Unexpected South Gold Mine, Mount Ida Goldfield, Menzies Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Unexpected South Gold Mine	Mine
Mount Ida Goldfield	Ore Field
Menzies Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

The Unexpected and Unexpected South Gold Mines were two of the richest on the goldfield. They are located near the present day Timoni mining camp.

The deposit was discovered by Alfred O.S. Labitzke and Jack Saltenberger May 1906. Sharman or Sherman later joined them. Labitzke owned half the mine, with Saltenberger and others the remainder. The Buchanan brothers were in the area twelve months before but had been flooded out, and their workings had been destroyed. 18 acres.

It would be mistake to think of prospectors during the early gold rush days, as uneducated, and wandering the vast desert in search of gold, as they could not get work elsewhere. Men from around Australia and the world travelled to Western Australia during the gold rushes to seek their fortunes. Many left promising careers, and some were professionals like doctors and lawyers. Any prospector who was able to invest capital and hard work into developing a mine were capable and entrepreneurial men.

Jack Saltenberger's well written letter to a newspaper in 1910, would indicate he was no fool. We learn his early days was spent on the Bendigo goldfield, before leaving for Western Australia in 1897. He had prospected at Kanowna and Paddington before arriving at Mount Ida.

The lode was an extension of the one in the Unexpected mine. The prospectors had only sunk a shaft 30 feet when they came across a high gold value reef. They sank a further 50 feet, then starting driving along the lode. Soon another 20 acres was added to the lease. About sixteen men were employed.

By 1907, the main shaft was down to 180 feet, with stoping both north and south. By 1913 the shaft was down to 250 feet. Several high grade lodes were uncovered. Levels were at 80, 136, 200 and 250 feet. There were two main shoots, and numerous irregular lenticular veins in the schist channel encompassing the reef. Heavy sulphide were met at depth, still containing good gold grades.

The owners had obtained 60 000 pounds worth of gold by this stage, a fortune for the time. By 1909, the mine had produced 1846 tonnes of ore yielding 5203 ounces of gold. They had the richest parcel ever treated at the Mount Ida state battery at 300 tonnes for 1090 ounces. The total output for the mine over its history is 4500 tonnes of ore yielding 8172 ounces of gold.

A flood hit Mount Ida in 1914. The mine sits on the edge of an ephemeral creek. The shafts and underground workings were flooded, and completely collapsed. The owners faced with developing the mine again from scratch, abandoned the lease.

In 1916, a local syndicate was formed to re-open the Unexpected South mine. They also controlled the nearby Unexpected and Meteor mines. 3000 pounds in working capital was raised. The battery still existed on the Meteor lease and a number of crushings were put through from a new shaft over several years. While profitable, the gold grades were a lot poorer than when the original syndicate operated the mine. In 1923, they were still going, and the syndicate at this time consisted of Baumer, Henderson, Morrison and party.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References