Day Dawn, Western Australia
Encyclopedia
Day Dawn was a significant mining town and mine in the Mid West/upper Murchison
region of Western Australia
just south of Cue
in the late nineteenth century. Rich gold deposits were discovered there in 1891 by Ned Heffernan, who pegged out what became known as the 'Day Dawn Reef'.
Originally the settlement was informally called Four Mile, that being its distance from the town of Cue. It was gazetted as the town of Bundawadra on 2 March 1894, renamed Day Dawn on 25 May 1894 and proclaimed a
municipality on 24 May 1895.
The state railway network arrived at Cue from Mullewa
, a distance of 197 miles, in 1894. Great Fingall Consolidated Gold Mining Company operated the mine from 1898 until 1918, when it was closed. By October 1921, shorings at the abandoned mine, which had been known as the 'Great Fingall mine', had collapsed and the town had disappeared altogether by the 1930s. All of the town's buildings are now in ruins with the exception of the Great Fingall Mine Office, which is on state and federal heritage registers.
An important strike was staged there for nine weeks in 1899 when local miners protested against the use of Italian immigrant contract workers and Great Fingall's attempt to reduce miners' wages by five shillings per week.
Various mining companies have operated the mine from the early 1990s using the open cut method and by reprocessing the tailings from past activities at the Big Bell gold processing plant
. The last owners, Harmony Mining, have recently halted production and have sold the mine to Monarch Gold along with the Big Bell Mine and the Hill 50 Gold Mine
at Mount Magnet. Monarch however was never able to pay off the mine and went into administration, returning Hill 50 to Harmony.
Murchison River (Western Australia)
The Murchison River is the second longest river in Western Australia. It flows for about from the southern edge of the Robinson Ranges to the Indian Ocean at Kalbarri. It has a mean annual flow of about 200 million cubic metres.-Course:...
region of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
just south of Cue
Cue, Western Australia
- Further reading:* 'Along the Cue railway. Inspection of line with suggested improvements, visit to Georgina Siding'. West Australian, 11 June 1898, p. 5-External links:* *...
in the late nineteenth century. Rich gold deposits were discovered there in 1891 by Ned Heffernan, who pegged out what became known as the 'Day Dawn Reef'.
Originally the settlement was informally called Four Mile, that being its distance from the town of Cue. It was gazetted as the town of Bundawadra on 2 March 1894, renamed Day Dawn on 25 May 1894 and proclaimed a
municipality on 24 May 1895.
The state railway network arrived at Cue from Mullewa
Mullewa, Western Australia
- External links :* *...
, a distance of 197 miles, in 1894. Great Fingall Consolidated Gold Mining Company operated the mine from 1898 until 1918, when it was closed. By October 1921, shorings at the abandoned mine, which had been known as the 'Great Fingall mine', had collapsed and the town had disappeared altogether by the 1930s. All of the town's buildings are now in ruins with the exception of the Great Fingall Mine Office, which is on state and federal heritage registers.
An important strike was staged there for nine weeks in 1899 when local miners protested against the use of Italian immigrant contract workers and Great Fingall's attempt to reduce miners' wages by five shillings per week.
Various mining companies have operated the mine from the early 1990s using the open cut method and by reprocessing the tailings from past activities at the Big Bell gold processing plant
Big Bell Gold Mine
The Big Bell Gold Mine is a gold mine located at Big Bell, 24 km north-west of Cue, Western Australia. The mine was owned and operated by Harmony Gold at the time of its closure in June 2003, having produced 2.6 million ounces of gold during its lifetime, but was sold to Aragon Resources...
. The last owners, Harmony Mining, have recently halted production and have sold the mine to Monarch Gold along with the Big Bell Mine and the Hill 50 Gold Mine
Hill 50 Gold Mine
The Hill 50 Gold Mine is a gold mine located 4 km north-west of Mount Magnet, Western Australia. The mine was, until July 2010, owned by Harmony Gold and had been placed in care and maintenance since 2007...
at Mount Magnet. Monarch however was never able to pay off the mine and went into administration, returning Hill 50 to Harmony.
Further reading
- Descriptions of the town and early mines including Day Dawn Mine. The West Australian, 9 February 1893, p. 3; 21 February 1893, p. 6; 31 May 1894, p. 6; 24 August 1894, p. 3; 18 January 1895, p. 7