Gauntlet Gold Mine, Warrawoona Gold Project, Marble Bar, East Pilbara Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Gauntlet Gold Mine	Mine
Warrawoona Gold Project	Group of Mines
Marble Bar	- not defined -
East Pilbara Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

GML 483. The Gauntlet was one of the major mines along the Salgash belt. Originally taken up in 1898 by R.H. Mackenzie. 12 acres. To 1903 the mine had produced 3693 ounces of gold.

The lease contained four reefs, roughly parallel to each other, striking north-west to south-east. Gibb-Maitland in 1908 goes into some detail describing the workings, of which a summary will be provided here.

The south reef contained a 31 foot long tunnel and several open cuts on a lenticular reef 140 feet long at the surface.

The main reef was 132 feet long, the eastern end a mere thread, increasing to 10 feet thick, and the western end truncated by a fault. This reef contained a large open cut, a vertical shaft 126 feet deep, and a tunnel 85 feet west of the main shaft. Ore had been stoped to the surface from the tunnel, containing gold throughout. The reef was described as ribbons of quartz with small pyrite cubes.

The east reef was 275 feet long, and up to 8 feet wide. It diminishes to a thread at either end. The reef was accessed by a shaft and small open cut.

The north reef was on the opposite side of the valley, outcropping for 90 feet, and splits at the north-west end, where it is then abruptly truncated by a fault.

The reefs were said to outcrop 18 feet above the surface, showing gold splattered across its northern face. Owned by R.H. MacKenzie and Corbett in 1898. Some of the initial crushings were very rich, including 6 tonnes of ore for 87 ounces of gold, 23 tonnes for 300 ounces, and 102 tonnes for 560 ounces.

The original prospectors sold the lease around 1900 to the British Exploration Company of Western Australia, who also held the Bow Bells lease. The reef proved rich at the surface but poor at any depth, and the company was not able to make the mine profitable. The richest ore was in bluish quartz on the Footwall, in pipes to 30 feet in length.

The company closed the mine in 1906, then let it on tribute, but went into liquidation in 1910.

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References