Zoroastrian Gold Mine, Bardoc, Broad Arrow Goldfield, Kalgoorlie-Boulder Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Zoroastrian Gold Mine	Mine
Bardoc	- not defined -
Broad Arrow Goldfield	Ore Field
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest religions in the world, based on the prophet Zoroaster, from ancient Iran, 3500 years old. It is a strange choice of name for a gold mine from the mid 1890's, in the Australian desert. Especially considering the majority of miners at the time were Anglo-Saxon, with a strong attachment to Britain. However, there were Afghan cameleers also on the goldfields, who at times dabbled in prospecting. They were little reported on, and the original prospector for this mine could not be located.

The mine first comes to public attention in 1897, with the flotation of the Zoroastrian Gold Mines Limited in London with 160 000 pounds capital. The company operated the mine until 1907, although the last two years little other than development work was conducted.

Ellis Parker, Claude Maitland and Lawrence H. Read were mine managers across this period. In 1900 and 1903, the company was reconstructed to provide more money for the operations of the mine.

The main shaft was down to 300 metres with levels at the 100, 200 and 300 depths. At 100 feet the reef was driven for 720 feet with 3000 tonnes of ore stoped. At 200 feet the reef was driven on for 400 feet. At 300 feet the reef increases from 2 feet to 4 feet wide, and had been driven on for 480 feet. The auriferous reefs were narrow, with a small amount of iron sulphides and galena.

The Mount Pleasant lease (12 acres) adjoining to the north was purchased, and a further 6 acre area to the north again pegged out. The Zoroastrian company controlled 70 acres.

The company purchased an un-wanted 40 head battery from the Hope Hill Gold Mine near Southern Cross, with the intention of removing it to Bardoc. Considering the Zoroastrian battery was not being fully utilised at 10 heads, it is still a mystery why the Hope Hill battery was purchased, and when sense prevailed, it remained at its original site.

With the exception of a 40 head battery purchase no-one needed, the mine appears to have been well managed by the standards of the day. Small profits were produced each year, from what was limited narrow veins. One critic however said the mine was mediocre, the reef small, the shaft in the wrong position, with patchy gold and much water. 'A remarkable feature of this lame gold proposition is the tenacity with which a crowd of useless persons cling to it, claiming salaries and fees. This includes a consulting engineer, solicitor, bankers, auditors, a London secretary and local attorney.'

R.A. Ashworth is cyaniding the tailings in 1902. George Jessop was killed at the mine in May 1903, when he was peering into the shaft, and a descending cage struck his head.

The Zoroastrian company abandoned the property in 1907, and left for Wales, purchasing a lead mine. McDonald and party briefly control the mine.

New owners in 1911, send through a crushing at the Brownhill Consols battery on the Golden Mile Kalgoorlie, by Thomas Gittos and Thomas Noakes. Gittos had worked at the mine for the former company from May 1900, and applied for the P.A. in 1910, with Noakes. After 2 years prospecting they found a new lode missed by the company. A syndicate was formed consisting of Gittos, Noakes, Charles Nioa, W.H. Phillips, G.N. Wright, and Dennis Meagher lastly from the Gladsome mine near Comet Vale (Dennis' surname gets spelt variously in the sources, but the spelling here is taken from a letter he put his name to.)

Pioneer Coolgardie prospector, George Snowden, was prospecting at the mine in 1917, but passed away at his camp, aged 61. Later the same year a syndicate is sinking a new shaft, and produces 12 tonne at an impressive 310.02 ounces of gold.

In 1919, the lease was taken over by Thomas James Jessop, Herbert Thorlby, and William Henry John Wilson, GML 1833W.

C. Anderson in 1938 produces 6.5 tonnes for 21.1 ounces P.A. 3401W. August the same year, Arthur Henry Deering (48) is killed when he is caught in the overhead shafting at the battery.

In 1940, G.R. Gilmour re-opened the mine, after leasing it from the government. A 5 head mill, Huntington mill and cyanide vats are on the lease.

The battery is taken over by H.M. Ross in 1946, who also has the Minnie Palmer lease near Paddington. Again the mill and land is leased from the government. Ross intends to crush for the public, but appears to take little interest in the mine.

Aberfoyle Gold develops a deep medium sized open pit at the location across 1987 to 1991, with some underground mining, producing approximately 72 000 ounces of gold.

At the time of writing the decline entrance could be seen at the northern end of the pit. However it is the intention from 2016, of Excelsior Gold Limited to expand and deepen the pit, probably along the way gobbling up several historic workings nearby like the Royal Mint, Birthday Dreams, and Bank of England mines.

Quartz veins form broad stockworks in the Zoroastrian Dolerite, with gold found in the quartz veins and adjacent dolerite. The complex quartz ladder array is steep west dipping, and flat lying , passing into and through a granophyric phase of the dolerite, developed on the western shear contact.

The estimated resource before the latest round of mining is 6.69 Mt at 2.70 g/t yielding 581 200 ounces of gold.

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