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AMAZON MINE
WESTERN HIGHWAY TRAWALLA, PYRENEES SHIRE

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Statement of Significance
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Statement of Significance

Description: The site consists of two adjacent mine shafts with the lower sections of the mine-heads still intact above ground, formed by thick wooden beams. Machinery has been forced into the shafts to block them up. Iron machinery lies in the vicinity including the drum of a boiler, and a small brick feature is to the west. Mullock heaps of spoil lie to the south.

Place history: The site lies in the centre of the Mount Emu Creek floodplain west of Trawalla, an area of gold mining activity during the first half of the 20th century. The present site can be identified as the Amazon mine, a reef mine that operated in 1937-8 (Cayley and McDonald 1995,95). The mine was not particularly successful, and only remained operational thanks to government support (Nunan 1971, 12). After the initial gold rushes of the 1850s, there followed further phases of mining activity in the 1880s; the period 1913-1918; and to a limited extent in the 1930s, during the depression (Nunan 1971, 11). Most mining activity in the region occurred north-east of Beaufort, though there were also operations close to Trawalla (Nunan 1971, 11). Four alluvial mines dating from the first half of the 20th century are depicted on a map of mines in the Trawalla area: Unity, Trawalla Leads, Amazon and Southern Hope.

Interpretation: Historical records indicate that the Amazon mine was in operation from 1937-8. The remains of the mine shafts and associated equipment probably date from these years. They are indicative of the mining work that took place at the site, which is the main function represented. At a broader spatial scale, the site can be related with two other mines on the Mount Emu Creek plain: Trawalla Leads, which is 300 m to the southwest and Unity Mine, 550 m to the southwest. A fourth mine - Southern Hope - is 875 m to the southeast. It is unlikely that there were further activities at the site after the mine's closure at the end of the 1930s.

Assessment of archaeological significance: Historical records indicate that the Amazon mine was in operation from 1937-8. The remains of the mine shafts and associated equipment probably date from these years. They are indicative of the mining work that took place at the site, which is the main function represented. At a broader spatial scale, the site can be related with two other mines on the Mount Emu Creek plain: Trawalla Leads, which is 300 m to the southwest and Unity Mine, 550 m to the southwest. A fourth mine - Southern Hope - is 875 m to the southeast. It is unlikely that there were further activities at the site after the mine's closure at the end of the 1930s.

The main archaeological features are situated above ground and there may be few subsurface features and artefacts. The site's significance is that it is a relic of the latest phase of gold mining that occurred in the region, and so it has significance from an industrial archaeological perspective. The site therefore has moderate local significance, though the potential for investigation might be limited.

(Bannear, D 2019)

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