Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 20, 2026

List of commodity booms

This is a list of economic booms created by physical commodities.

Last revised
Jun 20, 2026
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Wikipedia ↗
Merchant ships fill San Francisco harbor, 1850–51. source ↗
The stately Victorian architecture of Dunedin, New Zealand, is a result of the capital brought into the city by the Otago gold rush of the 1860s. source ↗
Uranium bubble of 20071 source ↗

This is a list of economic booms created by physical commodities.

Boom Commodity Type Location Dates
First Chilean wheat cycle wheat agricultural Chile 1687–1810
Brazilian Gold Rush gold metal Brazil 18th century
Carolina gold rush gold metal North Carolina, US early 19th century
Georgia Gold Rush gold metal Georgia, US 1828 – early 1840s
Chilean silver rush silver metal Chile 1832 – c. 1855
Chilean copper boom copper metal Chile 1850 – c. 1875
Guano Era guano hard commodity Peru 1845 – c. 1870
California gold rush gold metal California, US 1848–1855
Second Chilean wheat cycle wheat agricultural Chile 1849 – 1870s
British Columbia gold rushes gold metal British Columbia, Canada 1850–1941
Australian gold rushes gold metal Australia 1851–1906
Pennsylvania oil rush petroleum fossil fuel northwestern Pennsylvania, US 1859 – early 1870s
Otago gold rush gold metal Central Otago, New Zealand 1860s
Colorado River mining boom gold metal Southwestern US 1861–64
West Coast gold rush gold metal West Coast, New Zealand 1864–1867
Lapland gold rush gold metal Lapland, Finland 1870s
Azerbaijan oil boom petroleum fossil fuel Azerbaijan 1870s
Black Hills gold rush gold metal Dakota Territory, US 1874 – c. 1880
Patagonian sheep farming boom wool, mutton agricultural Patagonia 1878 – 1920
Coromandel Gold Rushes gold metal Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand 1870s – 1880s
Cripple Creek Gold Rush gold metal Cripple Creek, Colorado, US late 19th to early 20th century
Bodie gold rush gold metal Bodie, California, US 1877–1880
First Amazon rubber boom rubber agricultural Amazon basin 1879–1912
Colorado Silver Boom silver metal Colorado, US 1879–1893
Canadian wheat boom wheat agricultural Canada, especially Prairie Provinces c. 1880 – 1910, and 1914 – 192123
Indiana gas boom natural gas fossil fuel Indiana, US early 1880s – early 20th century
Ohio oil rush petroleum fossil fuel Northwest Ohio, US 1880s – 1930s
Tierra del Fuego gold rush gold metal Tierra del Fuego 1883–1906
Witwatersrand Gold Rush gold metal South Africa 1886
Klondike Gold Rush gold metal Klondike, Yukon, Canada 1896–1899
Mount Baker gold rush gold metal Whatcom County, Washington, US 1897 – mid-1920s
Nome Gold Rush gold metal Nome, Alaska, US 1899–1909
Fairbanks Gold Rush gold metal Fairbanks, Alaska, US early 1900s
Texas oil boom petroleum fossil fuel Texas, US 1901 – 1940s
Cobalt silver rush silver metal Cobalt, Ontario, Canada 1903 – c. 1930
Stoy, Illinois oil boom petroleum fossil fuel Stoy, Illinois, US 1906–1910
Porcupine Gold Rush gold metal Northern Ontario, Canada 1909 – 1950s
Kakamega gold rush gold metal Kakamega, Kenya early 1930s
Vatukoula gold rush gold metal Vatukoula, Fiji 1932
Second Amazon rubber boom rubber agricultural Amazon basin 1942–1945
Alberta conventional oil boom petroleum fossil fuel Alberta, Canada 1947 – 1980
New Zealand wool boom wool agricultural New Zealand 1951 – late 1950s
Bonanza marimbera cannabis agricultural Colombia 1974–1985
Mexican oil boom petroleum fossil fuel Mexico 1977–1981
1970s commodities boom multiple multiple worldwide 1970s
Cocaine era cocaine agricultural Colombia 1985–19944
Merluza boom56 fish hard commodity Chile 1980s
Chilean salmon boom78 fish soft commodity Chile 1986–2007
Bolivian gas boom91011 natural gas fossil fuel Bolivia 2001 – 2014
2000s commodities boom multiple multiple worldwide 2000s
Uranium bubble of 2007 uranium metal worldwide 2005–2007
North Dakota oil boom petroleum, shale gas fossil fuel North Dakota, US 2006 – c. 2015
Rhodium bubble12 rhodium metal worldwide (primarily South Africa, Russia) 2008
2020s commodities boom multiple multiple worldwide 2020s
References

References

  1. "NUEXCO Exchange Value (Monthly Uranium Spot)". Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  2. Ward, Tony (1994). "The Origins of the Canadian Wheat Boom, 1880-1910". The Canadian Journal of Economics. 27 (4): 865–883. doi:10.2307/136188. JSTOR 136188.
  3. Bertram, Gordon W. (1973). "The Relevance of the Wheat Boom in Canadian Economic Growth". The Canadian Journal of Economics. 6 (4): 545–566. doi:10.2307/134090. JSTOR 134090.
  4. Rocha García, Ricardo. "La riqueza del narcotráfico y la desigualdad en Colombia, 1976-2012" [Drug trafficking wealth, and inequality of income in Colombia, 1976-2012]. Revista Criminalidad (in Spanish). 56 (2): 273–290.
  5. Saavedra G., Gonzalo (2007). "Prácticas Económicas en las Costas Insulares de Aisén. Testimonios de Persistencia y Transformación" (PDF). Actas del 6º Congreso Chileno de Antropología. VI Congreso Chileno de Antropología (in Spanish). Valdivia: Colegio de Antropólogos de Chile A. G. pp. 1696–1703.
  6. Scholz Cárdenas, Gonzalo Ignacio (2019). Siguiendo la merluza: Las migraciones interregionales en el Chile neoliberal, un estudio del surgimiento de ‘‘comunidades pesqueras porteñas’’ en Calbuco, Región de Los Lagos (1980-1991) (PDF) (Thesis) (in Spanish). Austral University of Chile. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  7. Salgado Reyes, Rodrigo A. (2005). Análisis del desarrollo de la salmonicultura chilena (PDF) (Thesis) (in Spanish). Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
  8. Gardner, Simon (March 11, 2009). "Virus, crisis: Perfect storm hits Chile salmon industry". Reuters.
  9. Miroff, Nick (2014-11-14). "Gas boom in Bolivia brings new wealth — and regrets for a lost opportunity". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2025-06-13.
  10. "El boom del gas generó para Bolivia $us 70 mil millones de ingresos en 20 años". El Periódico (in Spanish). 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2025-06-13.
  11. "Bolivia's Economic Dream Crumbles: The Perils of Unsustainable Policies". The Rio Times. 2024-10-16. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
  12. "Historical Rhodium Charts". Kitco. Retrieved 19 February 2010.