The Sunrise Birthday Gold Mine is a small open pit, 8 kilometres south-east of the Agnew Hotel, as the western most of a group of small pits in this area.

Historic information was found under the Sunrise Name. It was active from around 1908 to 1916 by John Finch and Langford (surname). The two left the eastern seaboard of Australia around 1894, at the time of major gold rushes in Western Australia.

They also owned the Wild Cat, Bounty, Rajah and Waroonga leases, and were active mining at these in the period as well.

The Sunrise lease was described as a low grade but payable proposition. The shaft was down to 260 feet on gold averaging 15 dwt.

Finch and Langford are most noted during their period, as introducing new technology to the goldfield. In 1909, after a trip to Melbourne, they came back with a tractor, which replaced the horses and drays used to that point to cart ore to the battery.

In 1913, Finch and Langford approached the government for a loan to build an up to date 5 head battery, suction gas plant and cyanide plant at Sunrise. This was not operational until 1915. It is noted the battery is operational in 1916, but no information was located after this. During this period the mine produced 8644 tonnes of ore for 4076 ounces of gold.

The subsequent modern open pit produced 30 000 ounces of gold at 3.76 g/t.

The deposit lies on the Cascade Shear which strikes west north-west across the north-east limb of the Lawlers Anticline, with moderate to steep dipping gabbro and talc-chlorite schist.

The first stage of development shows high strain extensional shear zones. Gold is hosted by the shear zones, that pinch and swell, the largest up to 2 metres wide, and now mined out. In lower strain domains, the gabbro is cut by brittle-normal faults, with shallow west plunging lodes.

Select Mineral List Type

Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical Elements

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.

ⓘ Gold

Mineral List

4 valid minerals.

Rock Types Recorded

Note: data is currently VERY limited. Please bear with us while we work towards adding this information!

Select Rock List Type

Alphabetical List Tree Diagram

ⓘ Gabbro

ⓘ Schist

Detailed Mineral List:

ⓘ 'Chlorite Group'

References:

Blewett, R.S., Czarnota, K. (2007), Tectonostratigraphic Architecture and Uplift History of the Eastern Yilgarn Craton, Module 3 Terrane Structures, Porject Y1-P763, Record, Geoscience Australia, Commonwealth of Australia, 2007

ⓘ Native Gold

Formula: Au

References:

ⓘ Pyrite

Formula: FeS₂

References:

Simpson, E.S. (1948), Minerals of Western Australia, Vol 3, p423

ⓘ Quartz

Formula: SiO₂

References:

Simpson, E.S. (1948), Minerals of Western Australia, Vol 3, p423

ⓘ Talc

Formula: Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂

References:

Gallery:

List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification

Group 1 - Elements
ⓘ	Native Gold	1.AA.05	Au
Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts
ⓘ	Pyrite	2.EB.05a	FeS₂
Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides
ⓘ	Quartz	4.DA.05	SiO₂
Group 9 - Silicates
ⓘ	Talc	9.EC.05	Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂
Unclassified
ⓘ	'Chlorite Group'	-

List of minerals for each chemical element

H	Hydrogen
H	ⓘ Talc	Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂
O	Oxygen
O	ⓘ Quartz	SiO₂
O	ⓘ Talc	Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂
Mg	Magnesium
Mg	ⓘ Talc	Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂
Si	Silicon
Si	ⓘ Quartz	SiO₂
Si	ⓘ Talc	Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂
S	Sulfur
S	ⓘ Pyrite	FeS₂
Fe	Iron
Fe	ⓘ Pyrite	FeS₂
Au	Gold
Au	ⓘ Native Gold	Au

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

Australia

Western Australia
- Mount Keith Nickel Metallogenic ProvinceGeologic Province
- West Australian ElementCraton
- Yilgarn CratonCraton

Australian PlateTectonic Plate

West Australian Craton
- Eastern Yilgarn CratonCraton

This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary.

References

Western Mail newspaper (Perth) (1908), Arrival at Lawlers, 11/07/1908

Geraldton Express newspaper (1909), Lawlers, 23/06/1909

Geraldton Express newspaper (1909), Lawlers, 21/04/1909

Kalgoorlie Western Argus newspaper (1910), Lawlers, 25/10/1910

Kalgoorlie Miner newspaper (1913), Lawlers, 29/09/1913

Western Mail newspaper (Perth) (1914), Lawlers, 06/11/1914

Western Mail newspaper (Perth) (1915), Lawlers, 27/08/1915

Western Argus newspaper (Kalgoorlie) (1927), Wiluna Railway. Case for Leonora Route, 18/10/1927

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