Golden Crown Gold Mine, Day Dawn Goldfield, Cue, Cue Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Golden Crown Gold Mine	Mine
Day Dawn Goldfield	Ore Field
Cue	- not defined -
Cue Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

This page is currently not sponsored. Click here to sponsor this page.

PhotosMapsSearch

Underground gold mine opened in 1986. Now relinquished.
Located 7 km S of Cue.

The mine is 500 metres south of the more well known Great Fingall Mine on the Day Dawn gold field. The first reports of mining found at Golden Crown was in 1896. Early 1896 the mine was purchased by a British syndicate called the British Coolgardie Mining Trust Company with J Lucas Balfour as mine manager and employing 20 men. Shortly after a rich lode was located and specimens were placed on display in Cue. The syndicate had purchased the Golden Crown and Golden Crown North leases, each 12 acres. Substantial money appears to have been invested into the mine at this time.

At this point the property was described as containing four shafts to the water level at 18 metres from the surface. Various drives were noted from the shafts accessing the lode up to 1.5 metres wide showing rich gold in a quartz reef. Mining was noted at the site till 1900, then all falls silent.

It is hard to believe what appears to be a rich mine was abandoned at this time. Western Australian newspapers are used as a reference as they once reported mining activities in the State in great detail. In 1938 a report surfaced that Western Mining controlled the leases, but had decided to surrender them. Neighbouring Great Fingall was noted at this time as being abandoned and derelict. Drilling was conducted at Golden Crown with promising results, but the cost of dewatering the mine and establishing new equipment etc was considered too great. They state the mine had been abandoned for a long time.

Cue Shire stated Golden Crown was operational in 2004, and I suspect at other times too (1986) but no information could be found. In 2010, a local mining company reported discovering visible gold below the resource boundary. This was at the southern portion of the main reef in quartz splays and wall rock alteration of the main reef. It states Golden Crown up to that point had produced 288 000 ounces of gold. Shortly after several gold specimens in grey quartz became available through an American dealer, probably from this discovery. This was largely because the exploration company is also a local specimen miner.

Gold is hosted at Golden Crown by a large quartz vein in a major fracture through a sill. Strong hydrothermal chlorite, and carbonate alteration occurs. Mineralisation is vein related rather than lode related. Gold bearing quartz veins are found in sheared mafic and ultramafic volcanics and sills. There is a second parallel mineralised reef 700 metres to the south-west, which cuts a dolerite sill at right angles, with the best gold found in the granophyric phase of the dolerite.

Commodity List

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

Mineral List

14 valid minerals.

Rock Types Recorded