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Callion -Western Australia
AKA Speakman's Find

Latitude 30° 07' S Longitude 120° 34' E

Gold was discovered here by prospectors James Speakman, Cooke and Lukin in 1895, in an outcrop of quartz. The location was initially known as Speakman's Find, until the town was gazetted as Callion in 1897. This name is thought to be from another prospector in the area, but is uncertain.

Callion is about 10 kilometres south of Davyhurst on the Coolgardie North Road. The town contained a hotel, but ceased to exist after a few years. The only thing that remains is a couple of graves.

Within six months of 1895, the mine had been floated in London, as Speakman Mount Callion Company. They erected a 20 head battery and spent inordinate amounts of shareholder funds. 4822 tonnes of ore was mined for 3785 ounces. Normally this would be a successful mine, but wasteful expenditure saw them abandon the lease. It was taken up by a party of working miners called the Swan Syndicate.

The Callion Gold Mining Company reclaimed the lease in late 1908, and are erecting a 10 head battery, partially subsidised by the State government for public crushing. Prospectors at the time claim the company gave priority to its own ore, and did little public crushing. Hamley is still manager. Part of the money for the battery came from a successful reconstruction of the company. Long-suffering shareholders were called upon to contribute more money several times, and then information on the company dried up after 1910.

In 1933, the Adelaide/Melbourne-based Enterprise Gold Mining Company took out a 12-month option. The Gold Fields Australian Development Company took out a 6-month sampling sub-option in 1934, while the mine was under the control of Enterprise. After this the Enterprise company abandoned the mine. New Coolgardie Gold Mines NL purchased the lease from Western Mining Corporation in 1950, and conducted limited mining until 1956.

Map by Bonzel

Callion Street Map - Image SLWA