Strathfield Gold Mine (North Strathfield; Castle Corner; Storm King; Stratford), Bulong Goldfield, Kalgoorlie-Boulder Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Strathfield Gold Mine (North Strathfield; Castle Corner; Storm King; Stratford)	Mine
Bulong Goldfield	Ore Field
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

The Strathfield Gold Mine is just north of the Melbourne United mine, in turn north of Bulong Road, and one kilometre west of the Bulong intersection. The Strathfield name was coined by a modern exploration company covering the old Castle Corner and Storm King mines. The Strathfield North prospect covers the old Stratford mine, the similarity in names probably unwise.

The Castle Corner and Storm King leases together produced 282.14 tonnes of ore at 51.60 g/t yielding 475.60 ounces of gold. The majority appears to have come from the Storm King, with only minor crushing information found in 1904 for Castle Corner.

Storm King was sold to E.H. Lewis in 1897, then by William Earle in 1898. Crushings are reported in 1899. Ownership then transferred to the Coady brothers. The source claims they found a 900 ounce patch a little north of the old workings, although this is not reflected in the official figures. Another source also notes the Coady brothers as owning the neighbouring Stratford lease.

By 1900, Morris and party are prospecting the lease. More small crushings come from J. Speedie and Fitzroy across 1905 to 1906. In 1908, Warburton, Peach and Brown (surnames) send parcels for crushing from material left on the old dump.

Then all falls quiet until 1923, when Pollack and Clarke (surnames) discover some rich specimen stone at the 53 foot level.

In 1934 during the height of the gold boom, Endeavour Mining Co. NL take over the lease. They employ George Isard to investigate. He is less than impressed. The shafts were full of mullock, and access was not possible. What testing could be done showed low values, and he recommended against sinking a new shaft. A costean instead was dug from the surface on the Footwall, but they soon abandoned the lease.

The Stratford mine was sold to a syndicate in October 1897. The only information then was across 1899. The lease is sold to the Coady brothers and party, a group of working miners. The shaft reaches a depth of 235 feet. They discovered a 300 ounce patch at the 75 foot level, then another 400 ounce patch a short time later. Meanwhile around the same time a deep alluvial lead was uncovered near the mine.

The Strathfield name came from exploration by the Spargos and Mount Monger Gold Project joint venture across 1992 to 1995. The Strathfield North prospect covers the old Stratford mine. All contain numerous old workings.

Gold is hosted in felsite, weathered to 70 metres, and also 70 metres wide. A north trending oblique dextral fault terminates the lens to the north and south, defining a block 300 metres long.

The exploration uncovered spotty gold, but the majority was under 1.00 g/t. Elevated patchy gold was found in the sheared upper contact of felsite, and biotite bearing Footwall metasediments. Gold was found in sericite-carbonate-pyrite.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References