Catherwood Gold Mine, Catherwood Group, Kintore-Kunanalling Goldfield, Coolgardie Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Catherwood Gold Mine	Mine
Catherwood Group	- not defined -
Kintore-Kunanalling Goldfield	Ore Field
Coolgardie Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

The Catherwood Gold Mine is about 1 kilometre north of the old Kunanalling townsite, bordering the east side of the Coolgardie North Road. It is approximately 40 kilometres north of Coolgardie, in the 20 kilometre long Kunanalling Shear.

There was historic mining at Catherwood from the early days, but crushing records are incomplete. The earliest source found was actually about a mining accident in March 1899. George Robertson was killed when he drilled into an unexploded stick of dynamite, which went off.

The mine is held by F.W. Bows in 1909, who sells the property along with the Emu and Blackett's leases. In 1913 mining was being conducted on several reefs in slate formations with a 'large' number of shafts to 50 feet, and a main one to 100 feet. It is noted in 1917, Robert Clough applied for the lease, with the Kunanalling Mining Syndicate holding an option to mine over the same lease. Sydney Perry discovered a new reef on the old leases in 1924. Gold values though were said to be erratic. This history is likely incomplete.

Kalgoorlie Resources mined lower grade near surface oxide mineralisation from open pits at Catherwood and nearby Premier from 1987 to 1989. This achieved 179 Kt at 3.0 g/t yielding 17.3 Koz of gold.

The first half of 2013, Norton Gold Fields Ltd mined and transported ore from the Catherwood pit to its Paddington Mill between Menzies and Kalgoorlie. This was via a cutback in the south-east section of the existing pit, exposing the Hanging Wall lodes.

Gold is found in two zones, either the Main or Hanging Wall lodes . In the Main it is dominated by a strongly silicified feldspar-quartz porphyry intrusive, which enters a mafic-ultramafic-shale assemblage. Barren pillow lava covers the centre of the pit. Gold is associated with pyrite and arsenopyrite, within silicified porphyry, and proximal silica-carbonate altered mafic-ultramafic rocks. The sulphide content is less than 1% in the Main lodes and virtually absent in the Hanging Wall lodes.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

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