North Mount Lyell facts for kids
North Mount Lyell was the name of a mine, a mining company, and even a place (sometimes called North Lyell). It was also the name of a railway line that used to run north of Gormanston in Tasmania. This area was on the southern slopes of Mount Lyell, which is part of the West Coast Range on Tasmania's West Coast. The mine and railway also extended onto the ridge between Mount Lyell and Mount Owen.
Contents
The North Mount Lyell Copper Company
The company itself didn't last very long. However, the mine, its valuable ore (the rock containing minerals), and the mining operations continued for a long time. The North Mount Lyell operations eventually became part of the larger Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company. This happened after the smelters (factories that melt ore to get metal) at Crotty stopped working.
A famous photographer named John Watt Beattie took pictures of the different steps involved in building the mines, the smelters, and the port at Kelly Basin.
Who Started North Mount Lyell?
The North Mount Lyell Copper Company was started by a person named James Crotty. For a few years, his company was a strong rival to the Mount Lyell Company. They were both trying to mine copper in the same area.
A historian named Geoffrey Blainey wrote about this competition and how the two companies eventually joined together in his book, The Peaks of Lyell. Blainey explained that the North Mount Lyell mine workings became very important for the Mount Lyell Company later on.
What Did North Mount Lyell Have?
When James Crotty was setting up the company and its operations, North Mount Lyell had several important facilities:
- The North Mount Lyell mine itself. This mine was located next to and east of the areas leased by the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company.
- Its own shipping services.
- A port and a railway station at Kelly Basin and Pillinger, Tasmania. This was where goods could be loaded onto ships.
- A smelter and a town at Crotty, Tasmania. This was located at the eastern base of Mount Jukes and just south of the King River, Tasmania.
- A railway station at Linda, Tasmania.
- An aerial ropeway (like a cable car system for materials) that connected the North Lyell mine to Linda.
- Its own railway line, known as the North Mount Lyell Railway.
The 1912 Mining Disaster
A very serious event happened in 1912, known as the 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster. This event is also mentioned in Geoffrey Blainey's book. For many years after, there were different stories about what happened, even though official reports were made.
The North Lyell Locality
The place known as the North Lyell locality was where some of the workers lived. This area was eventually taken over by the expanding Mount Lyell mine operations. A rare photograph of this locality can be found in Blainey's book.
Importance in the 20th Century
The Mount Lyell mine continued to grow and operate well into the late 1900s. Its success depended a lot on the valuable copper ore and the mining systems that originally belonged to North Lyell.
