Darren Clark

Arltunga was the site of Central Australia's first town. It's an original gold mining town where the buildings remain preserved by the dry desert conditions. Arltunga developed slowly, the harsh conditions, the lack of water and the extreme isolation meant the miners and there families had a hard life. When rich reef gold was discovered at nearby White Range, the future of the field really did look promising. Digging into the tough quartzite rock was much harder, but the gold yields were greater. The miners used hand-operated blow dryers to separate alluvial gold from creek sands and gravel, or they dug into the soft rock to extract gold bearing quarts from crushings. The problems were many. In 1890, drought played havoc as wells dried up starving horse teams became too weak to cart ore to the battery. When the boiler at the Government Battery burst in 1901, ore could not be crushed for several months and the miners were forced to live on borrowed money. The short lived gold rush to nearby Winneckie Depot in 1903 helped save Arltunga, since it brought several hundred newcomers to the area. In 1905 a township was surveyed at the crossroads and it became the commercial centre of Arltunga, with a well, store and hotel. However, activity on the fields was waning and as gold became harder to get, the miners moved on. Arltunga is now recognized as an important part of Australia's heritage. Since it was declared a Historical Reserve in 1977 there has been ongoing research and conservation work to preserve historical sites and provide information for visitors.Clark, Darren.Date:2012-0