Ahhh, I was thinking you meant the Canadian Northwest Territory. No, I don't think it would do too much, unless there is also a steady supply of water. It was a necessity in the Gold Rushes in Canada and the United States, both for panning and blasting. And of course a lot of gold was found in the rivers, where it had been washed into. If their is any noticeable amount of gold found in the northern portion near the coast then I would say that the various people from Indonesia would have found out about it. At least if it is in an easy to find area. If it is hard to get to or buried under a mountain then you- ahh wait, there was gold there. Hmmm. Well, I still think we would get loads of people from Dutch, Portuguese, and independent areas. We really need at least a decade to aim for though, as there were loads of territorial changes in that century.