Location Tennant Creek Country Australia Closed 1985 | Territory Northern Territory Products gold Company Excalibur Mining | |
 | ||
Nobles Nob mine is a gold mine in Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was once the richest gold mine for its size in the world.
Contents
Establishment
The Nobles Nob deposit was first prospected by blind cattleman Bill Weaber and his wife Kathleen, who came to Tennant Creek from Wyndham, Western Australia, arriving on 16 November 1933. He began prospecting the following day with prospector Jack Noble, who was also blind in on eye. Noble is best known for discovering The Pinnacles in Western Australia and Wheal Doria mines in Tennant Creek. Kathleen Weaber, later named the mine after him. Weaber was granted four leases on the site on 2 March 1934, pegged out by Noble.
The mine was bought by Australian Development NL in 1937. The Weabers left Tennant Creek in 1940 following a series of family tragedies. They sold the lease, before they realising the mine's potential.
A battery was operational at the mine by 1947.
Production
During its mine life, Nobles Nob produced over a million ounces (32 tons) of gold. By 1949, the mine's ore was valued at £1,003,860. Nobles Nob produced assays which regularly exceeded 100 oz (3.2 kg) of gold per metric ton. One particularly rich area within the ore body produced over 300 oz per ton.
A worker, Mr. Veskimae, was electrocuted at the mine on 6 November 1951.
In August 1953, the mine dismissed 57 workers for striking over the poor quality of food at the mine. Local residents billeted the sacked workers, and the mine was 'declared black' by the North Australian Workers' Union. The workers' jobs were reinstated two weeks later.
Nobles Nob became an open-cut mine in 1967, after the main shaft collapsed on 11 August at 5am. There were no fatalities. Milling resumed in January 1968 using stockpiled ore from the caved in area.
It closed on 14 January 1985 after almost 50 years of production. The announcement followed the production of only 7299 ounces of gold in the prior financial year.
The Nobles Nob lease is currently owned by Excalibur Mining.