Bower Bird Battery

Bower Bird Battery
Bower Bird Battery
	Ruins of the Bower Bird Battery, 1993
Location	Mount Isa Mining District, Mount Isa, City of Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia
Coordinates	20°05′49″S139°41′51″E / 20.0969°S 139.6975°E Coordinates: 20°05′49″S139°41′51″E / 20.0969°S 139.6975°E
Design period	1870s - 1890s (late 19th century)
Built	c. 1895 - c. 1909
Queensland Heritage Register
	Official name: Bower Bird Battery
Type	state heritage (archaeological)
Designated	13 December 2002
Reference no.	601863
Significant period	1873, c. 1895 (fabric); 1895-c. 1909 (historical)
Significant components	forge/blacksmithy, mullock heap, mine - open cut, wall/s, battery/crusher/stamper/jaw breaker, terracing, machinery/plant/equipment - mining/mineral processing
	Location of Bower Bird Battery in Queensland Bower Bird Battery (Australia)

Last updated March 16, 2019

Bower Bird Battery is a heritage-listed former stamper battery in the Mount Isa Mining District, Mount Isa, City of Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia. It was built from c. 1895 to c. 1909. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 13 December 2002.^[1]

The City of Mount Isa is a local government area in north west Queensland. The City covers the urban locality of Mount Isa, the administrative centre, and surrounding area, sharing a boundary with the Northern Territory to the west.

Queensland is the second-largest and third-most populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. To its north is the Torres Strait, with Papua New Guinea located less than 200 km across it from the mainland. The state is the world's sixth-largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 square kilometres (715,309 sq mi).

The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. The register is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council.

History

The Bower Bird Goldfield was proclaimed on 5 September 1895 - and incorporated into the Cloncurry Gold and Mineral Field on 9 January 1913. The area encompassing the Bower Bird workings generally consists of rugged ranges of quartzite cut by streams draining into the north flowing Leichhardt River.^[1]

Cloncurry, Queensland Town in Queensland, Australia

Cloncurry is a town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the shire. At the 2016 census, Cloncurry recorded a population of 2,719 people.

Quartzite is a hard, non-foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to grey, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink and red due to varying amounts of iron oxide (Fe₂O₃). Other colors, such as yellow, green, blue and orange, are due to other minerals.

The Leichhardt River is a river in north west Queensland, Australia.

Gold had been found at Bower Bird between 1870 and 1872. Fossickers (notably Bill McPhail) were prospecting the area before 1880 and Robert Logan Jack's 1882 maps show a "Bower Bird Goldfield" although no official returns were recorded until 1893. The first reef located was the Victoria and in 1884 it also provided the first stone for crushing which yielded 103 ounces (2,900 g) of gold from 17.2 long tons (17.5 t) of ore, which was carted some distance to the Soldier's Cap (Mount Freda) battery near Cloncurry for crushing.^[1]

Robert Logan Jack was Queensland government geologist for twenty years. There is a minor waterway on Cape York; Logan Jack Creek, whose outflow is located some 7 kilometres from Ussher Point, which is named after him.

The Bower Bird Battery of five stamps, four berdans, and concentrator was probably erected in 1895, after being relocated from other places. The stamper was already over 20 years old, having been manufactured in 1873. Between 1895 and 1897 the field's main producer the Victoria reef officially produced 930 long tons (940 t) of ore yielding 811 ounces (23,000 g) of gold before being abandoned, possibly due to drought. It is not known whether the battery was also abandoned at this time or continued processing ore from other nearby reefs, such as the Lily of the Valley, Bertha and Two Mile, which yielded patches of alluvial gold. After 1900, a small quantity of ore was carted from shafts on May Downs station to the Bower Bird battery for crushing, with unknown results.^[1]

By about 1895 the township, which was some distance from the battery consisted, of three stores, two hotels and a post office which closed in 1901.^[1]

In January 1904 it was reported in Cloncurry that the battery shed had burnt down. Although there is no record, the battery may have been rebuilt because in 1909 the Victoria Reef was reopened and produced a further 8.1 long tons (8.2 t) of ore yielding 11.5 ounces (330 g) of gold. Hooper records that the battery was renovated in 1908 as a five head battery with a Brown and Stanfield converter to treat ore from the Victory mine. A Commonwealth Government geologist, C.S. Honman, inspected the field in 1937 but did not report on the battery.^[1]

Description

The place, which is situated on a small flat on the side of a spinifex covered hill, contains an almost intact five head stamp battery and the remnants of a small battery shed. A large number of early surface workings extend along the line of reef on which the battery stands. A camp site is situated about 100 metres (330 ft) east of the battery. Immediately south and west of the stamp battery are several earth benches of the former battery shed. A number of non-insitu items of plant are located in the immediate vicinity including two berdan pans, a stamper belt wheel, a cog wheel, a small set of scales, a forge constructed from half of a ship's tank, and the base of a grinding pan. An area of confused diggings and old mullock dumps extends north of the stamps. Immediately east is a shallow open cut and associated shallow workings.^[1]

The camp site comprises two low enclosed wall structures of crude stone construction each with an attached external fireplace or forge. A stone forge and other low rock walls are also evident. The construction suggests that the camp was of canvas and/or bough shelters for which the stonework formed low walls. Recent (1994) exploration drill pad bulldozing between the camp and stamp battery has destroyed further evidence of the camp.^[1]

The surviving plant includes:^[1]

Five-head stamp battery and frame - P.N.Russell & Co Engineers Sydney 1873 No 160
2 berdan pans
Grinding pan base - no brand

Heritage listing

Bower Bird Battery was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 13 December 2002 having satisfied the following criteria.^[1]

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.

Bower Bird Creek Battery is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's early gold mining industry and is an example of the transitory settlements that were a result gold prospecting all over Queensland.^[1]

The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage.

The place is significant as a now rare example of a once representative gold battery and mining camp in a remote and semi-arid environment.^[1]

The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history.

The surrounding area contains numerous early workings and crude stone camp sites, which are comparatively undisturbed and may date from the 1890s occupation of the area by miners.^[1]

The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.

The five head stamp battery and frame was built by P N Russell and Co., Engineers of Sydney in 1873 and this is the earliest manufacture date on recorded batteries in North Queensland. It is the only intact stamp battery remaining in Western and North-West Queensland and may be the earliest surviving in Queensland.^[1]

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Bower Bird Battery (entry 601863)". Queensland Heritage Register . Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.

Attribution

This Wikipedia article was originally based on "The Queensland heritage register" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 7 July 2014, archived on 8 October 2014). The geo-coordinates were originally computed from the "Queensland heritage register boundaries" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 5 September 2014, archived on 15 October 2014).

External links

Media related to Bower Bird Battery at Wikimedia Commons

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[qhr-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Bower Bird Battery (entry 601863)". Queensland Heritage Register . Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.