Pinjin Goldfield, Menzies Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Pinjin Goldfield	Ore Field
Menzies Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

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

PhotosMapsSearchMineralogy

Pinjin is a small goldfield surrounding the present day Pinjin pastoral station homestead. It is 166 kilometres north-east of Kalgoorlie via Kurnalpi, or about 220 kilometres south-east of Menzies via Kookynie. Pinjin is named after a nearby waterhole, and the name is of indigenous origin, its meaning lost.

Pinjin is a remote area which sees few visitors. However, a planned access road is slated for Pinjin, for the Tropicana Gold Mine development to the north-east in the Great Victoria Desert. As a result, things could get a lot busier in the near future.

Gold was found here in 1897, however was quickly abandoned due to the remote location and lack of water. Prospectors returned in 1904, and a state battery was erected in 1905. A small town developed which reached its peak in 1906, then quickly fell, the last person leaving in 1918. The battery by this stage had long closed, along with most of the mines. The most substantial mine on the field was the Anglo-Saxon which ceased operating in 1915.

The old Pinjin homestead was to the south-west and was moved to its present site in the mid 1960's. Watt Newland established the station, and it was run by his brother Simpson. Watt came from a well known pastoral family in South Australia. Watt also established the Edjudina Station, and through riches he obtained from gold mines at Yarri and Edjudina was able to purchase several more. Watt had married an aboriginal lady called Windtharra or Larrikin Kitty, and he was well known in supporting indigenous causes at the time. The station is presently run by the Tisala Pty Ltd, an indigenous organisation.

Regionally speaking the goldfield is part of the Pinjin Fault, with the Edjudina Domain to the west. Rocks in the area are upper greenschist facies metamorphosed rocks with granite, and four types of intrusions. Thin sedimentary units are common, often containing garnets. Common k Feldspar rich pegmatites show indistinct contacts with the host rocks.

The north north-west striking Pinjin Fault contains several sub-parallel shears. The deposition of gold was controlled by the intersections of these structures with the grandiorite. Officially there are two mineralised trends, although gold miners in the early 1900's insist there were three. One is the Oaks-Anglo-Saxon Trend, the second Harbour Lights-King Pinjin trend, and prospectors states a third trend through the Shamrock Mine.

Future mining is unlikely due to the presence of the homestead.

The region is an Australite hotspot, mostly commonly found around salt lake margins.

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded from this region.

Mineral List

Mineral list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities

6 valid minerals.

Rock Types Recorded

Rock list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities