Queen of the Lake Gold Mine (Aladdin; Fraser's Caledonian), Nannine Goldfield, Meekatharra Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Queen of the Lake Gold Mine (Aladdin; Fraser's Caledonian)	Mine
Nannine Goldfield	Ore Field
Meekatharra Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

The mine is 2 kilometres north of the Caledonian pit, on the east side of the range, and the pit can be seen west of the highway.

The mine was initially called Frasers Caledonian, and may reflect the surname of the original prospector but could not be confirmed.

The mine was operated by an English company between 1893 to 1900, however the ore was difficult to treat for the plants of the day, and the mine was abandoned at this time. During this period 17 092 tonnes of ore was processed for 9500 ounces of gold.

At the 160 foot mark the sulphide lode was 20 feet wide at 12 dwt/t. The lease was initially 9 acres. It was a large irregular lode, trending north-west to south-east and dipping slightly north-west, in highly altered greenstone. Through the lode several quartz veins pass at 2 to 4 feet wide showing fine and coarse gold. The deposit was initially developed via a large open cut, then later by 1895 several shafts were sunk to 120 feet at this point. By 1900 the shafts were down to 200 feet.

The mine was initially developed by the Murchison Consolidated Ltd. A 10 head battery was erected in 1896, being an existing plant moved from another lease called Robinson Murchison the company owned on the main field. This battery was then sent to the Star of the East mine, some 20 kilometres east of Nannine in 1900.

By 1895 the mine had been let on tribute to a party of six miners. The source states the mine had suffered bad management from an inexperienced mine manager. This could be an unfair assessment considering treatment plants at the time did not cope well with sulphide lodes, and the reef was generally a large but poor one in gold values. Crushings by tributors was found to 1900.

The Nannine Gold Mines Ltd took over the mine in 1900, but within eighteen months they were in liquidation, and little mining is thought to have taken place by the company.

Further excavations took place in 1905, but when they cut the reef, the gold values were found to be very poor.

In 1933, the Nannine Gold Mines Ltd was formed to acquire the mine, which they re-named Aladdin. They erected a 5 head battery, and proceeded to treat the ore left behind by the prior company in 1900.

Further, the mine was let out on option to the Commonwealth Mining and Finance Ltd, also recently formed. This company was formed by Charles De Bernales, who was a London financier, and controlled a large number of gold mines through Western Australia during the 1930's gold boom. While De Bernales earned a fortune from willing shareholders, many of the enterprises found little gold. After initially exploring the deposit for 12 months, the De Bernales group took over the mine. However, little mining took place, and in 1939 they are cyaniding the existing battery sands. The outbreak of World War Two, brought all further activity to a halt.

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