User:Bowralbaby/sandbox/Browns Creek, New South Wales

Browns Creek is a small village in Blayney Shire of the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. At the, Browns Creek had a population of 695.

History
Browns Creek is sometimes called Cowriga Creek. It is a significant creek in the Blayney area. Gold was reputedly discovered in the area by Norwegian Norvis Gotterty in 1867. Other miners soon followed and by 1873. By 1878 there were 200 miners plus a local farming population. The Brown's Creek Gold Mining Company continued mining until 1888 when problems with water forced the mine's closure.

In 1894 a French company, Compagnie des Mines d'Or, was registered to work at Browns Creek with a capital of £100,000. A building for the new crushing plant was built twelve months later, new boilers were positioned along with the erection of a large iron chimney stack, 100 feet high, all under the management of Mr. Callanan. In addition two new incline lines were erected into the old cutting, and shafts already sunk to depths varying from 200 to 300 feet.

In 1988 BHP Gold production was 21,000 ounces a year. In 1990, BHP Gold merged with Newmont and later changed its name to Newcrest. Among the assets acquired by Newcrest was Brown's Creek. In 1993 Newcrest closed the mine, writing its value down by $16.4 million. It was producing around 30,000 ounces. Newcrest sold the mine in 1993 for $1.4 million to Hargraves Resources, which floated for the specific purpose of buying and developing Brown's Creek. Two drill holes had hit mineralisation 200 metres below the floor of the open pit, which followed in an exploration program by Hargraves who quickly established a mineable resource of nearly 800,000 tonnes. They started mining at a rate of 35,000 ounces and by the latest quarter had lifted the rate to more than 50,000, with a head grade of 6.9 grams. It's also picking up more than 300 tonnes of copper a quarter.

A South African company, Durban Rooderpoort Deep, took it over in 1999 but six weeks later, an aquifer was hit, the mine was flooded and abandoned. In 1997 Australian Native Landscapes sought a location for a composting production site and agricultural operations facility and found the old Browns Creek Gold Mine in 1999 which was left abandoned. Australian Native Landscapes undertook environmental restoration at the Mine. They were able to make use of the water, limestone and mullock heaps to produce compost, decorative gravels and road base on a large scale. Under receivership Australian Native Landscapes purchased the entire Mine and surrounding property of 500 acres in 2001 and began environmental restoration of the mine site.