Grants Creek-Panton River gold area, Alice Downs Station, Halls Creek Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Grants Creek-Panton River gold area	Area
Alice Downs Station	- not defined -
Halls Creek Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Located 60 kilometres north of Halls Creek, and 10 kilometres east north-east of the Alice Downs pastoral homestead for Grants Creek, and 15 kilometres south-west of the homestead for the Panton River section. Sources tend to cross combine both. There is every indication alluvial gold has been found in creeks between the two, and indeed all the way south to the Old Halls Creek Goldfield at various points.

Information was found primarily for gold, but the mines includes other species as noted in the list. Gold was found at Halls Creek in 1885. It was the first discovery of gold in Western Australia, however the field was never very rich, and was later eclipsed by richer finds further south at places like Cue, Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. Grants Creek-Panton River was discovered shortly after with up to 70 prospectors on the field by 1886.

This section requires someone with intimate knowledge of the area. Permission to access would be needed from the station. An online forum was found giving some detail regarding metal detecting in the area. Nuggets have been found in creeks and ridgelines. This source states the area has been well worked over. Gold nuggets have been found in soft grey clayey material in creeks, and creek walls, which act as a trap.

On the ridges nuggets are found with glassy dark blue or dark grey quartz, which is fairly rare, with ironstone pebbles. The gold is finer without the pebbles. Less gold is found in faded blue and white quartz. Historic sources for the mines also notes gold was mostly found in glassy blue quartz.

A camp site called Porkes, after its owner John Porke (possibly Johny Porkhmento), is in the area, and appears to have been an individual prospector, bulldozing shallow ground for gold in the past. He reportedly found an 80 ounce nugget here in 1981, and another prospector, Tony Campbell, 400 ounces in gold between 1983 to 1985.

Many shallow waterholes were dredged between Halls Creek and Grants Creek between 1976 to 1981, said to have yielded gold in varying amounts.

The main mines at Grants Creek were Caledonian, Lone Hand, and the Comet, all near each other. Just before the homestead, a track heads south and quickly branches in a straight line north-east. Some minor cleared areas can be seen from modern exploration, and it is said there are some ruins. The mines are on a deep black alluvium plain, with a ridge some miles west, and low hills to the north-east. The reefs are on a low rise in the plain.

The first report of gold at Grants Creek was made in Feb 1895 by prospecting party of McDonald, Osborne, Redmond and Mason, 1.5 kms north of Grants Well, and 5 kms north of the Panton River Crossing. The arrival of gold prospectors led to violent clashes with the local aboriginal tribes, with several killed on both sides.

The Panton River mines can be found by going south along a track just before the Alice Downs pastoral homestead, the track turning sharply south-west, arriving at Yurrunga on the Panton River, after about 20 kilometres. Around 5 kilometres before this, and a couple of hundred metres north of the track, are some workings, and a few bulldozed trenches. This is probably the Perseverance mine, the most substantial in the area. Just before the track turns south-west, a track heads east a short distance to a maze of tracks, and small bulldozed alluvial areas called Wilson's Reef.

The alluvial rush lasted barely a year, and the mines on the small but rich reefs, a couple of years longer. The lack of a battery was the main factor, although hostile aborigines, too much water in the shafts, copper and lead contamination, and remoteness all played a part. Between two to six prospectors worked the field at Grants Creek in the early 1930's, before being abandoned again. There was probably rare intermittent activity subsequently of which little information exits.

Localities in this Region

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References