A lease at Ilgarari is mentioned briefly in 1906, and then several reports of copper ore being mined from 1914-1918. In 1929 it was reported a local syndicate had taken up two leases at Ilgarari and had mined 520 tonnes of ore for 200 tonnes of copper. The ore was bagged unprocessed and taken by truck and rail to Geraldton for shipment to the Port Kembla smelter (NSW). The Inspector of Mines in this year reported the following at Ilgarari: ‘I panned off samples from a dump and found it contained gold also, although I was told that the mine owners were only paid for the copper contents’. In 1940, R. Reid was prospecting at the leases.
Mining took place at the Ilgarari copper mine between 1968 to 1973 by Group Exploration Limited, after raising substantial public funds. They sank the Alac Shaft. They mined oxidised mineralisation to 61 metres below the surface as an underground mine, 528.47 tonnes from Ilgarari North-East of cupreous ore at 27% Cu, and 1381.51 tonnes of copper ore. The mine closed in 1973 due to insufficient capital, an inadequate plant, and little-planned exploration.
Exploration tracks and existing tracks are shown.
Topography compiled from data supplied by the Surveyor General with additions by H W B Talbot, Field Geologist. It is to be noted: The areas embraced by the 4-mile series of Geological maps are identical with those of the corresponding numbers of the 300 Chain Series of the Department of Lands and Surveys.
