Reids Ridge Abandoned Mine Site

Values

Reids Ridge Abandoned Mine Site comprises a collection of mining infrastructure reflecting the nature of small-scale mining activities common through the twentieth and twenty-first century across the Midwest and Goldfields areas in Western Australia.
Reids Ridge Abandoned Mine Site retains some evidence of the four phases of operation prior to its abandonment, which reflect the cycle of growth and decline of mining (and subsequently mines, towns and businesses associated with the State's gold mining industry) throughout Western Australia’s recent history.
Reids Ridge Abandoned Mine Site has some archaeological potential to provide information on the isolated way of life for workers in small-scale mining operations in remote locations in regional Western Australia.

Physical Description

Reids Ridge Abandoned Mine Site, located within the Karara Rangeland Park, approximately 7km northwest of the Warriedar Homestead. Topography of the area is flat, and vegetation consists mainly of low scrub and grasses. Abandoned mine site including - Abandoned mine shafts, wooden cottage re-purposed as a gold processing room, concrete water tank, and machinery of various ages. A 40-year-old metal headframe over the main shaft remains, while the majority of the remaining infrastructure is in a dilapidated state. Tailings and waste rock material are mainly confined to the south-east corner of the site. Other rubbish and debris is present across the site.

History

The land in Reids Ridge is located within the traditional lands of the Badimia people. Sandalwood cutters were the earliest non-Indigenous residents in the Gascoyne and Murchison rangelands (c.1845) with the first pastoral leases being granted in the mid to late 1860s. After gold was discovered in the region in 1892, prospectors arrived in the region. The Rose Marie Mine (at Reids Ridge Abandoned Mine Site) operated intermittently between 1936 and 1952. Exploration programs including aerial and ground surveying, rock chip sampling, and drilling occurred across the area from 1980. From 1982 the site, was named Reids Ridge Gold Mine by Reids Ridge Mining. Although production at Reids Ridge Gold Mine ceased in mid-1985, exploration programmes to establish gold ore reserves continued across the wider Reids Ridge area throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. A fourth phase of operations began at Reids Ridge in 2000, including continued exploration activities for both gold and iron ore. The headframe, shaft and ladder were repaired around 2003. Between 1995 and 2007, the state government purchased six former pastoral leases, including the nearby Warriedar station, that now form Karara Rangeland Park. The mining tenement M59/117 was forfeited in 2015.

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Historic Themes

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