Prince of Wales Gold Mine (Glenmore), Coolgardie Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Prince of Wales Gold Mine (Glenmore)	Mine
Coolgardie Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

This long forgotten site is 50 kilometres south-west of Coolgardie. The access track is 500 metres east of the marked Number 8 Pump Station turn-off from the Great Eastern Highway, but the track heads south-east. A 4 wheel drive is necessary. The track heads south-east for about 10 kilometres. At one point it crosses a small salt lake, and care should be taken if it has been raining and is boggy. This is called Brown's Lake, and folklore states miners banished one of their own to the spot for he was a constant liar. Here he lived until one day drowning himself in the lake.

At the end of the track is a small collection of shafts, all that is left of a once substantial mine. Less than 50 metres north in the scrub is a smaller set of workings called Prince of Wales North, operated by the same people as the main mine. While tracks extend beyond this point, it is not recommended due to little to see, and thick scrub and salmon gum woodland making getting lost likely. The highway is the nearest point of civilisation.

The deposit was discovered by a cattle drover who had camped nearby. He returned with a mate and they found 15 ounces of gold on the ground. They sunk a shaft to 30 feet, and at this point sold the mine to an English Company for 10 000 pounds. They named the mine Glenmore. The company then spent 17 000 pounds on development work, found little gold, and abandoned the lease.

The mine lay idle until 1899, when Cox and party took it over, renaming it the Prince of Wales. Initially 290 tonnes was crushed for an excellent 410 ounces. The cost of carting and crushing was too high, so they floated a company amongst local investors, obtaining 5000 pounds capital. A 10 head battery, Cornish boiler, winding engine and cyanide plant was installed. The lease at this stage, including the Prince of Wales North workings was 47 acres. The main shaft was down to at least 150 feet at this stage. The reef struck north-south, containing quartz stringers in an ironstone and quartz conglomerate reef.

Possibly they had gone too big, too soon, with not enough gold, as by 1904 the owners were insolvent, employees unpaid, mine closed, and the W.A. Bank had taken over the mine as creditor. The plant lay idle, with bits being stolen piecemeal, until 1910 when it was sold to a group of Goomalling farmers who had formed a syndicate to develop the Great Gnarlbine Mine elsewhere in the district.

From this point the mine was the haunt of the occasional prospector. Minor activity was noted in the early 1920's, and battery sands treated in 1936.

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