Lasseter's Reef
Legendary lost gold reef in central Australia.
Lasseter's Reef is the name given to a supposedly immense gold deposit that Harold Bell Lasseter claimed to have found in a harsh, isolated part of central Australia. He announced the discovery in 1929 and again in 1930, but his stories about it are inconsistent, and its exact whereabouts—if it even exists—have never been determined.
Lasseter, who lived from 1880 to 1931, made two different (and possibly contradictory) claims: that he had found the rich gold deposit either in 1911 or in 1897. On October 14, 1929, he wrote to Albert Green, a federal member from Kalgoorlie, stating that 18 years earlier he had discovered "a vast gold bearing reef in Central Australia" on the western edge of the MacDonnell Ranges. He repeated this to other officials and was interviewed by a commissioner and a geologist, but the government did not investigate. Records later showed that from 1908 to 1913, Lasseter was living on a leased farm near Tabulam. In March 1930, he told a different story to John Bailey of the Australian Workers' Union. This version claimed that at age 17, he had ridden a horse from Queensland to the West Australian goldfields and stumbled upon a huge gold reef near the border of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. However, at that age, Lasseter was actually in reform school for armed robbery. In this account, he was about 700 miles (1,100 km) west of Alice Springs, heading toward Kalgoorlie. He said that after the discovery, he got into trouble and was rescued by an Afghan camel driver, who took him to the camp of a surveyor named Joseph Harding. Lasseter and Harding supposedly later tried to return to the reef but failed because their watches were inaccurate. Since the expedition with Harding occurred before World War I, the two versions might not conflict: Lasseter could have been referring to his first find in 1897 in one account and the later expedition with Harding in the other. Lasseter claimed he spent the next three decades trying to raise interest for an expedition, but during the Kalgoorlie gold rush, no one was willing to risk a trek into central Australia's uncharted desert.
By 1930, with the Great Depression underway, the promise of desert gold became more appealing. Lasseter secured about £1,000 in private funding for an expedition to relocate the reef. Unusually for the time, the group used motor vehicles and an aircraft. The t
- born
- 1880
- died
- 1931
- field
- Prospecting
- nationality
- Australian
- known_for
- Claiming discovery of a vast gold reef in central Australia
Lore & Background
Lewis Harold Bell Lasseter (1880–1931) made different and possibly conflicting claims that either in 1911 or in 1897 he had discovered a rich gold deposit. On 14 October 1929 he wrote to Kalgoorlie federal member Albert Green, claiming to have discovered 'a vast gold bearing reef in Central Australia' 18 years earlier at the western edge of the MacDonnell Ranges. In March 1930 he provided a different story to John Bailey of the Australian Workers' Union, stating that as a young man of 17 he rode from Queensland to the West Australian gold fields and stumbled across a huge gold reef near the border between the Northern Territory and Western Australia. However, Lasseter had been sentenced to reform school at that time for armed robbery.
In 1930, during the Great Depression, Lasseter secured approximately £1,000 in private funding for an expedition to relocate the reef. The group left
Reader's Guide
Lasseter's Reef has become perhaps the most famous lost mine legend in Australia, remaining a 'holy grail' among Australian prospectors. No maps showing the location of the fabled gold reef were ever found. Geologists have made various statements about gold potential in the region: in 1931 geologists T. Blatchford and H.W.B. Talbot pronounced the region unpromising, but in 2014 geologists W.D. Maier, H.M. Howard and R.H. Smithies likened the southern part of Lasseter's search area to the Bushveld Complex in South Africa where gold deposits occur, quoting a 2002 report of copper-gold vein material found north of the Cavenagh Range. The tale has inspired books, songs, films, and a 2013 documentary 'Lasseter's Bones'. In 1988, Senator John Panizza stated he believed the Telfer mine was the most likely candidate for the lost reef.
Did You Know?
- Lasseter's accounts of the find are conflicting and its precise location remains a mystery—if it exists.
- Lasseter had been sentenced to reform school at the time he claimed to have discovered the reef as a 17-year-old.
- The 1930 expedition included motorised vehicular transport and an aircraft, unusual for the time.
- Lasseter's body was found in a shallow grave in which the Pitjantjatjara had buried him.
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