Melba Mine (Melba Extended), Winnecke Goldfield, Georgina Range, Central Desert Region, Northern Territory, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Melba Mine (Melba Extended)	Mine
Winnecke Goldfield	Ore Field
Georgina Range	Mountain Range
Central Desert Region	Region
Northern Territory	Territory
Australia	Country

An abandoned gold mine.

This mine is several hundred metres south of the Golden Goose mine. The lessees held two neighbouring leases called Melba and Melba Extended. The deposit was discovered by Collins and Page (surnames) in 1902, and by March 1903, the Melba Gold Mining Company was formed in Adelaide with 10 000 pounds capital. This was on the back of reports by the leaseholders, who would clearly have a self interest to promote the prospect to a potential buyer.

(The Register newspaper, Winnecke's Depot Field, 20/03/1903) Collins and Page report:'A splendid reef was struck on the Melba. It is rich and making as it is sunk on. This is a new reef 200 yards from the shaft. Another, carrying good gold on the surface, was struck further north on the property'.

Around the same time (Adelaide Observer newspaper, Melba Company, 21/03/1903) a report was issued by J.J. Lawson on behalf of a company we suspect was employed to float the mine. He states: 'I have made an exhaustive examination of the property. There has been a considerable amount of prospecting work with costeaning and sinking. There is a shaft down to 27 feet on a north-south trending reef, with 10.5 tons of stone showing 2.5 ounces. A reef to the south is 18 inches wide of amber quartz, and ironstone at 4 ounces to the ton. There is phenomenally rich stone at the southern end . On the crown of a low hill is a third lode of ironstone and sandstone schist at 3 dwt. Elsewhere are several rich veins running north-south. On the Melba Extended is a large east-west lode, with splendid gossan and mineralised quartz, which dollies good gold. I have every confidence this will develop into a valuable property, and strongly recommend it as a genuine mining investment.'

Little of any of this was true, and six months after the company formed it was wound up. Alluvial gold was reported on the lease and there could be some truth to this as a few hundred metres east, nuggets have been found at Webbs Gully, and what metal detectorists label as the ski slope. There could also be galena in the mine, as assay samples sent to the School of Mines in 1903 came back as 16 oz 3 dwt gold, and 3 oz silver.

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