Adolphus William Copper Smelter facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Adolphus William Copper Smelter
Adolphus William Copper Smelter chimney, 2009
Location	Westwood and Oakey Creek, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia
Design period	1870s–1890s (late 19th century)
Built	1874
Queensland Heritage Register
Official name: Adolphus William Copper Smelter and Dee Township, Dee Copper Mine Smelter
Type	archaeological
Designated	13 May 2011
Reference no.	700013
Significant period	1874–1876
Significant components	slag pile/slag heap, chimney/chimney stack, furnace, artefact field, hut/shack, chimney/chimney stack, pathway/walkway, artefact field, hut/shack
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The Adolphus William Copper Smelter is an old copper smelter and mining camp. It is located near Westwood and Oakey Creek in Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1874. Today, it is a protected heritage site. This means it is an important historical place.

History of the Copper Smelter

The Adolphus William Copper Smelter is about 45 kilometres southwest of Rockhampton. It was one of many small copper mines in central Queensland. These mines opened when copper prices were very high in the 1870s.

The smelter worked from 1874 to 1876. The nearby Adolphus William Copper Mine opened and closed several times. It was active from 1872 until the late 1870s. It was also used in the early and mid-1900s.

Early Copper Mining in Australia

Copper was the first metal mined for business in Australia. This started in South Australia in 1844. In Queensland, the Peak Downs Copper Mine opened in 1862. It was Queensland's first successful copper mine.

Early copper mines in Australia had to sell their copper overseas. This meant their success depended on world copper prices.

The Copper Boom of the 1870s

In the early 1870s, copper prices were very high. This led to a "copper rush" in Queensland. Many new copper mines and smelters were built. For example, a smelter opened at Mount Perry in 1871. Other mines started at Kariboe Creek and Mount Orange in 1871. More opened at Mount Coora and Mount Clara in 1872.

Copper was found near Oaky Creek by William MacKinlay. He was looking for gold but found copper instead. The Scottish Australian Mining Company bought the rights to mine copper there in 1870. The Adolphus William Copper Mine opened around 1872.

Building the Smelter

A smelter was built at Adolphus William around 1874. Smelting is a process that uses heat to get metal from its ore. Copper ore is heated until the copper melts and separates from the lighter rock.

Two tall chimneys were built at the smelter. They helped create a strong draft for the furnaces. Wood from the local area was used to fuel the fires. Two small furnaces, called reverberatory furnaces, were installed. These were common for copper smelting in Queensland until the 1890s.

How Reverberatory Furnaces Worked

The reverberatory furnace was a Welsh invention. It was a brick hearth with a roof. Crushed copper ore was mixed with other materials. A strong fire was lit at one end of the furnace. The flames would pass over the ore, heating it.

The furnace would often be fired for up to 24 hours. Then, the melted copper (called matte) and waste (called slag) were removed.

Building these furnaces was hard in the 1870s. It was difficult to get good materials and skilled workers in Australia. The furnaces at Adolphus William used special firebricks. These bricks came all the way from Scotland!

Transporting the Copper

The copper metal from the smelter was taken to Westwood. From there, it went by train to Rockhampton. The first copper reached Rockhampton in December 1876. Between 1875 and 1877, the smelter produced about 203 tonnes of copper.

Why the Smelter Closed

Most mines and smelters from this "copper rush" closed by the end of the 1870s. This happened because world copper prices fell sharply. By 1879, copper was much cheaper.

The Adolphus William Copper Mine and smelter likely closed by 1876. Some say the mine kept working until 1879. By 1879, the area seemed deserted.

Later Mining Attempts

Copper mining in the area started again in the early 1900s. The mine was then called the Dee River Mine. It was worked until 1915. More copper was mined in 1917, 1918, and 1940. However, by 1942, the copper deposits were declared unprofitable.

What the Smelter Looks Like Today

The smelter remains are on a low hill above Oaky Creek. The area is overgrown with plants like lantana.

Smelter Remains

You can still see parts of the smelter today. These include:

• A mostly whole brick chimney stack.
• A pile of bricks from a collapsed chimney.
• The remains of two collapsed furnaces.
• A large pile of slag (waste from smelting).
• Scattered metal pieces and other old items.

A stone wall built from local rocks is on the western side of the site. It is about 0.8 to 1.0 metre high.

The Main Chimney

The main chimney stack is about 16 metres tall. It has a square base. The inside of the chimney is made from imported yellow-red firebricks. The outside is made from local clay bricks.

The chimney has metal braces to keep it strong. Some metal plates on the chimney have "AWCS" stamped on them. This suggests they were made at the smelter site.

Other old items are found near the chimney. These include an iron crucible (a pot for melting metal). There's also an old post that suggests a timber building was once there. A fig tree next to the chimney has old carvings on it.

Other Smelter Parts

The second chimney stack collapsed in 1954. Now, it's just a pile of bricks. The furnaces are also mostly collapsed. They are made of the special "Cumbernauld" firebricks. There's a lot of slag built up around them. Iron beams were used to help support the furnaces.

The Manager's Cottage

The ruins of a small house are about 150 metres east of the main chimney. This was likely the smelter manager's cottage. You can see brick foundations and a brick chimney. The cottage was about 6.2 metres long and 4.9 metres wide.

A bottle tree near the cottage has old writing on it. It says "W.A. Mine 1874." A large metal tank, possibly for water, is also nearby.

The Workshop Area

Downhill from the cottage, there's a scatter of metal pieces. These include bolts, metal plates, and old rail tracks. This area was probably a workshop for the smelter.

Dee Township

The old Dee Township is about one kilometre southwest of the smelter. This was the town where the miners and their families lived. You can find the remains of at least 3-4 buildings there.

Two old chimneys from houses have been found. One chimney is still about 3 metres tall. Another is mostly collapsed. A third building, possibly a "bakehouse," is also there. It has chimney footings and wall remains. There are also five large metal tanks, likely for water storage.

A cobbled (stone-paved) area is also found in the township. It's about 18 metres long and 7 metres wide. This might have been a path or a building foundation.

Many homes in Dee Township were probably just tent huts. Their remains might still be buried underground.

Why it's a Heritage Site

The Adolphus William Copper Smelter and Dee Township were added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2011. This means it is protected because it is very important to Queensland's history.

This site can teach us a lot about early copper smelting in Queensland. It also shows us what life was like in a 19th-century mining town. Mining was very important for Queensland's economy back then.

The Adolphus William Smelter is a rare example of an early copper smelter and town. It is one of the most complete sites of its kind. It shows how copper was smelted in central Queensland during that time.

The reverberatory furnace was the main way to smelt copper in Queensland until the 1890s. The Adolphus William site is one of only three such smelters that still exist in central Queensland. Unlike others, this site was not reopened or reused after it closed. This means it is very well preserved. Studying it can help us understand old smelting methods.

The Dee Township is the only known mining town from this period that still has good archaeological remains. This means experts can study the site to learn more about the people who lived there. They can find out about daily life in remote mining settlements.

See Also

• List of Queensland Heritage Register properties in Rockhampton Region