Totley Township facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Totley Township |
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Totley Mine
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| Location | Charters Towers Mining District, Ravenswood, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1870s–1890s (late 19th century) |
| Built | c. 1883–c. 1964 |
| Official name: Totley Township, Great Extended Mill, Great Extended Mine, King's New Mill and Tramway | |
| Type | state heritage (built, archaeological) |
| Designated | 21 October 1992 |
| Reference no. | 600457 |
| Significant period | 1880s, 1940s (fabric) 1883–1890, 1947–1964 (historical) |
| Significant components | machinery/plant/equipment – mining/mineral processing, mullock heap, tank – storage, shaft, abutments – road bridge, mounting block/stand, settling tank / pond, shed – machinery, embankment – tramway, forge/blacksmithy, headframe |
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Totley Township is an old mining site in Queensland, Australia. It's a special place because it shows us how people lived and worked during the gold and silver rushes. This historic area includes the Great Extended Mine, the Great Extended Mill, and King's New Mill & Tramway. People worked here from around 1883 to 1964. Today, it's protected as a heritage site.
Contents
Discovering Totley's Mining Past
The Great Extended Mine Story
In the 1870s, the town of Ravenswood was struggling to find enough gold. But in 1880, something exciting happened! People found silver and lead at a place called Totley, just 2 kilometers from Ravenswood. This discovery brought new hope and prosperity to the area.
Richard King started the first silver mine here in 1881. He soon realized he needed more money to make the mine bigger. So, in 1882, he started a company called the Ravenswood Silver Mining Company in Sydney. This led to a small rush, with other companies trying to find silver nearby.
The Great Extended Ravenswood Mining Company spent a lot of money on mining equipment. They dug a deep shaft, over 200 meters down! Even though one test showed a huge amount of silver, the actual results from the mine were not as good as expected.
In 1886, there was an accident in the mine where a worker named Alfred Cook died. The mine manager was fined because some equipment was faulty.
The Great Extended Company kept spending money, hoping to find more silver. They built an expensive processing plant, costing £11,500. But by 1888, when the plant was finished, they hadn't dug out much silver. Operations at the mine stopped in 1890. This was likely due to too much spending and not enough silver being found.
Years later, in 1947, Percy Kean Jnr. looked into the mine again. He bought mining equipment from another mine and set up a steel frame (headframe) and new engines. He tried to pump water out of the mine, but it was too hard. So, he pumped water out of the nearby King's mine instead.
In 1952, a government geologist suggested more exploration. Kean continued mining, but the market for silver was low in 1953. He decided to close both mines. His efforts produced some silver, lead, and zinc.
In 1964, a Sydney company tried to restart the Great Extended mine. They hired nine men to pump out water and clean the mine. But the silver they found wasn't good enough, so they stopped. The mine has been abandoned ever since, but much of the old machinery is still there.
King's New Mill and Tramway
Richard King needed more money to develop his mine. So, in 1882, he launched the Ravenswood Silver Mining Company. By 1883, they had built a treatment plant with machines like a stone breaker and rolls. The workforce grew to 46 men.
The mill was very busy! In 1883, they sent out 371 tons of high-quality ore. This increased to 853 tons in 1884. Even with a drought in 1885, they still sent out 866 tons. The mill continued to be productive in 1886 and 1887.
The town of Totley was officially mapped out in 1886. The King family was very important in the town. Richard was the company director, Edward managed the mine, William owned a boarding house and store, and George ran a brickworks. Many streets in Totley were named after the King family.
Later, a group from Melbourne bought into the Ravenswood Silver Mining Company. They planned a new, fancy treatment plant. It would be a brick building connected to the mine by a special tramway. This new mill was finished in 1889. It had engines, boilers, and many machines to process the silver ore.
When the mill reopened in 1890, it only ran for a short time. Soon after, it closed for good. King's mine was then rented out to other miners, but it also closed in 1891.
In 1924, Percy Kean Snr. tried to pump water out of King's shaft, but it was too difficult. After World War 2, Percy Kean Jnr. took over. He also faced problems with water in the mine. In 1951, he found some galena (lead ore) from King's mine. Instead of using King's old mill, he sent his ore to another mill. But with falling prices, Kean decided to abandon both mines in 1953.
The Great Extended Mill
The Great Extended Mill was built to work with the Great Extended Mine. In 1885, a very rich silver sample led to a huge spending of £11,500 on a new treatment plant. It was finished in 1888. This mill had powerful steam engines, stone breakers, and special machines called jiggers and buddles.
The mill was located on One Mile Creek, not far from King's New Mill. There were plans to connect it to the Great Extended Mine with a wire tramway. They also planned to build a pumping station to get enough water for the mill. However, the mill never processed any ore for export, except for trial runs. It was sold and taken apart at the end of 1891.
What You Can See Today
Great Extended Mine Site
At the Great Extended Mine, you can still see a tall steel structure called a headframe. It stands over the old mine shaft. Next to it is a pile of waste rock called a mullock dump.
East of the headframe, there's an open shed with a corrugated iron roof. Inside, you can find a winding engine on a brick base and a large diesel engine with a generator. There's also a compressor and an old electrical switchboard. A fence has been put up to protect these old machines.
Some of the surviving equipment includes:
- A large four-cylinder diesel engine.
- A DC generator connected to the diesel engine.
- A smaller diesel engine.
- An electric winding engine from Sydney.
- The steelwork for the headframe from England.
King's New Mill and Tramway Site
Here, you can see the brick foundations of the old mill buildings. These are spread out over an area about 50 meters square near One Mile Creek. A large brick structure was likely where the tramway ended. There's also an old stone forge.
You can still see the path of the old tramway that ran east from the mill. It has raised ramps and stone supports where it went under the streets of Totley. This shows how they transported materials from the mine to the mill.
Great Extended Mill Site
The foundations of the Great Extended Mill are on the bank of a creek. You can see brick tanks that were used for concentrating minerals. There are also two round concrete bases, each 8 meters across, which were for machines called buddles. Nearby, there's a large brick pond for settling materials.
There isn't much left of the mill buildings themselves. However, you can still see the site of a large pile of waste materials (tailings dump) to the south and east of the mill.
Why Totley Township is Important
Totley Township is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register because it helps us understand Queensland's history.
It shows how silver mining worked, even when it was more about hope than actual silver! The mine operated in two main periods: 1883-1890 and 1947-1964.
The tramway path, with its raised banks and stone supports, is a rare example of how minerals were transported from the mine to the mill. It also shows how the King family tried to build a big silver mining business, even if they spent too much money.
The Great Extended Mill being so close to King's New Mill shows the competition between different companies during a time when everyone was hoping to strike it rich.
The steel headframe at the Great Extended Mine is special because it's the only asymmetrical (unevenly shaped) steel headframe found in North Queensland. The old diesel engine and generator found here were also used in other important mining areas.
The Great Extended Mill is a rare example of a silver processing mill in the Charters Towers area. It's also one of only two places in North Queensland where special machines called Linkenbach buddles were used.
The site also shows how mining equipment and technology were reused. The diesel engine, for example, was moved from another mine and adapted to work here many years later. This shows clever problem-solving in mining.
Finally, King's New Mill and Tramway are important because of their connection to the King family. They were pioneers in silver mining and milling in Totley.
