Mount Palmer

Please note that there is still an active and operating mine site around Mt Palmer and visitors are urged to be careful and obey all signage for safety reasons. Under no circumstances should you enter active mine sites without the consent of the mining company.

The Mount Palmer goldmine operated from 1934 to 1944. In late 1934, experienced prospector Augustus Palmer embarked on a prospecting expedition south of Yellowdine with his horse and cart. He was lucky with his searching & lease application and work commenced on erecting a 20 head battery during 1935, with 130 men employed by 1937.

Hessian, tin & canvas buildings were springing up like mushrooms and the area was a hive of activity. Some 43 blocks were auctioned from the Southern Cross courthouse, raising £3,969 for land that was worthless a few months earlier and destined to be worthless again when the gold ran out.

Another 24 blocks were auctioned after the surveyors reserved areas for a post office, police, public hall and churches. The town boasted boarding houses, bakeries, butchers, a school and a medicine shop. There was also three billiard saloons where two-up, dice and SP betting was conducted.

At its height, the population of Mount Palmer was estimated at 500. The war took many young workers away and the mine struggled to cope with the labour shortage. By the end of 1942, the number of men employed at the mine had declined to 60. By the end of 1943, Mount Palmer was almost a ghost town. In June 1944, after a run of nine years, the Mount Palmer mine ceased operations.

Officially the mine produced 4,928 kilograms of gold from 310,728 tons of stone. Unofficially the figure was much higher.

All that remains of the hotel in Mount Palmer today is a brick archway, but once this hotel was famous for its very long bar and two storey structure. The bricks from the hotel were eventually transported to Kalgoorlie and used to build the 1st chain store in the area. This building is now the Bankwest Bank in Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie.

Concrete foundations of the mine buildings, treatment plants, cyanide tanks, water cooling dams, the open cut and tailing dumps are still visible today. However, visitors are not permitted to enter the active mine tenement which is fenced and must obey all signs for safety reasons.