Before the department’s computerised TENGRAPH system was implemented, hard copy maps were maintained, which showed the location of mining tenements within Western Australia. These historic mining tenement maps, often referred to as Mines Department public plans, have been scanned and are available for viewing and downloading via the links below.
There are 9500 historic mining tenement maps available in this first release. We expect to add more during the coming months.
Historic public plans may have several editions, including the start and end date, and the map that was in circulation is provided in the properties.
Many of the older plans have been drawn using imperial measurements. To aid users making a selection, the table provided shows the scale as a Representative Fraction (R.F.)
| Imperial Plan Scales | Equivalent Metric (R.F.) Scale |
| One Inch to 20 Chains | 1:15,840 |
| One Inch to 40 Chains | 1:31,680 |
| One Inch to 80 Chains | 1:63,360 |
| One Inch to 300 Chains | 1:237,600 |
| One Inch to 800 Chains | 1:633,600 |
1:1,000,000 scale historic maps show the Public Plan Index at the time of publication, which is a good source of information to find historic Imperial map name or codes. The 1:1,000,000 plans also show the position of Temporary Reserves or Exploration licenses.
There are two ways of accessing the scanned historical maps. By textual search using the digital paper application or spatially using an interactive map.
Digital Paper searches are based by entering all or part of a map name or map code into the relevant field. Searches can be refined by selecting a scale.
A 1:100,000 & 1:250,000 State Map Index is provided on this document to assist in identifying map and codes.