Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
28° 2' 59'' South , 117° 52' 52'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Mindat Locality ID:
264709
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:264709:1
Located about 3 kilometres north-east of Mount Magnet. The Mayflower gold mine borders it to the north-west. In the first decade of the 21st Century Harmony Gold developed a small open pit at the site, now abandoned, which destroyed the old workings.
The mine was situated at the south-east end of the south-east to north-west trending Mayflower Reefs, which also contained the Mayflower and New Year Gift mines. The lease covered 9 acres. The earliest reports when the mine was still being developed was 1895, when it was owned by J. Pollard, W. Bell, J. Buckingham Jr, M. O'Donnell, and J.W. Perryman.
The mine was developed on a reef formation that gob-smacked visitors. This was a lode of rich gold bearing material with heavy gold bearing quartz veinlets, filled with gold. Through this ran two gold reefs, 8 feet and 3 feet wide, carrying stone covered in gold, surrounded by slate. The whole lode was 30 feet wide. At the 20 foot mark down the vertical shaft was opaline material, assumed common opal or chalcedony, carrying coarse and fine gold estimated at 30 oz to the tonne. At the 70 foot level was a 2foot wide reef striking east-west and dipping south. Like many of these early gold mines, there were specimens to die for, all crushed through a battery.
Tonnages were small compared to the mines on the west side of Mount Magnet. For example December 1895 there was 14 tonnes yielding 51 oz at 11 dwt. By 1897 a crushing example showed the tonnage had doubled to 27 tonnes at 36 oz and 9dwt, however it was still minor compared to the major mines nearby.
The original prospectors sold the Primrose and Primrose South leases in February 1896 to a Perth syndicate for 4000 pounds. The incredible amount of gold found in Western Australia, encouraged people to flock here from far and wide. Sir Joseph Renals, a former Lord Mayor of London, was one such visitor. He purchased a major stake in the mine in late 1896, although it is suggested he never saw sight of it, rarely leaving Perth and Albany.
It became apparent that while the reef was rich and impressive, it was also small. Mid 1897, was the last report found of activity, only 2 years after the mine opened.
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3 valid minerals.
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