Maninga Marley – ghost town

The outback mining centre of Maninga Marley was situated some 27 kilometres southeast of Sandstone on the Dandaraga Station in the Black Range district.

The Maninga Marley Gold Mine, from which the place takes its name, was found by prospectors Ernest Alfred Arundel and Matthew Dwyer. The claim was registered by Arundel Gold was discovered in the area in 1903, and in 1906, the lease was held in four names: Arundel, Matthew, John J Dwyer, and Charles A Greenham. Since its discovery, this little mining centre has turned out over £200,000 worth of gold, and is yet, so to speak, only scratched.

Some day, when the capitalist takes a hand to open up the shows, another busy centre will be added to the State. The district around Maninga Marley is good stock country, and notwithstanding the small rainfall, horses, donkeys, cattle, sheep and goats thrive wonderfully well, and the land is now mostly taken up for pastoral purposes.

Maninga Marley GM 1906 – Photo SLWA

The most active period of mining was from 1904 to 1910. The Maninga Marley Gold Mine was extracting gold from its Daphne lease, on a reef 6 feet wide. In 1906, it was reported there were seven shafts as part of the gold mine, 45 to 70 feet deep, with the main shaft at 120 feet, cutting the reef at the 50-foot level. There were 4 feet of good stone near the Hanging Wall, separated by a divisional wall, with 4 to 6 feet of poorer grade stone, and 2 feet of gold-bearing stone on the footwall. – Info Mindat

Maninga Marley Riflemen 1911 – Photo Sandstone Heritage Museum

By 1906, a 10-head battery had been erected. H.E. Wright was the mine manager until 1906, then it was Arundel. A heavy water inflow saw operations stop in 1909; however, the battery crushed for other leases until 1912.

The men of the Tagliaferri family (yes, three are holding chickens) – Maninga Marley 1927 – SLWA 

Maninga Marley was somewhat unlucky in the placement of its townsite. When local residents requested the warden to allot business areas, he complied by marking out several streets. When Mr. Hans Irvine came along and purchased the Havilah Mine, he considered that the reef might extend further, so he pegged out the entire townsite, thus precluding any further business areas. When questioned, the warden exclaimed,

‘The whole blessed place seems to be reefs, and if I give a site today there’s nothing to show that somebody won’t strike a reef digging a verandah post and peg out the whole country”.

In 1925, the mine was being worked alone by Frederick Sonnenschein (59). There were two areas, the part worked by the prospector and the abandoned workings. An explosive charge broke through to the abandoned part, which was full of water. This rushed into the other workings, and Sonnenschein drowned.

Map Maninga Marley – Bonzle maps

Original Reward Claim document – supplied by Ian Murray

Reward Lease – Maninga Marley