Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	28° 47' 7'' South , 122° 38' 52'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-28.78550,122.64800
GeoHash:	G#: qdzhnzv83
Locality type:	Mine
Köppen climate type:	BWh : Hot deserts climate

The Karridale and Boomerang gold mines are a separate group of workings a little to the south of the shafts near the Burtville pit. They form an arc of shafts, small pits and battery sand remnants generally south of the derelict house where the road turns south-east to east (if travelling south). The Karridale is at the northern end of the workings, just before the house, and generally bordering the south side of the road.

It was one of the first leases pegged, and proved to be a rich mine from its development in 1899 by prospectors Dale and Ryan (surnames). From the establishment of the battery in late 1903 (when records were kept) to 1907 the mine had produced 1834 tonnes of ore for 9217 ounces of gold, said to be worth about 50 000 pounds, a fortune in early Twentieth Century figures.

Around 1902, the Karridale syndicate took over the mine, consisting of William (Billy) Lamb, J. Clarke, A. Dean, R. Johnstone and C. Kelly. At this stage there were two shafts to 60 feet, but the syndicate set to work sinking the shafts deeper and expanding. By 1907 the main shaft was down to 150 feet, and cross-cut 70 feet to meet the reef. Drives went 80 feet north and 230 feet south, with most of the stoping at the southern end. Sixty feet to the west was another reef, with a shaft down to 150 feet.

Burtville had two hotels (now long gone), facing each other on opposite corners. One was owned by Bob Sangster (noted prospector at various shows around Burtville). The other was purchased by Tommy King of the Nil Desperandum mine, however the general conclusion he was a better miner than publican, as he had a mournful disposition, and would sit all day on the doorstep of the pub. In 1908, social extravert, Billy Lamb had purchased the hotel, and the general conclusion around town, was he made a better publican than miner.

Late February 1908, James Casey (35) was killed at the mine from a fall of earth. He had been employed at the mine only the day before.

The mine made its owners very rich. As one example a crushing of 74 tonnes of ore in 1904 achieved 854 ounces of gold. Another in 1905 of 75 tonnes achieved 1120 ounces.

Apart from the hotel, the most important establishment in a prospector based goldfield was the state battery. Being manager of the battery was a thankless task. The state of affairs at Burtville in this regard was little different to other small prospector fields elsewhere in Western Australia at the time. Firstly, the prospectors would agitate the government for a battery to be established, claiming the field would last for decades, and it was hindering development. Then the battery took too long to be erected. Then the battery would not be big enough. Mechanical breakdowns would take too long to be fixed, caused crushing delays. Too much gold was being left in the sands. They did not like the battery manager and wanted him replaced. The next one was worse, and wanted the original one back. Battery employees were always drunk and getting lost in the scrub. And so on. During one mechanical breakdown, the Karridale mine offered a free loan of a boiler for three months, to replace one condemned after a Mines Department inspection. There was indignation when this offer was declined.

Gossip rag The Sun, had little time for the Karridale syndicate claiming they were tight fisted and fractious. As proof they claimed the mine was on offer for sale at 12 000 pounds. Considering a further 3000 pounds would be needed on development, it stated the nerve of them to ask such a price brought admiration. Kelly had done much work in securing the lease adjoining the Karridale to the south. After much persuasion the syndicate agreed to purchase the lease for 450 pounds. Subsequently they got several thousand pounds of gold from it. Kelly asked for a commission on the sale, and was offered 50 pounds, which was scornfully declined.

R.J. Salvado of Melbourne applied for the lease in 1914, although nothing was found of mining.

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.

Mineral List

2 valid minerals.

Regional Geology

This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found.

Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org

Quaternary 0 - 2.588 Ma ID: 704381

colluvium 38491 Age: Pleistocene (0 - 2.588 Ma) Description: Colluvium and/or residual deposits, sheetwash, talus, scree; boulder, gravel, sand; may include minor alluvial or sand plain deposits, local calcrete and reworked laterite Comments: regolith; synthesis of multiple published descriptions Lithology: Regolith Reference: Raymond, O.L., Liu, S., Gallagher, R., Zhang, W., Highet, L.M. Surface Geology of Australia 1:1 million scale dataset 2012 edition. Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia). [5]

Neoarchean - Mesoarchean 2500 - 3200 Ma ID: 3188638

Archean volcanic and intrusive rocks Age: Archean (2500 - 3200 Ma) Comments: Yilgarn Craton Lithology: Greenstone belt; mafic-ultramafic volcanic rocks Reference: Chorlton, L.B. Generalized geology of the world: bedrock domains and major faults in GIS format: a small-scale world geology map with an extended geological attribute database. doi: 10.4095/223767. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5529. [154]

Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

References