Melba Flats facts for kids

Melba Flats is a special spot in Tasmania, Australia. It's a railway siding, which is like a side track where trains can stop or switch lines. This siding is part of the Emu Bay Railway and is located east of a town called Zeehan.

For many years, Melba Flats was an important place. It was the end point, or "terminus," for trains that carried copper ore. This copper came from the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company in the west coast area of Tasmania. Trains used Melba Flats after the Emu Bay Railway stopped going all the way into the town of Zeehan.

A Look Back: History of Melba Flats

The railway line near Melba Flats was ready and working by December 1900. It played a big part in moving important materials around Tasmania.

However, things changed over time. The railway connection between Rosebery and Zeehan closed down on August 14, 1965. But the section of the line from Rosebery to Melba Flats was important enough to reopen on January 15, 1970.

The Mount Lyell company, which mined the copper, used trucks to bring the ore to Melba Flats. These trucks traveled along the road from Queenstown to Zeehan. This system continued until 1994.

Mining and Minerals at Melba Flats

The area around Melba Flats has a long history of mining. People have been working there since the 1880s, digging by hand and creating mining shafts. Many different valuable minerals have been found here over the years. These include lead, zinc, silver, tin, and nickel.

More recently, in the 2000s, a company called Allegiance Mining looked into digging for more minerals. They explored the idea of "open pit mining," which means digging a large hole in the ground to get to the minerals. They were interested in finding minerals like niccolite and pentlandite, as well as copper, gold, and platinum from smaller deposits at Melba Flats.

What's Happening Now at Melba Flats?

Today, the loading facility at Melba Flats is "mothballed." This means it's shut down and kept ready, but it's not being used right now. The company that owns it, TasRail, is waiting for a new customer to use the facility.

TasRail has also put the railway line north of Melba Flats, which goes towards Rosebery, into "care and maintenance." This means they are looking after the line to keep it in good condition, but trains are not regularly using it until a new customer needs it for transport.