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eighty feet. Given the technology then available and affordable, the inflow
of water seriously hampered further development of reef mining.
At Mount Browne a ten stamper-head battery had been erected by the
Mount Browne Gold Mining Company. However, at time the Mining
Registrar wrote his annual report this battery 'was not yet endowed with a
boiler to enable operation' (Mines, 1883:116).
Dry-blowing was also used extensively in 1883 as a means of obtaining
gold and the Mining Registrar commented that using this method nearly
half of the gold was being lost 'on account of there being no means of
pounding up all the clay...' (Mines, 1883;116).
By 1886 the companies formed in the first flush of activity had started to
amalgamate. The Golden Lake Company at Mount Browne sank a shaft to
208 feet and after abandoning underground operations made use of an
unmanageable inflow of water which was encountered to puddle the
surface dirt (Mines 1886;104). A year later 'the greater part of the wash [at
Mount Browne was] puddled at the Golden Lake water-shaft' (Mines
1887;106). The shaft subsequently became the primary source of water for
the Mount Browne community, and the washed sand which accumulated
on account of the puddling was used extensively by Harry Blore during the
mid-20th century in the preparation of concrete on various properties in the
district (Blore, personal communication, 1986). Blore suggested that
Chinese labour had been used by this company.
Despite the significant activity on the goldfield, and their presumed ongoing
production of fruit and vegetables at Milparinka, no reference was made
after 1883 by Mines Department representatives to the Chinese until 1887
when the warden stated unequivocally that 'there are no Chinese miners
working on the field'(Mines 1887;107).
After the mid-1880s tables, published annually by the Department of Mines
and shOWing numbers engaged in gold-mining at various locations,
differentiated between miners of Chinese and European origin, and also
between those working quartz claims, and those working alluvium. For the
purpose of these statistics the Milparinka Warden's District and the
Tibooburra Warden's District were separately recorded.
The statistical record suggests but one Chinese engaged in working
alluvial gold in the Milparinka District in 1888, with none in 1889, 1890, or
1891. In 1892, however, four Chinese were reported to be engaged in
alluvial mining (Mines 1892;62). From then on the statistics suggest the
presence of Chinese miners in small numbers until 1910.
Thus the peak of Chinese involvement in mining in the Milparinka District
was between 1893 and 1895 when eight to ten Chinese miners were
reported by the Mining Registrar. All were involved in alluvial mining, which
suggests they worked at Mount Browne or perhaps on the old Mount Poole
field.