Not every gold rush changes the world like the California gold rush, the Yukon gold rush, or the Black Hills gold rush. Some simply change the history of a region and become part of the local character and lore. American examples of such include the Carolina gold rush and the Georgia gold rush. But for Finland and Russia, this gold rush is the Lapland gold rush, a rather obscure point of history for both of those countries, but one of immense significance and importance for gold hunters around the world. 

Western Australia was the home of multiple gold rushes between 1885 and 1893. And the region continues to produce copious amounts of gold to this day. Gold mining is the third-largest commodity sector in the region today, after iron ore and petroleum, generating nearly A$12 billion worth of value every year. 

America has the California Gold Rush. It’s equivalent in Canada is the Klondike Gold Rush. All told, this brought 100,000 prospectors into the region, which was not sunny California, but the frozen tundra of the Canadian Yukon over the course of three years between 1896 and 1899, with the bulk coming in 1897 and 1898. 

The California Gold Rush certainly was in a far-off land for the Americans of the time, who had to trek long distances to get to their final destination. But the 49’ers had nothing on those brave adventurers who went to Nome, Alaska to seek their fortunes in 1899. Which brings us to the Nome Gold Rush.

The Brazilian Gold Rush was over almost as quickly as it began. Once the gold ran out, the entire Brazilian economy entered a very long period of stagnation. By the year 1807, gold had entirely ceased to be a source of revenue for the Portuguese crown. There is still a great deal of gold to be found in the Amazon region of the nation, however, gold mining in and around the Amazon is strictly forbidden under Brazilian law. Illicit trade in Brazilian gold continues despite this ban, but the penalties are high. These miners come from all walks of life, unlike those who rushed to make their fortunes during the Brazilian Gold Rush.

The Carolina Gold Rush kicked off the American lust for finding gold, but the Georgia Gold Rush followed quickly thereafter and was where many of the men from the Carolinas went after the low-hanging fruit had all been panned out of rivers or mined. In terms of national consciousness, the Georgia Gold Rush quickly came to outshine the Carolina Gold Rush, despite the fact that the Carolina region was the powerhouse of American gold until the discovery of gold in California in the mid-19th Century.