Triton Gold Mine, Reedy's Goldfield, Cue Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Triton Gold Mine	Mine
Reedy's Goldfield	Ore Field
Cue Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Mining in Australia used to be a dangerous occupation. It was only after World War Two, authorities started to take mine safety seriously. Before this mining accidents were nearly always viewed as accidental with no-one at fault. As such, mining companies and mine managers saw little need to curb production for the sake of protecting their employees lives. Many of the deaths on Western Australian goldfields were immigrants, with Italians particularly prominent.

The Triton gold mine was operational during the 1930's, and had an appalling safety record. It generated virtually no criticism in the press, or actions by any authority. In 1929 Giovanni Zoneti was killed at the neighbouring Emu North mine. In 1934 at the Triton Mine Henry Odell and Frederick Whitehouse were killed when they bored into an unexploded stick of gelignite. J. Borg was injured during the same incident. Italian Ezzio Bombarderi and Finn Henrick Henriksen in 1937 were killed when a skip loaded with 1 tonne of ore broke free and fell to the bottom of the shaft, and were crushed. A third miner received injuries, and the skip narrowly missed three Italian miners. Bombarderi had worked at the mine since 1935, and had returned to Italy to get married, bringing his wife back to Australia to start work again at the mine. In 1938, Charles McMullen and Richard Holman were killed when they fell from a skip in a mine shaft while being winched to the surface. James Millar received a broken leg from the same incident. Alexander Hall was killed at the mine in 1941, after falling into an ore skip bin as the stone was being poured into it.

The ore body was discovered in 1919, far later than many of the goldfield deposits in the region. The Mararoa Company abandoned its Cue goldfield lease and took up underground mining at Emu in the early 1920's. A shaft was sunk to 170 feet. During this period, the Mararoa Company mined 13200 tonnes averaging 12 dwt. It was termed the Mararoa Mine at the time. J.V.W. Mathers was mine manager. Drilling in the late 1920's showed the deposit north of Emu to be sigificant, later to be known as the Triton Mine. The company did not have the capital to develop it. It was leased via option in 1932 to the Occidental Syndicate, a local group of powerful mining and finance men from Perth. In turn they optioned it to Western Gold Ltd formed in 1933 to develop the mine. What followed was a complex financial arrangement which ended with Western Gold Mines NL forming the Triton Company taking over the mine. The company had significant shareholders of major mining and financial companies.

Mining ceased in 1942 due to cost and labour shortages during World War Two. Mining only recommenced on March 5 1947, but the following year the plant at the mine suffered a major breakdown. It was decided the cost to repair or replace the plant was not warranted and the mine closed. The Triton Company was wound up, with major shareholder in the company, the Gold Exploration and Finance company, purchased the mine and plant for 120 000 pounds. In turn it sold this to four of its subsidiary companies.

An open pit was developed on the site in the 1990's.

References

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality