November 27, 2020
For the first time in the modern era, the Melbourne Cup was made in Victoria.
The 18-carat gold is refined to its purest form and rolled into sheets. The cup is shaped by turning the gold on a lathe whilst being careful to keep its softness to prevent cracking. Goldsmiths, spinners, miners and designers are all engaged in a process that takes around 250 hours and results in one of the most coveted, and historic sporting trophies the world has ever seen: the 2020 Melbourne Cup.
Fosterville Gold Mine is located roughly thirty minutes outside of Bendigo and has been since 2005. It is a small mine that struggles to get by. However, its fortunes have turned around recently, and it now makes more than two million dollars in profit every day. It seems little surprise then, that this Victorian mine that is one of the highest producers of gold in the world, would be selected for the creation of the most coveted trophy in horse racing.
What made this year’s Melbourne Cup especially unique, besides COVID-19 taking the punters from the racetrack, is that the trophy was the first in the modern era to be made from Victorian gold.