As I have been researching ghost towns, I have often come across the phrase “state battery”. Without actually taking the time out to discover what this was, ideas that flittered through my mind included some sort of power generation facility or a method of providing fresh eggs and chickens in the outback.
Today is the day. I have found out what a state battery is, and I’m going to share it here because there could be others like me who have no clue!! And please, if I have made any incorrect assumptions or conclusions, tell me!!
In Western Australia a state battery was a government owned and operated crushing facility that crushed the ore found by prospectors and dug from small mines in the area. The Western Australian Department of Mines were the government agency responsible for their operation. Some of the batteries were only operating for one or two years, while others were in place for 5o or more years. Western Australia was the only state in Australia to provide this type of facility.
A battery (aka stamp battery, stamp mill or stamping mill) crushes ore by pounding rather than grinding. Each stamp head consists of a set of heavy steel stamps in a vertical frame. The stamp slides up and down crushing the rock.
Batteries were gauged by the number of heads, hence a 10-head battery has 10 stamp heads crushing ore.
The first public battery (as they were originally known) was opened at Norsemam in 18982. Prior to this privately owned and operated batteries were the norm. In considering the legislation to establish public batteries, some last minute adjustments to the wording gave the administrators discretion to “assist” private batteries in certain cases3.
I haven’t been able to find out how many state batteries were established, but by the 1930s the total number of batteies (public and private) was close to 100, dropping to less than 50 by 1958. By 1982 a government review of state battery operations resulted in closure of all by 19874. In 1996 the battery at Ora Banda was rebuilt and reopened. Unfortunately, it never crushed any ore and in 2000 it was badly damaged by bombing and has not been rebuilt5.
As at April 2012, Wikipedia published a list of known state batteries in Western Australia (see below) but this list is believed to be incomplete. Do you know of any more? If you do please let us know at ghostswa@fhwa.org.au. While our focus, as always, is on the ghost towns, for completeness this list includes those state batteries that were located at all known sites, ghostly or otherwise!
List of State Batteries known to have existed in Western Australia
| Bamboo | Laverton | Nannine | South Greenbushes |
| Black Range | Leonora | Niagara | Southern Cross |
| Bulong | Linden | Norseman | Tuckabianna |
| Carlaminda | Marble Bar | Ora Banda | Tuckanurra |
| Coolgardie | Marvel Loch | Paddington | Warriedar |
| Cue | Meekatharra | Paynes Find | Widgiemooltha |
| Darlot | Messengers Patch | Paynesville | Wiluna |
| Desdemona | Menzies | Pig well | Yalgoo |
| Devon | Mt Egerton | Pinjin | Yarri |
| Donnybrook | Mt Ida | Quinns | Yerilla |
| Duketon | Mt Keith | Randalls | Youanmi |
| Dumpling Gully | Mt Sir Samuel | Ravelstone – Peak Hill | Yundamindera |
| Kalgoorlie | Mulline | Ravensthorpe | * Mt Jackson |
| Kalpini | Mulwarrie | Sandstone | * Siberia |
* Updated 26 Nov 2023 with additional locations from Gone West by Geoffrey Higham.
Sources
- Eastern Goldfields Historical Society, 2023. The Excelsior Battery at Bardoc. Digitized photograph EG-N-001-005. Accessed online 26 Nov 2023 at https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=662634742545097&set=a.456121176529789. ↩︎
- The Western Australian Goldfields Courier, Coolgardie, WA : 1894-1898. Norseman Public Battery. 10 Sep 1898, p.23. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251211132 on 26 Nov 2023 ↩︎
- The Golden Age, Coolgardie, WA : 1894-2898. The Public Batteries. 11 Dec 1897, p.3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article256754516 on 26 Nov 2023 ↩︎
- Wikipedia, 2023. State Batteries in Western Australia. Retrieved 26 Nov 2023 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Batteries_in_Western_Australia ↩︎
- Eastern Goldfields Historical Society, 2017. State Batteries in Western Australia. Video and notes accessed online 26 Nov 2023 https://www.facebook.com/kalgoorliehistory/videos/1489501291104966 ↩︎
- F.A.Sharr, 1983. Image Details – State Battery closer view of headframe. Digitized photograph from Heritage Council. Accessed online 26 Nov 2023 at https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/Public/inventory/Image/5ad57a39-0d86-413f-be02-75b1657bc925 ↩︎
People of Western Australia's Ghost Towns 