DIAMOND CUT

ONCE SHOWERED IN GOLD AND DIAMONDS, BINGARA AND THE GWYDIR RIVER REGION ENJOY A SLOWER PACE THESE DAYS, A TRANQUIL GEM FOR OFF-ROAD TOURERS.

- KEV SMITH

BACK in 1827, Allan Cunningham came through the Gwydir River area of northern NSW and camped beside the river with his entourage as they headed north looking for new pastoral land. Over the next few years more people followed and Bingara was subsequently founded in 1840.

As with most new settlements, locals started searching the outlying areas and gold was found a few years later along with other gems like rubies, garnets, and a few diamonds. Not long after, the word got out about another new goldfield and the town’s population grew, shops and pubs were built along with a police station, post office, flour mill, and more. The gold and diamonds ran out by around 1950 and the miners, their families, and shopkeepers moved on. At the time, the Bingara diamond field was Australia’s largest and most profitable, with the largest diamond found in the region being 37,000 carats.

These days it’s a quiet, slow town where travellers are welcomed and the locals friendly with advice and big hearts. On our arrival we headed straight to the local tourist info centre for some recommendations on where to stay and what to do. The local council has set aside areas in the heart of town where you can free camp beside the Gwydir River and farther east towards the massive Copeton Dam.

Being an ex-mining town, Bingara has set aside areas where you can freely fossick for gems, and the info centre has a map of where you can go. One of the biggest gold mines in Bingara (and the last to close just before 1950) was the All Nations, and only minutes from town in Hill Street you can get up close to its massive 10-head stamper. Fully intact, you’ll be blown away with the size of this thing, but just for a minute stop and think about the logistics in getting this monster out here from England.