Peak Hill, Western Australia
Encyclopedia
Peak Hill is the name of a goldfield
, locality and the site of a gold mining
ghost town
in the Murchison Region of Western Australia
. The gold mine covers 2,162 hectares and consists of four open-cut mines, titled Main, Jubilee, Fiveways and Harmony.
In the adjacent region to the locality there are considerable non auriferous mineral deposits. Adjacent fields included the Horseshoe field.
Early exploration at the site occurred in the 1890s, when gold was discovered by William John Wilson in 1892. The townsite was gazetted in 1897, and the field has had varied fortunes even in early years. Before 1913, the mine produced some 270,000 ounces of gold. Peak Hill was also included as a location in a regional newspaper network of more outlying mining communities in the 1920s and 1930s.
A Walker was the proprietor of the Peak Hill General Store up until 1954, when he retired to his Daughter's Farm (Nee Campbell) McCourt Farm, Peppermint Grove Beach, South of Capel. Mr Walker was the last full time resident of Peak Hill.
In the 1970s it was reduced to a ghost town with a few remaining residents, however in the 1980s activity resumed, producing around 650,000 ounces of gold. The mine became dormant again the 2000s.
Montezuma Mining Company Ltd purchased the mine from Barrick Gold
and Rio Tinto
in August 2007 for $1 million cash and $600,000 of environmental bonds. Montezuma negotiated an underwriting agreement with Cunningham Securities, a Perth broker, in January 2008 to raise money for further exploration. Montezuma is seeking up to $3 million to drill at four priority zones, hoping to recommence mining in an area that has historically produced over 900,000 ounces of gold.
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
, locality and the site of a gold mining
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
in the Murchison 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...
. The gold mine covers 2,162 hectares and consists of four open-cut mines, titled Main, Jubilee, Fiveways and Harmony.
In the adjacent region to the locality there are considerable non auriferous mineral deposits. Adjacent fields included the Horseshoe field.
Early exploration at the site occurred in the 1890s, when gold was discovered by William John Wilson in 1892. The townsite was gazetted in 1897, and the field has had varied fortunes even in early years. Before 1913, the mine produced some 270,000 ounces of gold. Peak Hill was also included as a location in a regional newspaper network of more outlying mining communities in the 1920s and 1930s.
A Walker was the proprietor of the Peak Hill General Store up until 1954, when he retired to his Daughter's Farm (Nee Campbell) McCourt Farm, Peppermint Grove Beach, South of Capel. Mr Walker was the last full time resident of Peak Hill.
In the 1970s it was reduced to a ghost town with a few remaining residents, however in the 1980s activity resumed, producing around 650,000 ounces of gold. The mine became dormant again the 2000s.
Montezuma Mining Company Ltd purchased the mine from Barrick Gold
Barrick Gold
Barrick Gold Corporation is the largest pure gold mining company in the world, with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and four regional business units located in Australia, Africa, North America and South America...
and Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto Group
The Rio Tinto Group is a diversified, British-Australian, multinational mining and resources group with headquarters in London and Melbourne. The company was founded in 1873, when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto river, in Huelva, Spain from the...
in August 2007 for $1 million cash and $600,000 of environmental bonds. Montezuma negotiated an underwriting agreement with Cunningham Securities, a Perth broker, in January 2008 to raise money for further exploration. Montezuma is seeking up to $3 million to drill at four priority zones, hoping to recommence mining in an area that has historically produced over 900,000 ounces of gold.