St George Gold Mine, Darlot Goldfield, Leonora Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
St George Gold Mine	Mine
Darlot Goldfield	Ore Field
Leonora Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Some people dream of sheep when they are asleep. Gold miners dream of gold. So it was around 1900, when the syndicate of miners were about to abandon the St. George, one last shaft was sunk at a quartz blow, based on a dream by one of them. GML 273.

At 20 feet down they came upon a 'jewellers shop' (an old term used on the goldfields to describe a rich patch of stone containing specimen gold). One of the miners stated 'If we only get 10 feet of this we will never have to work again'. The patch was three times that size.

This gold mine produced periodic sensational rich patches, separated by poor grades or barren areas. The mine was in the vicinity of the present Darlot open pit, but south of the Monte Christo, Zangbar and Trinidad leases.

The mine was at the head of a rich alluvial patch, either originally called Scorpion Flat or Horsehead Gully, depending on the source. Gold was discovered here in 1894, but by the end of 1895, the best alluvial gold had been cleared out in a feverish scene of activity (and some death) by up to 3000 men.

The lease was pegged around 1896. One source states it was Christy and party, but shortly after by the Metzke brothers who were to shape the field for the next 50 years, W. Hurst, local pastoralist Arthur Ashwin, amongst others had control of the mine. After initially finding a rich patch, they had to wait until 1900 for the next (described above), and then a further two years, when 1 tonne of ore produced 950 ounces.

In a 12 month period across 1902 to 1903, 225 tonnes of ore was crushed for 5750 ounces. Between 1897 to 1906 the mine produced 10 726 ounces of gold. It earned the miners and investors 60 000 pounds which was a small fortune in early 20th Century figures. Little is heard until Metzke and party are mentioned in 1917 as discovering another rich shoot of gold.

A lode deposit rather than a rich patch in a reef, was discovered at the mine in 1923, but little detail is subsequently made of mining.

The Darlot Mining Syndicate was floated in 1935 with 4500 pounds capital from Fremantle investors. Again no information could be found on mining activity.

In 1947, W.J. Carey had pegged the lease, erected a 3 head battery, but he died shortly after. Later the same year, R.W. Wright, R.W. Sanderson and Jim Metzke peg the lease. Metzke was one of the original brothers from 40 years before. It is a common theme for old prospectors to return to a successful lease from their younger days. Maybe they have time on their hands, maybe they wish to relive glory days, maybe there are lingering doubts they got all the gold. But it never turns out like it was. They found no gold at St. George, but did move to another lease in the region with some success.

Note: Not to be confused with any of the mines and leases held by St George Mining Ltd which operates several in the area.

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References