State Batteries in Western Australia

State Batteries in Western Australia were government owned and run ore-crushing facilities for the gold mining industry. Western Australia was the only Australian state to provide batteries to assist gold prospectors and small mines.[1] They existed in almost all of the mineral fields of Western Australia.

State Batteries were gold batteries where ore was crushed to separate gold ore. Stamp mills were gauged by the number of heads they had in operation for the crushing of ore.[2]

Many of the government operated batteries had very short operating times, some for a year or two, while a few were 50 years or more in operation. They were part of the Western Australian Department of Mines operations.[3][4]

  1. ^ Sheppard, RT (2001), "West Australian Government Stamp Batteries 1898 to 1987", Eleventh National Conference on Engineering Heritage: Federation Engineering a Nation; Proceedings, Institution of Engineers, Australia: 183–191, ISBN 978-1-74092-215-9
  2. ^ "Mining History Photographs, Illustrations and Diagrams". MS Book and Mineral Company. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  3. ^ Western Australia. Dept. of Mines. State Batteries Branch (1935), Scale of crushing charges at State Batteries, retrieved 19 April 2012
  4. ^ Ware, Harry (1976). History of state batteries of Western Australia. OCLC 757686928.