Peak Hill, Western Australia Explained
Peak Hill is the name of a goldfield,[1] locality and the site of a gold mining[2] ghost town in the Murchison Region of Western Australia. The gold mine covers 2,162 hectares and consists of four open-cut mines, titled: Main, Jubilee, Fiveways and Harmony.[3]
In the adjacent region to the locality, there are considerable non-auriferous mineral deposits.[4] Adjacent fields included the Horseshoe field.[5]
Early exploration at the site occurred in the 1890s,[6] [7] when gold was discovered by William John Wilson in 1892. The townsite was gazetted in 1897, and the field has had varied fortunes even in early years.[8] [9] Before 1913, the mine produced some 270,000 ounces (7.7 metric tons) of gold.[3] Peak Hill was also included as a location in a regional newspaper network of more outlying mining communities in the 1920s and 1930s.[10]
The population of the town was 190 (180 males and 10 females) in 1898.[11]
The Meekatharra-Horseshoe Railway Act 1920, assented to on 31 December 1920, authorised the construction of the railway line from Meekatharra, where it intersected the Mullewa–Meekatharra railway, to the Horseshoe mine, north-west of Peak Hill.[12] The private 85miles-long railway was short-lived, existing from 1927 until 1933, when the company mining manganese went into receivership.[13]
Alfred Walker, the proprietor of the Peak Hill General Store until 1954, was the last full-time resident of Peak Hill. He retired to his daughter's farm at Peppermint Grove, south of Capel.
In the 1970s, it was reduced to a ghost town with a few remaining residents, however in the 1980s activity resumed,[14] [15] producing around 650,000 ounces (18.4 metric tons) of gold.[3] The mine became dormant again in the 2000s.
Notes and References
- Clarke, E. de C.(1913) Geological report on Mikhaburra (Holden's Find), Peak Hill goldfield. Bulletin (Geological Survey of Western Australia), No. 59, 1914, Report 37
- Heydon, P. R. (1991) Gold at Peak Hill Carlisle, W.A : Hesperian Press,
- News: Ralph . Wragg . Montezuma to buy Peak Hill gold mine . Australian Business News . 2007-08-01.
- Montgomery, A. (1920) Report on the manganese deposits at Horseshoe Range, Peak Hill Goldfield Perth, W.A. Dept. of Mines, 1920 (Perth [W.A.]: Fred. Wm. Simpson, Government Printer
- Stewart, Duke (1897) The Peak Hill Goldfield.Stewart (cycling through the district compiling a goldfields directory) reports on gold specimens from the Horseshoe and Peak Hill districts. West Australian, 23 November 1897, p.6
- (1970) The biography of William John Wilson : discoverer of the Peak Hill Goldfields, Western Australia; and, Early history of Peak Hill / compiled by ... Freda and ... Arnold Armstrong and ... Laurence Wilson.Battye Library typescript
- Reed, Frank. (1897) The Peak Hill Goldfields.West Australian, 17 April 1897, p.10
- Peak Hill. Article in a series titled: Is the Murchison a failure? Murchison times and Day Dawn gazette, 18 Feb. 1899, p.2f-g
- Armstrong, Freda. (1940s) Early Murchison days : the discovery of Peak Hill : some rich returns Battye Library document - PR5868 originally in Geraldton Guardian.
- The manganese record, Peak Hill, Nullagine and Marble Bar Gazette. Meekatharra [W.A.] : Telegraph Printing and Publishing Company Ltd., 1928-1941. 22 Sept. 1928-11 July 1941. it was preceded by The Murchison Times and Day Dawn Gazette. Cue [W.A.] : Murchison Times and Day Dawn Gazette, 1894-1925. Distribution area: Cue; Day Dawn; Murchison; Peak Hill Goldfields.
- News: POPULATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. . . Perth, WA . 22 April 1898 . 28 May 2012 . 23 . National Library of Australia.
- Web site: Meekatharra-Horseshoe Railway Act 1920 . . 23 December 1927 . www.legislation.wa.gov.au . . 31 July 2024 .
- Web site: Peak Hill . . inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au . Heritage Council of Western Australia . 31 July 2024.
- (1988) Mining activity to resume at old gold mining site.Daily news (Perth, W.A.), 1 July 1988, p.17
- (1988) Peak Hill Resources Gold Mine - description of mine opened July 1988 in Murchison Australia's mining monthly, Aug. 1988, p.19,