Carbine

Region: Goldfields-Esperance
LGA: Shire of Coolgardie
Industry: Gold Mining
Open Street Map: 30°28’47.7″S 120°55’09.1″E
What3Words: ///Freebies.sturdy.arrests
Settled: 1893
Abandoned: by 1935

In 1893, when Carbine was first settled, the champion thoroughbred racehorse, Carbine had just gone to stud following his amazing career where he not only won the Melbourne Cup (1890) but from 43 starts he only failed to place once.1 There’s no evidence so far that the town was named after the horse, but it does seem to be a reasonable assumption, especially given the former occupation of one of the original prospectors.

The Carbine Gold Mine is just north of the intersection of the Coolgardie North Road and Carbine-Ora Banda Roads. It is about 60 kilometres north of Coolgardie and 15 kilometres south-west of Ora Banda. Gold was discovered here in 1894. A detailed report in the Eastern Districts Chronicle in Nov 1894, Mr J O’Loughlin, brought 500 ounces of ore into town of which it was estimated that at least 300 ounces was pure gold.

The lease was held by the original party of prospectors, J. Smith, Thompson, O’Loughlin and Gaffney.2 Smith was from Broken Hill, while O’Loughlin was a Victorian horse trainer in a former life. Carbine is located  in the Coolgardie Goldfield not far from Ora Banda. John Smith, one of the original prospectors, built and operated the Carbine Hotel (pictured above 3).

The specimens are, without exception, the richest even seen on this field.4

The Carbine Gold Mining Company was formed in 1897 with £58,000 pounds capital to take over the mine. At that time the leases totalled 34 acres, with 6 shafts from 60 to 227 feet deep, on a lode varying from 20 to 60 feet wide.5
From at least 1904 (possibly earlier) Robert Crawford owned the mine. Photographs from 1906 to 1909 indicate the mine employed about 20 men, and regular crushings are reported all the way under Crawford’s name until 1933. At this time the mine contains a 10 head stamp mill, rock breaker, 50 h.p. suction gas engine, and a steam winder.
Carbine Mine NL was formed in Adelaide in 1933 to take an option over the mine.6 To this point the mine had produced 62,000 tonnes of ore for 49,000 ounces of gold. This option was abandoned in 1935, although the company continued until 1941, at other locations in the Eastern Goldfields.

InheritWA describes Carbine as:

A small town that grew up to service several surrounding mines. An integral part of the goldfields story; brief success followed by disappointment and extinction.7

The site is now marked by an old abandoned open pit.

Carbine Gold Mine – abandoned pit 8

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, 2024. Carbine – horse. Retrieved May 20, 2025 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbine_(horse) ↩︎
  2. SPECIAL EDITION. (1894, November 10). The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 – 1955), p. 1. Retrieved May 20, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article76467828 ↩︎
  3. Sharp, Moya, n.d. Carbine Hotel – photo SLWA. Retrieved 15 Oct 2024 from https://www.outbackfamilyhistory.com.au/records/record.php?record_id=87 ↩︎
  4. THE CARBINE MINE. (1894, November 24). Eastern Districts Chronicle (York, WA : 1877 – 1927), p. 2. Retrieved May 20, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148336273 ↩︎
  5. CARBINE G. M. COMPANY. (1897, February 12). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 7. Retrieved May 20, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14088491 ↩︎
  6. CARBINE GOLD MINE (1933, February 7). The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 – 1955), p. 3 (HOME EDITION). Retrieved May 21, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article83916470 ↩︎
  7. Heritage Council, 2017. Carbine Townsite. Retrieved 10 Nov 2024 from https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/public/inventory/details/17b58565-926e-4505-a093-6ed6c3ea97b9 ↩︎
  8. Mindat, 2025. Carbine Gold Mine. Retrieved May 20, 2025 from https://www.mindat.org/loc-266463.html ↩︎