Boorowa mineral boom

Frogmore Copper Mine near Burrowa, Illustrated Sydney News, 1878.

1. Introduction

Boorowa is a town on the southwestern tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in a region located east of Young and southwest of Goulburn, with Yass to the south. Primarily known for farming (wheat and canola) and grazing (cattle and sheep), its historical association with the industrial extraction of metals and minerals is little appreciated. The following provides an outline of some of the mining and refining which has taken place over the years since the early gold rushes of the 1850s and over a century through to the 1960s. The following metals and minerals were successfully mined in the area:

• Gold 1851+
• Silver 1859+
• Copper 1859+
• Lead 1859+ 

----------------

 2. Chronology

The following information is substantially taken from chapter 12 of Helen V. Lloyd's Boorowa (1990, 247-53). 

1851

* 1851 - Gold discovered at Tuena, northeast of Frogmore. 

1852

* June, 1852 - small amounts of gold found near the Anns Vale property and Pudman Creek. 

1854

* 11 August 1854 - report on discovery of gold by Frances Sanderson at Illalong Creek, Demondrille, near Binalong.

1859

* August 1859 - Copper, silver and lead found in the vicinity of Anns Vale, on the Campbell and Rossiter properties.

1860

* June 1860 - Gold discovered at Lambing Flat (Young). Miners and Chinese travel from Tuena through Boorowa to this site. 

* c.1860 - Frogmore Copper Mines begins on a small basis. 

1866

* 1866 - small amount of gold found on the Boorowa River.

1867

* 1867 - a small amount of gold found on Blackney Creek. 

1869

* February 1869 - a quartz reef is found at Goba Creek, but this failed to produce.

1870

* 1870 - mining comments at Frogmore, including by John Sheedy at the Frogmore Estate.

* March 1870 - copper, silver and lead mined at Anns Vale. 

1872

* 1872 - copper mania breaks out in the region.

* 1872 - Frogmore Copper Mines formed. 

* July 1872 - Southern Copper Mines formed. Folds by 1875. 

* August 1872 - The Burrowa Copper, Silver and Slate Mining Company prospectus with a capital of £60,000, with 162 acres at Frogmore. 

* 1872 - Kangaroo Reef copper mine near Binalong.

* 1872 - Copper mine on the Castlesteads property, which operated intermittently through to 1907. 

* c.1872 - Yando Copper Mines, Boorowa. 

* c.1872 - Southern Mining Co., near Boorowa.

* c.1872 - Australia Mining Co., near Boorowa, with 200 acre lease. 

1873

* March 1873 - Mr Morgan of Castlesteads property finds gold at Langs Creek. Some 850 people eventually attend the site.

1874

* 1874 - Frogmore Copper Mines leased for 14 years to the Deer Brothers. 

* December 1874 - Australian Copper Mines at Frogmore fails. 

1875

* 1875 - Frogmore village develops, with opening of a school.

* August 1875 -  Glanavon Copper Mine sinks shaft through green and blue carbonates.

1877

* 1877 - Frogmore Copper Mines wages bill £15,000.

1879

* 1879 - consignments of Frogmore Copper Mines ore were passing through Boorowa to the Binalong railway station for shipment to Newcastle, Clyde and Wollongong smelters. 

1884

* February 1884 - Michael Bourke dies at the Frogmore Copper Mine due to an earthfall.

1891

* April 1891 - Frogmore Copper Mines leased for 3 years to Tom and James Channon. 

1896

* April 1896 - Isaac Mobbs finds gold at Frogmore, to the value of 10oz / ton of ore. 

1898

* July 1898 - the Frogmore gold mine produces 3lbs of gold in 5 days of crushing. 

1907

*1907 - gold discovered by Mr Deacon at Mylora property. 

1908

* September 1908 - a syndicate from Boorowa works a gold mine at Cullinga.

1911

* April 1911 - the office of the Cullinga Gold Mining Co. is moved from Sydney to Pudman Street, Boorowa. 

1912

* 1912 - another company begins gold mining at Cullinga. Declared insolvent in April 1922. 

1922

* April 1922 - gold mining company at Cullinga declared insolvent.

1923

* May 1923 - Xmas Gift Mine at Cullinga reports 55ozs of gold taken.

1924

* 1924 - the 450 acre Frogmore Copper Mines site was sold by James Channon. 

1929

* March 1929 - gold found at Breakfast Creek on Jack Fagan's Island, with 11oz / ton of ore.

1931

* 1931 - during the Depression people set out from Sydney to mine on the Abercrombie River and Lachlan River. They worked there for at least 2 years.

* c.1931 - Mr Rolf and party since a shaft at Goba Creek for gold and silver. 

1932

* April 1932 - gold produced at Mylora property. 

1934

* NSW government offers a reward of £25,000 for the discovery of gold. 

* September 1934 - 50 applications to mine gold at Mylora. 

1935

* October 1935 - 309 acres pegged out for mining gold at Mylora. 

---------------- 

2. References

Lloyd, Helen V., Boorowa: Over 160 Years of White Settlement, Taveloam, Panania, 1990, 324p. 

----------------

Last updated: 5 August 2026

Michael Organ, Australia