Bulolo was a major centre for Australian gold mining companies for 50 years from the 1930s. But the profits were all exported leaving Bulolo today in the same state it was when the first foreign miners arrived.

The gold in Bololo was so enticing, eight giant dredges were made in Australia and then broken down into small parts and flown to Bulolo. It took two-years for all the parts to be imported and reconstructed on site. 

The giant dredgers, driven by hydro power, dug down 60 meters creating water filled lagoons that still remain.

More than 40 tonnes of gold was extracted worth some US$7 billion in the period from 1930 to 1960.

But the sad part of this story is Bulolo itself - still the same today, roads unsealed and no hospital, just a small clinic -  after contributing so much wealth into foreign hands…