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In Meekatharra’s Centenary Year of 1994, the State Gold Battery was relocated to Main Street in acknowledgment of the early prospectors and miners and those who followed them.
Meekatharra came into existence in the 1890s when gold was discovered in the area. By 1891 gold was being mined at both Nannine and Annean Station. The Peak Hill field was opened up in 1892 and by 1894 a ten-head battery had been built to crush and process ore at Garden Gully. It seems the first settlement at Meekatharra occurred in 1894 and that, in May 1896, after the prospectors Meehan, Porter and Soich discovered gold, miners moved to the new settlement from the other East Murchison fields.
Success on the Meekatharra field was short-lived. It was only because a second gold discovery occurred in 1899 that the town survived. In 1901 the Meekatharra State Battery began operation and by Christmas Day 1903 the township had been officially gazetted.
Location
| Address: | Main Street (Great Northern Highway), Meekatharra, 6642 |
|---|---|
| State: | WA |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -26.594184 Long: 118.494219 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Structure |
|---|---|
| Monument Theme: | Landscape |
| Sub-Theme: | Settlement |
Dedication
Plaque:
- Meekatharra Battery -
This Battery operated at Meekatharra from 1901 until 1987.
During that time it produced 208,219 ounces of gold from 290,927 tons of ore.
Like many others throughout Western Australia the Battery was established and run by the State Government. The State Batteries gave prospectors and individual miners the opportunity to have their hard-won ore crushed, treated and gold extracted.
In the Centenary year of 1994, The Meekatharra State Battery was relocated to this site in acknowledgement of the efforts of the early prospectors and miners and those who followed them.
Without the Battery the prospectors and miners could not have stayed and without the prospectors Meekatharra may not have survived.
