State Battery (ruins)

Statement of Significance

The site of the State Battery is significant in representing the mining interest in Meekatharra and the government support of that development.

History

A battery, also sometimes referred to as a crushing mill, was used to retrieve the gold from the ore, with associated dressing, cyanide and smelting facilities. 'State' batteries were established by the government to assist prospectors who could not provide their own facilities and whose relatively small ore quantities did not warrant the prices charged by commercial operations. Most large mines had their own battery. The Meekatharra Battery was established in 1901 and operated continuously until 1987, even during the periods when there was not a single large mine operating in the region. Through the depression and World War Two when no large gold mines operating in the Murchison, the battlers could still have their ore crushed at the battery. The Battery treated 290,927 tons of ore for a return of 208,219 ounces of gold. Associated with the operation were the assay office, strong-room and the battery manager's house as well as the tailing dumps and settling ponds. The buildings were demolished in 1994 and a five stamp battery and Berdan pan were installed as an entrance statement to the Meekatharra town site. The safe, too heavy to move, remained on the empty concrete pad.

Condition

Site

Creation Date

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