messervey.

N.S. Department of Natural Resources Historical Mine Photo Collection: Photo: 204830.tif

Photograph of the last stamp mill in the Oldham Gold District in a state of disrepair.

Last stamp mill at the Oldham Gold District, 1953. Photograph by E. G. L. Wetmore. N.S.

Archives and Records Management Photo Collection: Places: Oldham.

Watercolour landscape showing two miners working a hoist above a mine shaft.

Oldham Gold District, Whitehead, N.E., c 1870 by Frederick B, Nichols; watercolour on paper laid on card; 13.6 x 22.5 cm.

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia: NTL2008.258

Painting showing mine structures and tailings pond in the Oldham Gold District.

Oldham, c 1987 by Joseph Purcell; oil on canvas; 24 x 36".

Museum of Industry: I95.86.13

Overview and detail of the geography, geology and settlement of the Oldham Gold District.

Plan and sections, Oldham Gold District, Halifax Co., Nova Scotia. E. R. Faribault.

Geological Survey of Canada Old Series Geology Map 642., 1898.

Contemporary satellite map with the historical gold mining areas and tailings noted for Oldham Gold District.

Historical gold mining, Oldham area, Halifax County, Nova Scotia. P. K. Smith & T. A. Goodwin.

N. S. Department of Natural Resources Open File Map 2009-1, Sheet 30, 2009