Hill end

The Hill End Gold Mine is located in a historic gold mining area 70 kilometres from Bathurst, west of Sydney, in the Central Tablelands Region of New South Wales. The company operating the mine, Hill End Gold Limited, is an Australian company founded in February 1996 for the purpose of re-commencing mining in the Hill End area.

Hill End has a Rich History of Gold Mining

The Hill End Tambaroora gold mining area of NSW has played a major role in gold discovery in the state since 1851, when up until 1920 alone it had produced one and a half million ounces of gold from the title now held by Hill End Gold Limited. The company also holds many smaller leases in the Hawkins Hill area that has produced 400,000 ounces of gold from several veins of quartz running through the site. In all, Hill End Gold Limited have exploration titles covering 325 square kilometres including that of the highly prospective Hill End Anticline.

Hill End Gold Limited Have Extensive Resource Findings below the old Deposits

Hill End Gold Limited are aiming to become one of Australia's mid-tier gold producers as a result of their development of the Hill End and Hargraves gold projects in the rich Lachlan Fold Belt. The company's total resource in both areas currently stands at 557,000 ounces of gold with a resource potential of between four and five million ounces.

Rich surface gold was mined out during the gold rush at Hill End during the 1850's, however, a resurgence occurred during the 1860's and 1870's when various hard-rock deposits were discovered. These were mined to a shallow depth but the Hill End Gold Limited mining now occurring is mining below the old working that had been abandoned.

Bulk Sampling Proves Fruitful

Bulk sampling carried out between 2008 and 2010 identified high grade mineralisation for over a kilometre in length that can be easily mined and processed. The gold discovered there is course grained and of a high grading, predictable and continuous. It is also suitable for the gravity method of processing that has been recovering 95 percent of the gold available.

The Booms and Busts of Hill End Gold Mining

Gold licences were originally issued in the Hill End district for the mining of alluvial gold only and in May 1851 the cost of such a licence was 30 shillings a month. A miner named Collinson, however, crushed reef gold in 1851 and 1852 to make it look like it was alluvial gold. He was eventually granted a licence to mine gold in matrix and from then on the area thrived. The boom years occurred between 1871 and 1874 when the population at Hill End and Tambaroora blew out to 8,000. By 1945 it has dwindled to 700 and declined dramatically from then on. Some Cornish migrants revived interest in the area during the early 1950's but this didn't last long. An attempt at hydraulic sluicing also failed in the 1960's.

Hill End was proclaimed a historic site in 1967 and put under the care of the NSW State Government Department of National Parks and Wildlife Service. The permanent population of 100 mainly make their living from the town being a tourist attraction. The resurgence of gold mining is changing all that once again with Hill End looking forward to once again playing its part as a major Australian gold producer.