Duketon is a abandoned town in the Goldfields-Esperance 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...

, located north of Leonora

Leonora, Western Australia

Leonora is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located northeast of the state capital, Perth, and north of the city of Kalgoorlie. At the 2006 census, Leonora had a population of 401, about a third of whom are of Aboriginal descent. The area is extremely arid, with a...

. The town boomed during the early 1900s as a result of gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 being discovered in the area. One of the larger mines in the area The Golden Spinifex built a five head stamp mill in 1902-1903. A petition for the government to construct a state battery

Stamp mill

A stamp mill is a type of mill machine that crushes material by pounding rather than grinding, either for further processing or for extraction of metallic ores. Breaking material down is a type of unit operation....

 was presented to the minister for mines by the local MLA signed by 58 leaseholders, prospector

Prospector

Prospector may mean:*Prospecting, exploring an area for natural resources such as minerals, oil, flora or fauna*Prospector , a unified catalog for Colorado and Wyoming...

s and miners from Duketon.
The battery was built in 1904 and operated near the town. By 1905 the town had a hotel, bakery, a bank branch along with a variety of other stores.