Wild Irish Girl Mine and Battery facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wild Irish Girl Mine and Battery |
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Wild Irish Girl Mine and Battery, 2014
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| Location | Conglomerate Range, Maytown, Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1870s - 1890s (late 19th century) |
| Built | c. 1894 - 1980s |
| Official name: Wild Irish Girl Mine and Battery, Emily Battery | |
| Type | state heritage (built, archaeological) |
| Designated | 21 October 1992 |
| Reference no. | 600428 |
| Significant period | c. 1894 (fabric) 1894–1980s (historical) |
| Significant components | grave marker, machinery/plant/equipment - mining/mineral processing, weir, well, residential accommodation - quarters, battery/crusher/stamper/jaw breaker, shaft, wall/s - retaining, tank - water, battery shed, pathway/walkway, mine - open cut, water race, track, adit, forge/blacksmithy |
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The Wild Irish Girl Mine and Battery is a special historical mining site located in the Conglomerate Range, near Maytown, in Queensland, Australia. It's called 'heritage-listed' because it's an important part of history and is protected. This site was built around 1894 and was used for mining until the 1980s. It was also known as the Emily Battery. It was officially added to the Queensland Heritage Register on October 21, 1992, recognizing its historical value.
Contents
What is the History of the Wild Irish Girl Mine?
Early Mining in the 1890s
In the 1890s, long after the first big gold rush in the Palmer area, new prospectors found thin quartz reefs. These were veins of rock containing gold, located right under the steep cliffs of the Conglomerate Range. The Best Friend, Bal Gammon, and Wild Irish Girl reefs were found on a ridge. Miners could reach them by digging tunnels called adits.
In 1894, two men named John Trainor and James Burchall took over the Wild Irish Girl mine. After digging a 13-meter (about 43 feet) tunnel, they found a very rich gold deposit. They called this new discovery the Native Girl Reef.
The Emily Mill: Crushing Gold
Trainor and Burchell decided to invest £300 to build their own crushing plant. This would save them money on transporting the ore. The mill, named the Emily, started working by October 1894. It was a compact and modern plant for its time. It had three stamp heads, which were heavy machines that crushed the rock. A small steam engine powered these stamps.
By 1897, the Emily mill had crushed 342 tons of rock from the Native Girl reef. This produced 427 ounces of gold! This was enough gold to pay for the machinery five times over. Interest in the area slowly went down, but the mill still crushed small amounts of ore from local reefs in the early 1900s.
Later Years and New Owners
During World War I, mining picked up a little when new reefs were found at Kipling's Crossing. The ore from these new mines was sent to the Emily mill for crushing. Sam Wonnacott likely controlled the mill around this time. He lived in the ranges, worked the Wild Irish Girl and nearby mines, and crushed rock for other miners when needed. By the 1920s, he owned the mill and changed its name to the Wild Irish Girl.
In 1930, Sam Elliott bought the mill from Wonnacott. He continued to work the Cradle Creek mines and crush ore at the Wild Irish Girl battery for over thirty years. Sam Elliott was the last hard rock miner working in the Palmer Goldfield. He passed away in 1986 and is buried in the Maytown cemetery.
What Can You See at the Wild Irish Girl Mine Site?
The Wild Irish Girl Mine and Battery site is located on the edge of the Conglomerate Range cliffs. It includes several connected parts:
- Mine workings (where the mining happened)
- A battery shed and living quarters
- An older hut and camp site
- Alluvial workings and water races (for washing gold from riverbeds)
- A Chinese grave
Mine Workings and Battery Shed
There are three main groups of mine workings:
- The Native Girl mine has narrow open-cut areas and underground tunnels with air shafts.
- The Friendly Girl mine has shallow open-cut areas.
- The Wild Irish Girl mine has an adit (a horizontal tunnel) and other underground workings.
A path connects these mines to a small battery shed and living area. The battery shed is made of wood from the bush and covered with corrugated iron. Inside, you can find a vertical boiler and a small portable engine. There's also a light three-head prospecting battery, a workshop, a living area with a fireplace, and a small water tank. A collapsed water shaft and a stone forge are next to the shed. A small creek runs past the battery and has three stone weirs (small dams).
Alluvial Workings and Other Features
About 100 meters (328 feet) south of the battery, there's a large area of old alluvial workings. This area stretches for over 400 meters (1,312 feet). It includes creek beds that were changed, stone-walled channels, and a stone-lined water race. A track for packhorses follows the creek. The grave of a Chinese prospector is located above this track.
The remains of Sam Wonnacott's camp are found between the battery shed and the alluvial workings. Here, you can see old flagstone and earth surfaces, wooden posts, and scattered household items, including two iron beds.
Surviving Machinery
The machinery that still exists at the site includes:
- Three-head stamp battery from Walkers Ltd in Maryborough.
- A one-cylinder semi-portable vertical steam engine made by Tangye Archer.
- A vertical boiler from Smellie & Company in Brisbane.
Why is the Wild Irish Girl Mine Important?
The Wild Irish Girl Mine and Battery was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on October 21, 1992, because it meets several important criteria.
A Look into Queensland's Mining History
This site is very important for showing how Queensland's history, especially its mining history, developed. It is the most complete and untouched early steam-powered prospecting battery on the Palmer Goldfield, and in all of North Queensland. It was also the last steam-powered stamp battery to operate in the Palmer area, working for about 90 years. It helps us understand what mining was like in the 1800s on the Palmer Goldfield.
A Rare and Special Place
The Wild Irish Girl Mine and Battery is unique because it has an intact battery and machinery, living quarters, mine workings, and alluvial workings all together. This combination is very rare in Queensland. The battery is the only intact three-head battery and the only intact vertical engine (a Tangye Archer) found at a historical mining site in Queensland. Because it is so complete and well-preserved, it is important not just for Queensland, but for Australia as a whole. It also has the only surviving battery shed in North Queensland that includes living quarters.
