Ora Banda is 69 kilometres north-west of Kalgoorlie and 79 kilometres north-east of Coolgardie in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. It is situated on a ring road that goes from Kalgoorlie to Coolgardie and connects the historic mining towns of Paddington, Broad Arrow, Grant's Patch, Carbine, Kintore, Kununalling, Dunnesville and Bonnie Vale.
The Name
It is not known who is responsible for the naming of Ora Banda although its name is Spanish and translated to English means "band of gold".
Discovery
Gold was discovered in the district (near the 45 Mile) in early August 1893 by Cashman and his partner George Slee. Cashman's find was very rich and by September 1893 he and his partner had obtained 1000 ounces. A rush occurred and soon several reefs were found in the district. A little centre was formed near Cashman's lease and was known as Cashmans. At around this time the settlement of Ora Banda came into being among several leases not far away.
Ora Banda was larger and lived longer than the other settlements in the vicinity, largley due to the success of the "Gimlet" and "Victorious" mines and several other good 'shows' in the district.
The original Ora Banda was the centre for a district that stretched from the Lady Evelyn mine in the west to Christmas Reef in the east and was originally located adjacent to the "Ora Banda" mine. In 1906 very big, rich ore bodies were discovered and in the wake of this, the Ora Banda townsite moved three kilometres to the south to its present site. Old Ora Banda is now in name only.
Mines & State Battery
The "Ora Banda" mine at Old Ora Banda was found by the Weston brothers (later sold to Friedman and Johnson), who erected a battery on the mine and crushed ore for the public.
In 1906 Jim Abbott and party found the "Slippery Gimlet", and later he found the "Gimlet South", whilst his brother John Abbott found the "Gimlet South Extended" (better known as the "Victorious"). The new gold finds of 1906 brought to the district a big influx of people and increased prospecting activities. The "Slippery Gimlet" was sold to Friedman and Johnson.
These mines kept the battery at the "Ora Banda" mine fully occupied, so other prospectors then had to use the State Battery at Siberia more than 25 kilmotres away.
This led to a State Battery being erected near the present day Ora Banda townsite. A five-head battery opened in mid 1913 and served the district until the mining boom of the 1930's that saw the five-head battery running three shifts from 1931 to 1938. In 1936 another five-heads had to be added to the battery.
Water supply
For the first 40 years an adequate water supply was a serious problem. Domestic water came from a dam at Old Ora Banda and the 42-Mile Dam about 12 kilometres to the south of Ora Banda. Salt water for the mines came from Black Flag, 25 kilometres away.
During the 1914-18 war period, water shortages resulted in only sporadic Company activity. If rain filled the 42-Mile Dam there was work on the mines, but if a drought prevailed those who were able to waited for rain and filled in the time prospecting or sandalwooding.
In 1933 the town was connected by pipeline to the Goldfields Water Scheme from Kalgoorlie.
Boom years
The district has had four distinct boom periods - firstly the initial rush in 1893.
Then from 1906 to 1920 during which many mines were working including the well known mines of the "Slippery Gimlet", "Gimlet South" and the "Victorious".
Then from 1930 until the war years during which time new finds were made and old mines re-started, some of which were the "Bellvue", "Mopoke", "Monty Carlo", "Three Eights", etc.. The biggest mine of the period was the "Ora Banda Amalgamated", at Grant's Patch, which employed 80 men and was closed after a disastrous fire in 1948.
Another boom period occurred in the 1980's and 1990's when modern open cut Company mines opened up just east of the township.
Ups and downs
Like other mining towns, Ora Banda has had its ups and downs, but has never completely become a ghost town like some other towns on the Eastern Goldfields.
Many of the public buildings in Ora Banda were transported from Paddington as that centre was in decline when Ora Banda's second boom started. The buildings transported included the post office, AWU Hall, police station, school, Church of England and Catholic churches.
During the 1906 - 1920 period there were two general stores, two butchers and two bakers. Ora Banda had a similar set up during the boom of the 1930's.
A distastrous fire in the main street in 1931 destroyed the post office, the hall, a confectionary shop and dwelling. A new town hall was built in 1935.
Ora Banda was the site of the once famous Huntington Mills Bank. In its time, the largest bank in the Southern Hemisphere, it was supported by a bustling town that had dining halls, a post office, a police station, churches, boarding houses, billiards saloons, picture shows twice weekly, dances every other Saturday night and badminton played every-other night of the week.
From the boom years of the very early 1900's when the population of the town was said to have peaked at about 2000, the population of the town has continued to decline. Between the years 1911 - 1933 the population was between 200 - 300. After the 1939 - 1945 war (during which many of its men left the town to enlist), the town didn't really pick up and by 1947 the population was down to 68.
Fire destroyed the "Ora Banda Amalgamated" mine at Grant's Patch in 1948 and on its closure 80 men from the settlements of Grant's Patch and Ora Banda had to seek employment elsewhere.
Fire then destroyed the school in 1956 and by about 1958 the Ora Banda Hotel had closed.
Decay and restoration
From the fire in 1948 until the 1970's the town continued to decline. For many years the population consisted of a few long time residents, prospectors and the employees of the State Battery.
By the 1970's a number of the town's buildings were in bad disrepair including the Ora Banda Hotel, a lovely sandstone structure, built in 1911. In 1975 the Town Hall was pulled down. Other buildings went during these years. The State Battery however kept the town alive until the battery's closure in 1986.
In the 1980's the sandstone portion of the Ora Banda Hotel was restored and fully-licensed again. This, together with Company open cut mines operating to the east of the town, breathed life into the town once again. Tour buses from Kalgoorlie became a regular feature and by later part of the 1990's, local efforts had gotten the Ora Banda Battery working once again - this time as a .... head battery.
Today
Ora Banda offers goldmining, its history (like the former Cobb & Co stopover of Wangine Soak), the nearby aquatic and nature reserve of Rowles Lagoon, water skiing on the lagoon itself, bird watching at the reserve, tourist visits to nearby Credo Station, an extensive gemstone area at Grant's Patch and Paddy's Knob the site of the discovery of the Evening Star Nugget.
Ora Banda is an outback gold mining town of both today and of yesterday. The charm of its old buildings, its gold history and natural attractions together with the nearby modern opencut Company goldmining operations make Ora Banda an interesting place to visit.
Last year an unsolved murder and bombings of the Ora Banda Hotel, the former State Battery and the burning down of the former Battery Manager's House has seen the town set back once again for a while.
Footnote:
In the Eastern Goldfields, it is at Ora Banda that the first discovery of telluride was made outside of Kalgoorlie's Golden Mile. Telluride is a rare, lustrous silver-white element that is found in ores of gold and silver and used in the manufacture of semi-conductors.
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