McCahon's Great Hope Gold Mine, Mount Monger, Mount Monger Goldfield, Kalgoorlie-Boulder Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
McCahon's Great Hope Gold Mine	Mine
Mount Monger	Mountain
Mount Monger Goldfield	Ore Field
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Edward Bramble McCahon was a major player on this goldfield from 1920 into the 1930's. He had one of the better mines on the goldfield, business acumen, a penchant for promotion, and desire to expand. He was twenty five years too late. Had he arrived at Coolgardie or Hannans in its early days, he may have become a rich and powerful man. Instead, he was confined to an outer goldfield boasting later discoveries, full of low grade deposits.

The mine is somewhere between the present Mirror and Costello pits. It adjoined the Mount Monger Proprietary mine to the south. It was on the east side of the Austin lease.

McCahon discovered and pegged the Great Hope and several neighbouring leases in 1920, with E.W. Stearne and Shearing. He later bought out his partners in the mine.

Initially it was the McCahon's Treasure lease at the southern end of the group, which was promoted. GML 4842E.24 acres. Capital requested was 37 500 pounds. The McCahon's Treasure Gold Mining Company was floated. Nothing much came of this, and its the Great Hope lease that came to the fore.

Almost immediately a company was floated in Adelaide, but with mainly Melbourne investors, to take a working option over the Great Hope. GML 4766E.24 acres. No less than 250 000 pounds capital was proposed, although McCahon always claimed he saw little of it. Initial testing was dis-appointing and the investors abandoned the project.

The lease was used as a lightning rod for papers to slam the goldfield as worthless. A meeting was held in Kalgoorlie to protest the unfair treatment by newspapers in Perth and the Eastern States over the goldfield. McCahon wrote defending he had a good mine, and insisting on a visit by a government geologist to report on it.

McCahon actually had a very good mine, for a couple of prospectors to work it for a few years and make a tidy sum. It was not good enough to repay 250 000 pounds of shareholder funds and start issuing dividends. Neither was any other mines on the field at the time. Further, the ones which companies did take over were being mismanaged.

Assistant State Mining Engineer, T. Blatchford stated the mine contained a small but very rich shoot, confined between walls of serpentine. In this was crystalline gold of secondary origin, showing free gold, nickel, arsenides, and a large percentage of silver. The lode was chloritic schist, 6 feet wide, with leaders 8 to 10 inches wide on the Footwall and Hanging Wall showing specimen stone.

McCahon had another go one year later, floating the McCahon's Developing Gold Mining Co, however with the far more modest capital of 5000 pounds. The intention was to float the mine in London but this never happened. A Huntingdon mill was erected, which also crushed for the public.

By 1923, they had obtained 770 tonnes of ore for 4485 ounces of gold, with 37 131 pounds money wise lodged in the bank.

In this year he offered to purchase the five head battery and Mount Monger Proprietary lease, which had gone into liquidation, but the offer was refused as too low a price. He applies for GML 5249E (former 4876E) with H.L. McGee. 1925 he holds half an interest in the Lass O'Gowrie mine, one kilometre to the south, with Arthur Smith and Sam Thompson holding the remainder.

From 1925, McCahon is reported once a year to 1929, discovering a rich patch within the Great Hope mine, but media focus had switched to other issues and areas. Property scammers visited him at the Great Hope mine in 1929, and he became a victim of a dodgy Perth land deal.

In 1930, he joined owner Nener (surname) at the Sudden Jerk mine. There is some evidence his family was at Mount Monger until at least the early to mid 1930's.

The Mindat co-ordinates are approximate, marking an area between the Mirror and Costello abandoned open pits.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References