Robert Philp, later, a Minister for Mines and a Queensland Premier, called it “the biggest ever mining swindle in the Colonies”. He for one certainly knew, because Robert Ross himself sold Philp a swag of the Company shares in early 1888.

This is the true story of multiple gold frauds by Robert Ross near Yeppoon Queensland, and a dubious Sydney Company involving many leading identities now well known in our history. Some made fortunes almost overnight and some ended up mortally wounded.

The Supreme Court sessions featured most of the leading ‘silks’ in the Colony and even our later first Prime Minister Edmund Barton and all the sworn evidence and verdicts were meticulously recorded and then first sealed under Statute for 30 years.

Played out for over four years without an ounce of genuine gold produced, the various schemes saw about one quarter of a billion dollars in present day value change hands and not one person received even a slap on the wrist and crime paid well for some.

Two of the “celebrated” Ross mines were widely claimed as ‘at least equal to Mt Morgan’, then the richest single mine in the World! This truly excited the Colonies.

An ongoing story of true events and real people, unique in our history but well concealed at the time, and then quickly buried before any serious detail leaked out!

As it turned out there was no gold at all in the five main mines, but plenty of easy money to be made.

An unknown history, and an intriguing story, based almost entirely on original sworn documents kept secret at the time, only now, 117 years later, revealed by author John Peach.