Aspasia Mine and Battery facts for kids

The Aspasia Mine and Battery is an old mine and a special machine called a stamper battery. It is located near Georgetown in Queensland, Australia. This site was built between 1916 and 1952. It is also known as the Mount Turner Battery. Because of its history and what remains there, it was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on April 13, 2006.

Digging for Riches: A Mine's Story

The Aspasia Mine is about 3 to 4 kilometers (about 2 miles) west of a place called Durham. It was part of the old Etheridge Gold and Mineral Field. People worked at this mine from 1916 to 1929, then again in the 1930s, and finally from 1947 to 1952. They dug up gold, silver, lead, and copper here.

The Etheridge Goldfield Begins

The Etheridge area was a very large place where people found gold and other valuable minerals. The first time gold was officially found here was in 1867 by a geologist named Richard Daintree. This was near where Georgetown is today. More discoveries of gold and other metals followed.

In 1869, after Daintree's report about gold on the Gilbert River, the first "gold rush" began. A gold rush is when many people quickly move to an area hoping to find gold. By July 1869, about 3,000 people were looking for gold in the rivers. By late 1871, the town of Etheridge (which later became Georgetown) had 600 people. The Etheridge Goldfield was officially declared a goldfield in 1872, and Georgetown became its main town.

Mining in the Durham Area

In 1872, the Durham area, just west of Georgetown, also started to grow. More than 44 different gold-rich areas were being worked. Machines to crush the ore (rock with minerals in it) were set up in Georgetown. The Durham Mine itself worked a very rich gold area from 1879 to 1899, and again from 1907. It produced over 20,000 ounces of gold!

Challenges for Miners

For a short time, the Etheridge was one of the richest goldfields in Queensland. In 1885, it was still the second-highest gold producer. However, it was a very isolated place. This meant it was expensive to transport supplies and minerals. Also, it was hard to find enough workers. The gold deposits in Etheridge were often small and not very deep, but they were still costly to dig out. Because living costs were high, people often didn't stay permanently. Still, the Etheridge field was known as a reliable place to find gold when other areas had been worked out.

Ups and Downs of Mining

The Etheridge goldfield produced the most gold in the 1890s. But by World War I, gold production was slowing down. However, during World War I, the prices for other metals like lead, silver, and copper went up a lot. This made mining these "base metals" very profitable, and the field boomed again.

This boom lasted until the Great Depression in the late 1920s. During a depression, prices for many things drop, and this affected metal prices too. The 1930s Depression actually helped the Etheridge temporarily. Gold prices often go up during a depression. Also, the government provided money to help unemployed people look for gold.

The Aspasia Mine's Production

The Aspasia Mine was about 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) west of Durham. Silver-lead-zinc ore was first found near the Aspasia site in 1888. But serious mining didn't start until the World War I boom in base metals. The main workings at Aspasia included three shafts (deep holes dug into the ground) and nearly 45 meters (148 feet) of "stopes." Stopes are underground spaces created by removing ore. These went from the surface down to at least 9 meters (30 feet) deep.

Official records show that the Aspasia Mine produced 716 long tons of ore. From this, they got 37 ounces of gold, 14,626 ounces of silver, 285 long tons of lead, and 0.8 long tons of copper. After World War II, it became more expensive to mine. After 1950, silver and lead prices also fell. This led to the Aspasia Mine closing in 1952.

What You Can See Today

The Aspasia Mine and Battery is about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) north of the Gulf Developmental Road. This is about 11 kilometers (7 miles) west of Georgetown. The land around the battery is mostly flat. There's a low ridge of rock formations (reefs) running across the site. You'll see scattered eucalypt trees and grass, and cattle often graze here.

The Battery and Mine Structures

The main part of the site is an almost complete five-head stamp battery. A stamp battery is a machine that crushes ore to get the valuable minerals out. This one sits on mounts made of brick and stone. Next to it are concrete foundations where a diesel power plant used to be. Parts of another five-head stamp battery are scattered nearby, but there are no foundations to show it was ever fully set up.

About 8 meters (26 feet) south of the battery is a timbered shaft. This is a deep hole lined with wood, and it's partly caved in at the top. The old hoisting gear (equipment used to lift things out of the shaft) is still there. It includes a simple wooden pole and a metal pulley. Around the battery area, you can see wooden poles that once supported the roof of the battery shed, water tanks, and belt wheels.

Southeast of the stamper, you'll find the remains of an elevated water tank and its stand. The wooden stumps of the stand are still in place. The old corrugated iron tank has fallen down and lies between the stumps and a nearby mine shaft.

Other Features

To the north of the stamper, there's a "mullock heap." This is a pile of waste rock from the mine, about 3 meters (10 feet) wide and 30 meters (98 feet) long. North of the mullock heap, a line of shallow, open stopes (old mining tunnels) extends.

About 260 meters (853 feet) south of the battery, there's a line of three shallow pits. About 100 meters (328 feet) north of the battery, on the east side of a station track, there's another shallow shaft and a small mound of earth.

The shafts and stopes you see are all located along the line of rock formations that runs through the site. You can also find signs of the old workshop and camp about 140 meters (459 feet) south of the battery. These include pieces of corrugated iron, old wooden stumps, and scattered bottles and tin cans. Some of the tin cans even have dates like "1950" or "use before 30 Oct 1951" on their bases.

Why This Place is Important

The Aspasia Mine and Battery was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2006. This means it's considered a very important historical site.

Queensland's History

The Aspasia mine and battery is important because it shows how mining developed in Queensland. It's a good example of a small mine that kept working through tough times like the Great Depression and after World War II. It also shows how different metals like silver and lead were mined.

Rare and Special Features

This site is quite rare in North Queensland because the stamp battery, the lifting equipment, and the water tanks are still mostly intact. It's also special because the mine and the battery are very close together. This shows how small mining operations used to work. It's unusual to find a processing plant built right on top of where the minerals are. The wooden supports inside the mine shaft, including a ladder, are very well preserved and rare to see in Queensland. The old "whip pole" (for lifting things) is also still intact.

Showing How Mining Worked

The stamp battery, lifting gear, and water tanks at Aspasia are great examples of the mining technology and methods used in small mines in Northern Queensland in the early to mid-1900s. The site clearly shows how mining used to be done.

Beautiful and Historic

The Aspasia Mine and Battery also has a special beauty. The old mining objects, machinery, and workings stand out in the dry, isolated natural environment. This creates a strong visual impact and makes the place feel very historic.