Carbine Gold Mine, Carbine Goldfield, Coolgardie Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Carbine Gold Mine	Mine
Carbine Goldfield	Ore Field
Coolgardie Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

The Carbine Gold Mine is just north of the intersection of the Coolgardie North Road and Carbine-Ora Banda Roads. It is about 60 kilometres north of Coolgardie and 15 kilometres south-west of Ora Banda. The mine is considered low grade for gold values, with occasional exceptionally rich patches.

Gold was discovered here in 1894. The lease at this time is held by the original party of prospectors J. Smith, Thompson, O'Loughlin and Gaffney. Smith was from Broken Hill, while O'Loughlin was a Victorian horse trainer in a former life. Rich specimens were brought to Perth, some of the stone two thirds gold. The mine was offered to a company for 10 000 pounds later in 1894, but the purchase fell through. Rich gold came from the 117 foot level in 1896.

The Carbine Gold Mining Company was formed in 1897 with 58 000 pounds capital to take over the mine. At that time the leases total 34 acres, with 6 shafts from 60 to 227 feet deep, on a lode varying from 20 to 60 feet wide.

From at least 1904 (possibly earlier) Robert Crawford owned the mine. Photographs from 1906 to 1909 indicate the mine employed about 20 men, and regular crushings are reported all the way under Crawford's name until 1933. At this time the mine contains a 10 head stamp mill, rock breaker, 50 h.p. suction gas engine, and a steam winder.

Carbine Mine NL was formed in Adelaide in 1933 to take an option over the mine. To this point the mine had produced 62 000 tonnes of ore for 49 000 ounces of gold. This option was abandoned in 1935, although the company continued until 1941, at other locations in the Eastern Goldfields.

The site is now marked by an old abandoned open pit. Drilling under the southern access ramp in the mid 1990's uncovered gold grades as 180 g/t at 20 metres depth, and 160 g/t at 15 metres possibly from a supergene zone.

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