Youanmi is an abandoned town in the Murchison region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The town was gazetted in 1910 but abandoned in 1942, after the local gold mine was closed.

History

The first Europeans to visit the Youanmi area were the Robert Austin party in 1854, followed by the

John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister i ...

's expedition in 1869, which passed through in search of

Ludwig Leichhardt Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (), known as Ludwig Leichhardt, (23 October 1813 – c. 1848) was a German explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.Ken Eastwood,'Cold case: Leichhardt's dis ...

and his party. Gold was discovered at Youanmi in 1894 or 1895 by prospector Tom Payne. The discovery site was the Golden Crown Mine, southwest of the current mine mill. Activity in subsequent years was subdued until a major movement of prospectors into the area in late 1907. By 1908 however, the Youanmi Gold Mine was set up and the local population grew to such an extent that the local Youanme Progress Committee requested the declaration of a townsite in 1910. The town's name was originally spelt ''Yuani'', which was thought to correctly represent the Aboriginal name, but this was soon dropped in favour of ''Youanmi''. The name Youanmi was first recorded by a surveyor in 1887, as the name of a local spring, pointed out to him by a local Aboriginal accompanying him. Following the survey of lots, the townsite was gazetted in August 1910. The first pastoral lease were being established at this time. The mine was owned by

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-based company Yuanmi Gold Mines, Limited. On Christmas Eve 1929,

Arthur Upfield Arthur William Upfield (1 September 1890 – 12 February 1964) was an English-Australian writer, best known for his works of detective fiction featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte of the Queensland Police Force, a mixed-race ...

met Snowy Rowles at Youanmi, after the latter had just murdered James Ryan and George Lloyd, in a case known as the

Murchison Murders The Murchison Murders were a series of three murders, committed by an itinerant stockman known as "Snowy" Rowles (born John Thomas Smith), near the rabbit-proof fence in Western Australia during the early 1930s. Rowles used the murder method ...

. With the closure of the gold mine in 1942, Youanmi was almost completely abandoned.Youanmi, Australia
REBgold Corp., accessed: 22 February 2011 Mining at Youanmi resumed in the 1980s, when the gold mine reopened, but because of the

fly-in fly-out Fly-in fly-out is a method of employing people in remote areas by flying them temporarily to the work site instead of relocating employees and their families permanently. It is often abbreviated to FIFO when referring to employment status. This is ...

nature of present-day mining, the town was not reestablished. Mining continued until 1997, when the mine was closed once more.Annual Report 2008
APEX ASX announcement, published: 24 October 2008, accessed: 22 January 2010Apex unveils gold strategy with three WA acquisitions
APEX ASX announcement, published: 3 May 2007, accessed: 22 January 2010 At the time of its second closure, Youanmi had produced 670,000 ounces of gold throughout its lifetime.Youanmi Project
Voltaresources website (formerly Goldcrest), accessed: 22 January 2010

History

References

Further reading