Tuckanarra Goldfield, Cue Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Tuckanarra Goldfield	Ore Field
Cue Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Tuckanarra is 38 kilometres north of Cue, along the Great Northern Highway, marked by the Tuckanarra Homestead which can be seen next to the highway. This is a small goldfield within a 5 kilometres radius of the homestead, either side of the highway.

Gold was discovered in the area by Boyd in 1897, who was awarded a 6 acre reward lease, mined until the early 20th Century. Gold however was first noted in the area in 1896, when an aboriginal assistant to Warden Dowley brought a piece of gold to him.

The small town which grew up here was initially called Boyd's, then Cork Tree Flat, and finally Tuckanarra, said to be aboriginal for 'wooden dish camp'. A state battery was erected in the town in 1898 and was active until at least the late 1930's.

The goldfield is best described as a prospecting field. Numerous small shows were opened by individual prospectors in the early 20th Century, with revolving ownerships and for-ever changing mine names. Most barely made out a living.

Modern geology investigations states there is a variety of mineralogical styles for the field. This includes altered and fresh Fe transitional, quartz veining, supergene with laterite and altered basalts. In 1899, government geologists stated it was diorite metamorphosed schists, with big jasper bars at right angles to the reefs, with the best gold at the intersections of the reefs and bars. C.G. Gibson in 1904 states the field is several east-west quartz bars as small irregular reefs up to 3 feet wide, the quartz brecciated and crushed where it crosses the bars. H.P. Woodward in 1911 states there is not one defined body but a series of enrichment zones where Fe quartzite is intersected with quartz crosscuts.

Modern mining took place in the early 1990's, when four small open pits were developed, named Maybelle just west of the homestead, Bollard adjoining the highway 1 kilometre north, Cable 200 metres west of Bollard, and Tuckanarra 1 kilometre east of the homestead. In addition there are numerous historic workings, concentrated north of Maybelle, west of Cable, and on Tuckanarra Hill, south-east of the homestead and east of the highway.

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