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Fifield, New South Wales

Coordinates: 32°48′27″S 147°27′33″E / 32.80750°S 147.45917°E / -32.80750; 147.45917
From Tilcayo Cats, the lean encyclopaedia by Tilcayo Knowledge Systems

Fifield
Town
Coordinates: 32°48′27″S 147°27′33″E / 32.80750°S 147.45917°E / -32.80750; 147.45917
CountryAustralia
StateNew South Wales
LGA
  • Lachlan Shire
Location
  • 449 km (279 mi) WNW of Sydney
  • 92 km (57 mi) NW of Parkes
  • 52 km (32 mi) N of Condobolin
  • 80 km (50 mi) S of Tottenham
  • 31 km (19 mi) NW of Trundle
Government
 • State electorate
 • Federal division
Population
 • Total287 (2011 census)[1]
Postcode
2875

Fifield is a small town in central New South Wales, renowned for its deposits of alluvial gold and platinum, as well as the companies trying to find their source. The name is also used for the surrounding area for postal and statistical purposes. At the 2011 census, Fifield and the surrounding area had a population of 287 people.[1]

The area now known as Fifield lies on the traditional land of Wiradjuri people.[2]

History

Mining

In May 1893, W. J. H. Slee, Chief Inspector of Mines of New South Wales, sent a telegram reporting a payable gold find on the mining claim of "Fifield, Land and party", about 22 miles from Trundle, at what was then known as Burra Burra or Burra. The new find was around 2 miles from the site of an earlier gold mining location. He found around 800 men working the area, and, about 10 miles further west, another 200 on a field with payable tin.[3][4][5] By September 1893, the goldfield was being referred to as 'Fifield',[6] and the presence of platinum was reported by the end of October 1894.[7] In October 1895, J.B. Jaquet, the geological surveyor, reported on the platinum deposits in the area.

The alluvial deposits in the area were paleochannels, or 'leads'; Gillenbine, Fifield and Platina leads.[8]

Around 2½ miles south of Fifield, the Platina lead,[9] the largest of the three leads, was about 3 km long and 10 to 25m deep.[8] It lay slightly to the west of the modern-day Fifield Road, centred on a point west of its intersection with Platina Road.[10][11] At its peak, there was a settlement there.[12]

Over the life of the field, around 20,000 ounces (650 kg) of platinum were produced.[13]

Magnesite, a magnesium carbonate (MgCO3), sometimes containing traces of nickel and cobalt, was also mined within the locality.

The area remains of interest for mineral exploitation, especially for the rare alloying metal scandium, which is needed for the supply chain of critical US military components.[14][15] Scandium has essential applications for semiconductors and high-performance aluminium alloys for aerospace industry.[16] The Fifield mining area could become a key supplier of the Western world with scandium, a rare trivalent metal, essential for defence aircraft and data centres. This follows the Australian mining company Sunrise Energy Metals securing a US$400 million ($566m) pledge by the Pentagon to strengthen its supply chain.[17]

Village of Fifield

A settlement sprang up, known as Fifield after one of the prospectors, and a hotel was being erected there by October 1893; other permanent buildings were being erected too, and there were already some shops forming the core of a town, a baker, butcher and blacksmith.[7]

The Village of Fiefield was proclaimed on 30 July 1896.[18] However, the village seems to have been more commonly known as Fifield from its earliest days.[19] The village, tank, and cemetery called Fiefield, were renamed, Fifield, officially, in 1979.[20]

Fiefield Post Office opened on 6 September 1893, was renamed Fifield in 1894 and closed in 1981.[21] There was a school, always known as Fifield, from July 1894 to August 1973.[22]

The village had a racecourse, where race meetings were held, from around 1896 to at least 1940.[23][24][25] It was also used for other sporting and athletic activities, at least into the beginning of the 1950s.[26] The racecourse ceased to exist, officially, in 1979.[20]

The village has a Catholic church,[27] hotel,[13] war memorial,[28] cemetery,[29][30] and a 'tank'—or ground tank, an excavated water reservoir,[31] typically found further west, in more arid areas of New South Wales than Fifield. It still supplies the village with untreated non-potable water.[32] There is a plaque commemorating Ruby Stevenson, who operated the village's water pump every day for 35 years.[33][34] Close to the cemetery is an 80 acre piece of cleared land, once the village's racecourse.[35][36]

The main street, Slee Street, is named after William Henry John Slee.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Fifield (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  2. ↑ Studies, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (13 October 2025). "Map of Indigenous Australia". aiatsis.gov.au. Archived from the original on 4 October 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  3. ↑ "The Burra Burra Gold Rush". Sydney Morning Herald. 24 May 1893. p. 9.
  4. ↑ "New Tin Fields". The Australian Star. 30 May 1893. p. 2.
  5. ↑ "Latest Mining News (continued from page 25.) The Burra Burra Rush". Australian Town and Country Journal. 3 June 1893. p. 16.
  6. ↑ "Gold mining at Fifield". Australian Town and Country Journal. 23 September 1893. p. 47.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Burra Burra". The Australian Star. 24 October 1893. p. 6.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Historical Information". Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  9. ↑ "Fifield Division". Western Champion (Parkes). 29 September 1899. p. 16.
  10. ↑ "Platina Lead, Cunningham Co., New South Wales, Australia". mindat.org. Archived from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  11. ↑ "32°50'56.4"S 147°28'01.9"E". Google Maps.
  12. ↑ "Obituary". Lachlander and Condobolin and Western Districts Recorder. 10 January 1949. p. 2.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Fifield". Lachlan Shire. Archived from the original on 8 February 2026. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  14. ↑ Hayley (6 January 2022). "Sunrise Project Granted Major Project Status". Condobolin Argus. Archived from the original on 11 September 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  15. ↑ "Clean TeQ Sunrise Project, New South Wales". NS Energy. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  16. ↑ Rogan, Aaliyah (9 July 2024). "Sunrise Energy kicks off scandium project Feasibility Study". Mining.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 August 2026. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  17. ↑ "This tiny NSW town is set to become a $560m US defence 'cornerstone'". SBS News. 8 August 2026. Archived from the original on 8 August 2026. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  18. ↑ "Government Gazette Proclamations and Legislation". New South Wales Government Gazette. 31 July 1896. p. 5275.
  19. ↑ "Gold Mining at Fifield". Evening News (Sydney). 16 September 1893. p. 3.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Geographical Names Act, 1966". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 30 March 1979. p. 1535.
  21. ↑ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Archived from the original on 19 August 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  22. ↑ "Fifield". nswgovschoolhistory. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  23. ↑ "Sporting". Evening News (Sydney). 18 March 1896. p. 2.
  24. ↑ "Regulations for the Management of Fifield Racecourse". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 31 August 1934. p. 3247.
  25. ↑ "Fifield Items". Lachlander and Condobolin and Western Districts Recorder. 22 August 1940. p. 2.
  26. ↑ "Sports at Fifield". Lachlander and Condobolin and Western Districts Recorder. 13 November 1951. p. 1.
  27. ↑ "St Dympna's Catholic Church | Churches Australia". www.churchesaustralia.org. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  28. ↑ "Fifield War Memorial | Monument Australia". www.monumentaustralia.org. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  29. ↑ "Fifield". Australian Cemeteries Index.
  30. ↑ "Fifield Cemetery". Google Maps.
  31. ↑ "Fifield". Google Maps. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  32. ↑ "Water and Sewer". www.lachlan.nsw.gov.au. Archived from the original on 2 December 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  33. ↑ "Monuments, Memorials & Plaques – Fifield". Lachlan Shire. Archived from the original on 10 November 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  34. ↑ "Ruby Stevenson | Monument Australia". www.monumentaustralia.org. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  35. ↑ "32°48'35.4"S 147°26'27.7"E". Google Maps.
  36. ↑ "Government Gazette Appointments and Employment". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 4 December 1959. p. 3761.
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