Mount Elliott Mining Complex facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mount Elliott Mining Complex |
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Ruins, 2008
|
|
| Location | Selwyn, Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1900 - 1914 (early 20th century) |
| Built | 1908 |
| Architect | William Henry Corbould |
| Official name: Mount Elliott Mining Complex, Mount Elliott Smelter, Selwyn | |
| Type | archaeological (landscape, built) |
| Designated | 16 September 2011 |
| Reference no. | 700012 |
| Significant period | 1906 - 1953 |
| Significant components | machinery/plant/equipment - mining/mineral processing, embankment - tramway, kiln, smelter, boiler room/boiler house, building foundations/ruins, cemetery, garden - bed/s, slab/s - concrete, tank stand |
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
The Mount Elliott Mining Complex is a historic site in Selwyn, Australia. It includes the remains of an old copper mine and a smelter, which is a factory that extracts metal from ore. This complex was designed by William Henry Corbould and built in 1908. It is also known as Mount Elliott Smelter and Selwyn. The site was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2011 because of its important history.
Contents
A Look Back: The History of Mount Elliott
The Mount Elliott Mining Complex shows us what copper mining and smelting were like in the early 1900s. It also includes the remains of the old mining town of Selwyn. Copper mining started at Mount Elliott in 1906. The smelter began working soon after.
Big improvements were made to the mine and smelter between 1909 and 1910. These changes happened under the guidance of W.H. Corbould. After these upgrades, the town of Selwyn grew quickly. By 1918, about 1500 people lived there. The Mount Elliott Company later took over other mining companies in the area. This included the smelters at Mount Cuthbert and Kuridala. In 1943, Mount Isa Mines took over Mount Elliott's operations. This was to make sure there was enough copper during World War II. The Mount Elliott Company officially closed down in 1953.
The Mount Elliott Smelter Story
People knew about copper in the Cloncurry area of Queensland since 1867. That's when Ernest Henry found the Great Australia Mine. In 1899, James Elliott discovered copper on a hill, which became Mount Elliott. He sold his share to James Morphett, a local farmer. Morphett then sold it to John Moffat, a very successful mining leader.
To develop the copper mines, two things were needed: lots of money and cheap ways to transport materials. Without money, it was hard to find enough ore. Without a railway, it was risky to invest money. The mining companies or the railway builders had to make the first move.
In 1906-1907, copper prices were very high. This helped the Cloncurry area grow. The Great Northern railway was extended west in 1905-1906. Mines like Mount Elliott started selling shares on the stock market. At Mount Elliott, a test shaft was dug. In August 1906, a boiler and winding machine were set up.
Mount Elliott Limited was started in 1906. In 1907, British and French investors took it over. Mount Elliott teamed up with another company, Hampden Cloncurry Copper Mines Limited. They formed a special company to build a railway from Cloncurry to Selwyn. This railway was finished in December 1910. It ended right at the Mount Elliott smelter.
By 1907, the main mine shaft was dug. Work began on the smelters using old equipment. At this time, W.H. Corbould became the general manager of Mount Elliott Limited.
The old smelter equipment started working in May 1909. But it caused many problems and delays. Corbould called the equipment "the worst collection of worn-out junk." He soon convinced the company to get rid of it and let him design new works.
Corbould was an expert in metals and rocks. He knew they needed a steady supply of ore from different mines. He also knew they needed a good plan to smelt low-quality ore cheaply. Smelting was hard because the ore quality was getting worse. Corbould solved this by mixing different types of ore. He also made the smelter process more ore and pushed for all smelting operations in the area to work together. In 1912, Corbould bought other smaller mines for Mount Elliott Limited.
A company called Walkers Limited built a new furnace for the smelters. An air compressor and blower were built in the powerhouse. An electric motor provided power for the crane and lights.
The new smelter started in September 1910. It worked well, producing 2040 tonnes of copper by the end of the year. This new plant could handle low-quality ore. In 1911, they used 1000 tonnes of low-quality ore from another mine. This showed that mixing it with higher-quality ore would make things better. So, the company bought more small mines in 1912.
Corbould used a mining method called "cut and fill stoping." But a Mines Inspector ordered it changed to "square set timbering." In 1911, the smelter closed for two months due to ground movement in the mine. Still, the company produced 5447 tonnes of copper in 1911. This rose to 6690 tonnes in 1912, which was their best year. Many of the buildings we see today were built around this time.
Problems for Mount Elliott began in 1913. A fire closed one mine for months. A thirteen-week strike also closed the whole operation. This caused many workers to leave. Despite these issues, the company paid good profits that year.
At the end of 1914, smelting stopped for over a year because there wasn't enough ore. Copper production fell, and only 40 men were left working. For a while, the smelter processed ore from another mine. In July 1916, most of the smelting plant at Selwyn was taken apart. A new, larger furnace was built.
The new furnace started in June 1917. But ongoing worker disagreements slowed down production. The company decided to close the smelter in October and make the furnace smaller. Meanwhile, the price of copper had almost doubled due to the war.
The new, smaller furnace started on January 16, 1918. It smelted 77,482 tonnes of ore, producing 3580 tonnes of copper. This copper was sent to Britain. Getting coal and coke was a problem, as they had to come from far away. The smelter ran well for almost a year, except for two strikes. In 1919, the price of copper dropped sharply. The smelter finally closed after two months, and most workers lost their jobs.
From 1919 to 1922, Corbould tried to get more money for the company but failed. He left the company in 1922. The Mount Elliott Company took over other companies in the 1920s. Mount Isa Mines bought Mount Elliott's equipment in 1943. This helped them start copper production during Second World War. The Mount Elliott Company officially closed in 1953.
In recent times, valuable copper and gold deposits were found deep below the old smelter. Mining started there in 1993.
Life in Selwyn Township
In 1907, the first hotel opened in Selwyn. The town was officially planned around 1910. It was located north of the mine and smelter, about 1.5 kilometers away. The town was named after the nearby Selwyn Ranges. These ranges were named after Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn, a government geologist. The town was also sometimes called Mount Elliott.
Many people in Selwyn worked at the Mount Elliott Mine and Smelter. Others worked in businesses that served the miners. We don't have much information about daily life in the town. However, nearby farms meant that meat was cheap. Vegetables grown locally were delivered by horse and cart. But other goods brought from far away were expensive.
By 1910, the town had four hotels. There was also a soft drink maker, three stores, four fruit sellers, a butcher, a baker, a saddler, a garage, police, a hospital, banks, and a post office. There was even an orchestra with ten musicians in 1912! The population of Selwyn grew from 1000 in 1911 to 1500 in 1918. After that, it slowly got smaller.
What Remains Today
Mount Elliott Smelter Site
The Mount Elliott Smelter is about one kilometer south of where the town of Selwyn used to be. The main remains are on the northern side of a small hill called Mount Elliott.
North of the main area, you can find the foundations of the powerhouse and boiler house. There are also parts of an ore tunnel, a beehive kiln, and railway tracks.
To the east, you can see the remains of an assay office (where ores were tested). There are also old furnaces, explosives storage buildings, water tank stands, and the remains of a large house.
To the south-west, on the small hill, are the remains of a winding engine. There is also a brick chimney that served the boilers. You can also see the foundations of the main ore crusher.
Further west, on low ridges, are the remains of a strong room, an office, a stone tank stand, and a blacksmith's shop.
Selwyn Township Site
The Selwyn Township is at the northern end of a valley that leads to the Mount Elliott Smelter. All the buildings have been removed. What's left are garden plots, concrete surfaces, and corrugated iron water tanks.
You can still identify the site of the Union Hotel. The wooden stumps of the stationmaster's house and parts of the old railway line are also visible. The railway line follows the eastern side of the valley. Along the way, you can see sites where miners' huts once stood, with rough stone walls.
Other identifiable spots include a concrete surface where the school building once stood. There's also the police station site and the original smelter site at the base of a hill.
The town cemetery is about 200 meters south-east of the town. It has about fifteen headstones. These are in separate areas for Catholics and Protestants. Most of the headstones are from Melrose & Fenwick of Townsville. The graves include three women, a soldier who died in the mine, a man who died in the local hospital, and a miner from another town.
Why Mount Elliott is Important
The Mount Elliott Mining Complex is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register. This means it's a very important historical site. It includes the remains of the mine, smelter, and the old town of Selwyn. This site can teach us a lot about Queensland's history. Especially about early copper smelting and the lives of people who lived and worked there.
Studying the Mount Elliott Complex can help us understand how people lived in remote mining towns. We can learn about their daily lives, their cultures, and how they adapted to the harsh environment.
Archaeological digs at Mount Elliott can also reveal details that aren't in old records. We can learn about:
- How early metal processing plants and mines were designed and operated in Queensland.
- How workers adapted their methods because of the remote and tough environment.
- Important changes in copper mining and smelting led by Mount Elliott's manager, W.R. Corbould. He introduced more efficient ways of working.
The Mount Elliott Mining Complex is a key part of the mining history in the Cloncurry region. Its remains can be compared to other nearby mining sites. These include the Hampden Company Smelter at Kuridala and Mount Cuthbert Township and Smelter. Studying Mount Elliott can give us new information about these old mining towns and the lives of the people who built them.
