Hatter's Hill Mines and Campsite

Physical Description

Though it is difficult to determine the extent of emains through aerial imagery alone, it appears some open-pit mines are extant, but there does not appear to be any remaining mining equipment. A road isolation runs through the site, and cleared vegetation has established informal roads. 'Modern exploration' suggests some possible mining activity and the last active mining tenement expired in 2018.

History

The place was included in the Shire of Ravensthorpe Local Heritage Survey in 1998. Following an alteration of the northern boundary between the two areas after 2003, the place now falls within the revised boundary of the Wheatbelt Shire of Lake Grace. The place is the location of a former mining and camp site comprising eight gold mines, approximately 112 kilometres from Ravensthorpe. The place was mined under three different names, Ironcaps, Mt Purchas, and Hatters Hill, over two periods, 1905 to 1910, and later between 1928 and 1944.1 A 1932 article noted a number of prospectors were sustenance workers2, suggesting the later phase was an attempt to make a living during the worldwide economic depression. Prospecting areas were reportedly pegged randomly and not leased during this time, indicating the new wave of prospectors were likely new to the industry and unable to pay for a mining lease.3 In the 1930s, the Hatter’s Hill Battery Syndicate, made up by prospectors, moved a five head government battery from the Gem Mine, Kundip to Hatter’s Hill. The syndicate also purchased a diesel motor and oil engine for crushing. A small community developed during the second phase of occupation and in 1934, the population reached 58 people. The last family left the campsite in December 1944.

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