Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	30° 14' 21'' South , 120° 57' 2'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-30.23924,120.95064
GeoHash:	G#: qdw5br1ed
Locality type:	Mine
Köppen climate type:	BSh : Hot semi-arid (steppe) climate

Like many of the mines at Siberia, the Bonnie Doon was sunk in amongst alluvial workings. It is a few hundred metres north of the Siberia cross road, on the west side of the Davyhurst-Ora Banda Road, and borders the original reward lease at Siberia.

Colin McCulloch, originally from Deniliquin, worked the lease for a Melbourne syndicate. The lease contained seven reefs across 12 acres, but all were small and irregular. After a year of unproductive work, he came across a section of rich specimen stone impregnated with gold amounting to 200 ounces in 1895.

A company was floated in Melbourne called the Bonnie Doon Gold Mining Company Siberia W.A. At least one source was critical of the large percentage of fully paid shares awarded to the prospectors, syndicate, promoters and friends. As was pointed out, they would control the company possibly to the detriment of the shareholders who had stumped up the working capital. They would also obtain the majority of the profit if the mine was successful. The glitter of gold found shortly before was enough to ensure the company float was over subscribed.

A further 60 ounce patch was found, and that was about it. The lease contained a couple of rich patches in the upper levels, and was generally gold poor beyond that. The company came to an end when a fire in 1897 consumed all the buildings and stores on the lease. The mine manager, a Dr. Freidman, lost all his personal possessions and injured his hand.

The company abandoned the lease, and the following year forfeiture was applied for in September 1898. It is noted in 1900 as being held by Mason and party. Later in the year, Cullen, Kennedy and Desailly (surnames) are working the mine. J. Smith secured the lease in 1912, and put through at least one crushing.

Several small crushings were put through by Soltoggi (surname) across 1915 to 1917. He also had an interest in the Siberia Consols mine. A small low grade tonnage was crushed by McLachlan and McLenan in 1928.

Commodity List

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

Mineral List

1 valid mineral.

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

Neoarchean - Mesoarchean 2500 - 3200 Ma ID: 3187518

Archean volcanic 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]

Archean 2500 - 4000 Ma ID: 821509

mafic extrusive rocks 74248 Age: Archean (2500 - 4000 Ma) Description: Basalt, high-Mg basalt, minor mafic intrusive rocks; some andesite; agglomerate; mafic schist; amphibolite; dolerite; komatiitic basalt; carbonated basalt; basaltic andesite; mafic rock interleaved with minor granitic rock Comments: igneous mafic volcanic; igneous mafic intrusive; synthesis of multiple published descriptions Lithology: Igneous mafic volcanic; igneous mafic intrusive 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]

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

References