Ingliston Extended Gold Mine (Ingliston; Ingliston Extended North; New Ingliston; Ingliston Extended East; Manchuria; Ingliston Extended South), Meekatharra Goldfield, Meekatharra, Meekatharra Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Ingliston Extended Gold Mine (Ingliston; Ingliston Extended North; New Ingliston; Ingliston Extended East; Manchuria; Ingliston Extended South)	Mine
Meekatharra Goldfield	Ore Field
Meekatharra	- not defined -
Meekatharra Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

The mine is about 1 kilometre east of Meekatharra, and is marked by a tourist pull-out, with information signs about the mine. The viewable pit, south of the road is the Ingliston Extended mine, and the pit immediately to the north of the road behind the bund is the Ingliston (the sign states the opposite). Because of the confusion, Mindat has listed both mines under one heading. At times the mines were operated separately, but eventually the consolidation of leases which inevitably happens as the ore grades decrease, saw them operated together.

The mine is found in the central section of the Paddy's Flat lode. It occupies the site in 1901 when Paddy Donovan and J. Murphy searched in vain for the lode from the alluvial nuggets they had picked up. The field was proven shortly after by J. McNab who located the lode on what is now the Commodore mine to the north. The pits are bordered to the north by the Commodore pit, and to the south by the Fenian pit.

The following information, unless stated otherwise is about the Ingliston Extended mine. It was the most consistent and largest gold producer on the field, with prosaic mine reports found from 1911,then virtually in every year until 1940.

Initial leases in the immediate area are Ingliston Extended North (GML 437N), New Ingliston (GML 529N), Ingliston Extended East (426N), Ingliston Extended (395N), Manchuria (551), and Ingliston Extended South (520).

The East Mud Lode was discovered by Ariah Wright in August 1901, pegged as Ingliston Extended. This gives its name to the Fatts/Mudlode part of the super pit south of the present Ingliston Extended pit. It was called mud lode due to what the oxidised ore easily turned into in the slimes plant. Most of the exploratory work on this lease in the early days was done by C and J Roberts, who also worked it to 100 feet, crushing 1100 tones for 1000 ounces of gold.

In 1903 the Ingliston Consols Extended Gold Mines Ltd was formed in London to take it over. They held leases 398, 437, 529, 462, 847, 881 and 1033, then by 1905 most of the other leases mentioned above. Initially they had great success, and were paying dividends, which was not common for many early Western Australian gold mines. In 1906 a 10 head battery was installed and cyanide plant being the first operational private battery on the field. The battery was later increased to 15 heads. By 1915, after the initial high grade ore had been taken out, life was more difficult with the low grade ore left. The mine closed briefly in 1916. Often during the 1920's it was the only operating mine on the field.

Its reported in 1906 the mine was 12 acres, with four shafts, the deepest to 200 feet, with many erratic quartz leaders typical of the Paddy's Flat lode. The mine to this point had produced 1536 tonnes of ore for 4282 ounces of gold.

Michael Curren (38) and Giovanni Bertonelli (28) were killed in 1907 from a fall of earth at the 100 foot level. Andrew Thomas Brown was killed also by a fall of earth at the mine in 1927.

The initial success of the company can be gauged in 1912, as they now own eleven leases on the field totalling 123 acres, with 52 acres of this only recently acquired.

In 1923 the company took over the neighbouring Fenian mine, and was operating the two as one mine, processing ore at both mills. By this stage Ingliston Extended mine had produced 317 852 tonnes of ore generating 710 000 pounds of profit averaging 8 dwt/t. The main shaft had by this stage reached its maximum depth of 1300 feet.

In 1931 the mine closed and the company went into reconstruction. This was largely due to decreasing gold grades. One hundred men employed at the mine were out of work. Mining resumed shortly after on a smaller scale. In 1934, Sydney interests who operated tin mines in Malaysia bought into the company. In the same year the company took over the Ingliston Alberts lease bordering the mine to the south. Ingliston Extended by 1930 had produced 548 987 tonnes for 280 695 ounces of gold worth almost 1.2 million pounds in 1930's money. The company controlled 110 acres of leases on the field.

The mine finally closed in 1940. At this stage it only was employing 25 men. Over its life to this point the mine produced 1.1 million tonnes of ore for 630 250 ounces of gold. The present abandoned pits are the result of operations in the 1990's.

The following geology is about the Ingliston mine, north of the road. Fuchsite is reported at the mine, although a visit saw little of it. In the main ore body is a system of dense white quartz veins with fuchsite inclusions, the veins from a few inches to 4 feet thick.

The east lode the veins are glassy quartz containing green stained vughs. The source does not state what makes it green, but likely the green sericite it next mentions surrounding the veins, and frequently gold bearing.

The following geology is about the Ingliston Extended mine. The east part of the lease is black schist traversed by many shear planes, fuchsite-quartz-carbonate rocks, porphyry, and dolerite. The dyke goes south-west, then turns west, then south.

The east lode, which is close to the dolerite, the walls are well defined, the chutes pitching north at flat angles, as small greenish quartz stringers bearing gold.

The west lode is 500 feet long, and to a depth of 400 feet. It dips east, sometimes west, both at high angles. The gold bearing quartz here is on the east side of the porphyry, the veins varying from micro thin to over 3 feet thick/

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References