Ortona Mine and Battery facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ortona Mine and Battery |
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Ortona Mine and Battery, 2009
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| Location | Forsayth-Agate Creek - Ortona (Iona) Station Road, Gilberton, Shire of Etheridge, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1870s - 1890s (late 19th century) |
| Built | 1899 - 1908 |
| Official name: Ortona Mine and Battery | |
| Type | state heritage (built, archaeological) |
| Designated | 25 August 2000 |
| Reference no. | 601856 |
| Significant period | 1899-1908 (fabric) 1899-1908, 1919 (historical) |
| Significant components | workshop, machinery/plant/equipment - mining/mineral processing, grave marker, mine - open cut, battery/crusher/stamper/jaw breaker, shaft, burial/grave, battery shed |
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The Ortona Mine and Battery is an old mining site in Queensland, Australia. It's a special place because it shows how people used to mine for copper a long time ago, even in very remote areas. It was active for a short time, mainly between 1899 and 1908. Today, it's protected as a heritage site.
Contents
History of the Ortona Mine
The Ortona Mine and Battery is located about 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Georgetown. It was one of the most isolated copper mines and processing plants in the Georgetown Mining District. Because it was so far away, it was hard to develop the mine's copper reserves.
Early Mining in the Etheridge Field
Gold was first found in the Georgetown Mining District in 1868. After that, more gold and other metals like lead, silver, and copper were discovered. This whole area became known as the Etheridge Gold and Mineral Field. Gold mining was very popular in the 1890s. However, it started to slow down by the time of World War I.
When the prices for other metals went up, people started focusing on lead, silver, and copper. The mining field became busy again until the Great Depression in the late 1920s. This caused prices to drop, and mining slowed down. There was a short return to gold mining, but then World War II caused shortages of workers and materials, which stopped all mining.
Discovering Copper at Ortona
The copper deposits at Ortona Mine were found in 1899 by two prospectors named Scarden and Smyth. In 1901, they sold the mine to Anthony Linedale. He was reportedly working with John Moffat and the Irvinebank Mining Company.
It was very expensive to transport the ore and process it. Many mines that started around 1900 couldn't afford to keep going. But Linedale was able to make money. He sent copper ore to Townsville by teams of carts. From Townsville, the copper was then shipped all the way to London.
Mine Operations and Challenges
Between 1899 and 1908, about 145 tonnes (143 long tons) of rich copper ore were sent away to be melted down. Records from 1908 show that 2,345 tonnes (2,308 long tons) of ore were ready for processing. This ore was waiting for a special furnace, called a reverberatory furnace, to be finished.
Miners dug shafts and tunnels down to the water level. With the help of an engine and a baling tank (a large bucket), one shaft was dug even deeper, about 47 metres (154 feet) below the water level. Later, a crushing plant was built to break up the ore. It's not clear if the furnace was ever used, or how long the mines actually operated. However, records show that in 1910, Linedale's company built a road from their Ortona mine to Forsayth. This road connected the mine to the Etheridge Railway, making transport easier.
Later Activity at Ortona
The Ortona Mine saw a brief return to activity in 1919. This happened because new gold was found nearby. Even though there was some work, many miners were already leaving the area. Later prospectors and people looking for minerals found it difficult to work there. They couldn't get enough explosives, and there were ongoing droughts. It seemed no one wanted to work in such a remote place anymore.
What You Can See at Ortona Today
The Ortona Mine and Battery is located by the Percy River. The area includes old mine workings and the remaining parts of a mill and a mining camp. All these parts are found close together.
Mine Workings and Plant
The mine workings include three groups of shallow open pits and one deep shaft. You can still see parts of the crushing and concentrating machinery where the mill shed used to be. These include a jaw crusher (which breaks large rocks), jigs, tables, and a flat bed steam engine. The mill shed itself has mostly fallen down, but some of the wooden posts and parts of the roof frame, with corrugated iron sheets, are still standing.
Nearby, there's a workshop built in a similar way. It has partly collapsed around an old tractor with a front loading scoop. A boiler (which makes steam) and a compressor (which makes compressed air) are located near the shafts and workings at the western end of the site. Close by, there are also the remains of two small buildings. They have stone floors and walls made of stacked stones. We don't know exactly what these buildings were used for, but they might have been storage areas.
Camp and Other Features
The mining camp area has the remains of a corrugated iron shed, an old stove, and a fridge. Several graves are also located near the camp, including one with a headstone.
You can find many different old items and features around the site. Broken bottle pieces are very common and are found in specific areas. Most of these bottles have crown seals and were made by machines. Bottles from Australian Glass Manufacturers (AGM) are often seen. Three different AGM base marks have been found, showing they were made between 1922–29, 1929-33, and 1934-48.
There are also many broken brick pieces throughout the site. People who lived there say that a man named Mr. Brown made the bricks right on the site. The kiln (oven) used to make these bricks was destroyed in the 1960s when work was done on the dam.
To the east of the main mine area, there are the ruins of two structures made of dry stone walls (stones stacked without mortar). The building closest to the mine is about 8 square metres (86 sq ft) and has a slate floor with a clear edge. Parts of two outer corner walls are still standing. They were built by pressing slate into a material called "antbed" (a type of hard soil from ant nests). These walls are about 2 metres (6.6 ft) high. People say this building was the manager's house, and the last known manager was Anthony Linedale.
Why Ortona Mine is Heritage Listed
The Ortona Mine and Battery was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 25 August 2000. This means it's considered an important historical site.
Importance to Queensland's History
The Ortona Mine and Battery is important because it shows how much effort went into finding and developing mineral deposits, especially copper, a long time ago. It was the most isolated copper mine and processing plant in the Georgetown Mining District. The site has historical landscape qualities, meaning it combines both natural and cultural heritage values.
