List of mines of the West Coast, Tasmania

The mines of the West Coast of Tasmania have a rich historical heritage as well as an important mineralogical value in containing or having had found, specimens of rare and unusual minerals. Also, the various mining fields have important roles in the understanding of the mineralization of the Mount Read Volcanics, and the occurrence of economic minerals.

List of named mines

The list below is a partial collation of the names of mines that have existed, a considerable number are found on or adjacent to the West Coast Range. Other mines and leases with different names may have existed.

Notes

• The place names after the name of the mine are as found in records, and may not be accurate.
• Where possible, subheadings are created for entries such as Mount Lyell, where different workings at the mine were named, and some common usages do not necessarily relate to company or Mines Department records
• It is not a list of exploration leases, or "finds" where a mineral has been found on the west coast.

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* Adelaide Proprietary Mine, ^[1] Dundas

• Austral Mine, ^[2] Zeehan
• Boulder Mine, ^[3] North Dundas ^{[4] [5]}
• Britannia Mine, ^[6] Zeehan
• British-Zeehan Mine, Zeehan ^[7]
• Central Balstrup Mine, Zeehan ^[8]
• Colebrook Mine, Rosebery ^[9]
• Comet Mine, Dundas ^[10]
• Comstock Mine, Zeehan ^[11]
• Cumberland Tin Mine, Mount Heemskirk ^[12]
• Curtin Davis Mine, Dundas ^[13]
• Dundas Extended, Dundas ^[14]
• East Hercules Mine, Rosebery ^[15]
• Farrell Mine, Tullah (also as North Farrell) ^[16]
• Federation Mine, Mount Heemskirk ^[17]
• Fraser Creek Mine, North East Dundas ^[18]
• Grubbs Mine, Zeehan ^[19]
• Hal Jukes, Mount Jukes ^[20]
• Hecla Curtin Mine, Dundas ^[21]
• Henty Gold Mine, Henty River
• Hercules Mine, Mount Read
• Hydes, Mount Jukes (West) ^[22]
• Jukes Proprietary, Mount Jukes ^[23]
• Junction Mine, Zeehan ^[24]
• King Jukes Mine, Crotty ^{[25] [26]}
• Lake Jukes, Crotty ^[27]
• Magnet Mine, Waratah ^[28]
• Maynes Mine, Mount Heemskirk ^[29]
• Melba Mine, North Dundas ^[30]
• Montana Mine, Zeehan ^[31]
• Montana Western Extended Mine ^[32]
• Mount Black Mine, Rosbery ^[33]
• Mount Bischoff tin mine, Mount Bischoff
• Mount Darwin, ^[34] Mount Darwin, ^[34]
• Mount Farrell Mine, Tullah ^[35]
• Mount Lindsay Mine, Parsons Hood ^[36]
• Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company operations at Mount Lyell, Queenstown
  • Cape Horn ^[37]
  • Comstock (also known as Lyell Comstock, in close proximity to Cape Horn) ^[38]
  • Crown Lyell ^[38]
  • Flux Quarry
  • Iron Blow – site lost with opening of the large open cut ^{[39] [40]}
  • Lyell Blocks ^[41]
  • Open Cut (see also West Lyell Open Cut)
  • Prince Lyell ^{[42] [43]}
  • Royal Tharsis Open cut
  • Royal Tharsis underground ^{[44] [45]}
  • Tharsis
  • Twelve West
  • West Lyell (also known as the West Lyell Open Cut) ^{[46] [47]}
  • West Tharsis
• North Farrell Mine, Tullah ^[48]
• North Mount Lyell, Gormanston
• Oonah Mine, Zeehan ^[49]
• Queen Jukes, Mount Jukes ^[50]
• Prince Darwin, Mount Darwin ^[51]
• Razorback Mine, Dundas ^[52]
• Renison Bell Mine, Renison Bell
• Silver Queen Mine, Zeehan ^{[53] [54]}
• Silversteam Mine, Zeehan ^[55]
• Spray Mine, Zeehan ^[56]
• Susanite Mine, Zeehan ^[57]
• Tasmanian Copper Mine, Rosebery ^[58]
• Taylours Reward, Mount Jukes ^[59]
• Tenth Legion Mine, Zeehan ^[60]
• West Comet Mine, Dundas ^[61]

List of mining field names

There are also designated mineral or mining 'fields' by government authority.

• Dundas ^[62]
• Jukes-Darwin Mining Field ^[63]
• Mount Farrell Mining Field ^[64]
• North Dundas ^[65]
• North Heemskirk ^[66]
• Read – Rosebery ^[67]
• Rosebery ^[68]
• South Heemskirk ^[69]
• Zeehan ^{[70] [71] [72]}

Mining fields 1881-1890

Earlier informally named areas - Source: Binks 1988 - map 3 - pages 54–55 ^[73]

• Corrinna alluvial gold field ^[74]
• South Heemskirk tin field ^[75]
• Zeehan silver-lead field ^[76]
• Dundas silver-lead field ^[77]
• North East Dundas gold field, Ring River ^[78]
• King River gold mine ^[79]
• Princess River gold mine ^[80]
• Linda gold field ^[81]

Smelters

• Crotty ^{[82] [83]}
• Mount Lyell ^[84]
• Tasmanian Metals Extraction Company, Rosebery, smelter ^[85]

Railways, trams and haulages

Main article: Railways on the West Coast of Tasmania

Training and educational

• Mt Lyell School of Mines and Industries in Queenstown ^{[86] [87] [88]}
• Zeehan School of Mines and Metallurgy

See also

• Geology of Tasmania
• West Coast Range

Notes

1. "MANAGERS' REPORTS". Launceston Examiner . Tas. 13 October 1893. p. 6. Retrieved 9 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
2. Note that newspaper reports call this mine the 'Austral Valley Mine' "ZEEHAN". The Daily Telegraph . Launceston, Tasmania. 11 January 1908. p. 7. Retrieved 9 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
3. "NORTH DUNDAS TINFIELD". The Examiner (DAILY ed.). Launceston, Tasmania. 11 June 1909. p. 2. Retrieved 9 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
4. Waller, George A; Tasmania. Government Geologist's Office (1902), Report on the tin ore deposits of North Dundas, Government Geologist's Office, retrieved 9 February 2015
5. Conder, Hartwell; Tasmania. Department of Mines (1918), The tin field of North Dundas, Dept. of Mines, retrieved 9 February 2015
6. "ZEEHAN MINES". The Daily Telegraph . Launceston, Tasmania. 26 October 1923. p. 2. Retrieved 9 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
7. "BRITISH ZEEHAN". The Daily Telegraph . Launceston, Tasmania. 4 August 1900. p. 8. Retrieved 22 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
8. "CENTRAL BALSTRUP". The Daily Telegraph . Vol. XXVI, no. 209. Tasmania. 1 September 1906. p. 4. Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
9. "COLEBROOK MINE". The Daily Telegraph . Vol. XXVIII, no. 235. Tasmania. 30 September 1908. p. 2. Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
10. "MINING MEETINGS". The Examiner (DAILY ed.). Launceston, Tasmania. 25 December 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 22 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
11. "ZEEHAN COMSTOCK MINE". The Examiner . Vol. LXV, no. 282. Tasmania, Australia. 26 November 1906. p. 2edition=DAILY. Retrieved 9 July 2017– via National Library of Australia.
12. "MINING MEETINGS". Launceston Examiner . Tas. 24 December 1880. p. 2. Retrieved 22 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
13. "NO. 1. CURTIN-DAVIS MINE". The Daily Telegraph . Vol. XVII, no. 149. Tasmania. 26 June 1897. p. 6. Retrieved 5 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
14. "DUNDAS EXTENDED". The Daily Telegraph . Vol. XXI, no. 127. Tasmania. 29 May 1901. p. 8. Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
15. "MINING NEWS". The Advertiser . Adelaide. 6 April 1915. p. 10. Retrieved 22 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
16. "NORTH MOUNT FARRELL". The Examiner . Vol. LXXIV, no. 100. Tasmania. 28 April 1915. p. 2 (DAILY). Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
17. "Report on the Federation Tin Mine, Heemskirk". Zeehan and Dundas Herald . Vol. XXXII, no. 59. Tasmania. 21 December 1920. p. 2. Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
18. "WEST COAST MINING". The Mercury . Vol. CVII, no. 14,973. Tasmania, Australia. 16 October 1917. p. 8. Retrieved 9 July 2017– via National Library of Australia.
19. Although a report about of number of mines, Grubbs is in the middle of the article "ZEEHAN". Launceston Examiner . Vol. LIII, no. 193. Tasmania. 15 August 1893. p. 6. Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
20. "HAL JUKES SYNDICATE". Mount Lyell Standard & Strahan Gazette . Vol. 2, no. 109. Tasmania, Australia. 25 May 1898. p. 3. Retrieved 9 July 2017– via National Library of Australia.
21. "HECLA CURTIN MINE". Launceston Examiner . Vol. LVII, no. 131. Tasmania. 3 June 1897. p. 3. Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
22. "HYDE'S SECTIONS". Zeehan and Dundas Herald . Vol. XVI, no. 125. Tasmania. 10 March 1905. p. 4. Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
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25. "KING JUKES MINE". Launceston Examiner . Tas. 19 October 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 22 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
26. "MT. JUKES COPPER FIELD". The Argus . Melbourne. 2 October 1899. p. 9. Retrieved 22 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
27. "LAKE JUKES MINE". The Examiner (DAILY ed.). Launceston, Tasmania. 5 October 1904. p. 2. Retrieved 22 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
28. How, Duncan (1992), Historic mines of Western Tasmania: a walking guide, Walk the West Publications, ISBN   978-0-646-10651-9 page 10
29. "A NEW TIN FIND". The Daily Telegraph . Launceston, Tasmania. 18 April 1902. p. 4. Retrieved 22 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
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41. referring to the Blocks company "LYELL". Zeehan and Dundas Herald . Tas. 19 March 1913. p. 4. Retrieved 9 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
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45. Godsall, William J. D (1997), Alteration as a vector to copper mineralisation in the Royal Tharsis deposit, Mount Lyell mineral field (Thesis), retrieved 6 November 2016
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47. "Lyell Open Cut To Be Further Developed". The Examiner (Tasmania) . Vol. CXII, no. 242. Tasmania, Australia. 19 December 1953. p. 12. Retrieved 10 March 2023– via National Library of Australia.
48. "NORTH FARRELL". The Examiner (Tasmania) . Vol. LXIX, no. 219. Tasmania, Australia. 14 September 1910. p. 2 (DAILY). Retrieved 10 March 2023– via National Library of Australia.
49. "THE OONAH MINE". The Examiner (DAILY ed.). Launceston, Tasmania. 21 February 1910. p. 2. Retrieved 25 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
50. "QUEEN JUKES". The Mount Lyell Standard And Strahan Gazette . Vol. 2, no. 113. Tasmania, Australia. 8 June 1898. p. 4. Retrieved 10 March 2023– via National Library of Australia.
51. "PRINCE DARWIN MINE". Launceston Examiner . Vol. LIX, no. 154. Tasmania, Australia. 29 June 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 10 March 2023– via National Library of Australia.
52. "RAZORBACK MINE, DUNDAS". The Mercury . Hobart. 16 April 1924. p. 4. Retrieved 25 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
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54. "THE SILVER QUEEN". The Daily Telegraph . Launceston, Tasmania. 8 June 1894. p. 3. Retrieved 25 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
55. "THE SILVERSTREAM FORFEITURE". Daily Telegraph . Vol. XVII, no. 98. Tasmania, Australia. 27 April 1897. p. 3. Retrieved 9 July 2017– via National Library of Australia.
56. "THE SPRAY MINE". The Examiner (DAILY ed.). Launceston, Tasmania. 7 October 1908. p. 2. Retrieved 25 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
57. "ZEEHAN". Launceston Examiner . Vol. LIII, no. 193. Tasmania. 15 August 1893. p. 6. Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
58. "TASMANIAN COPPER CO. (LATER ROSEBERY)". Mount Lyell Standard & Strahan Gazette . Vol. 3, no. 220. Tasmania, Australia. 1 March 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 9 July 2017– via National Library of Australia.
59. "IMPORTANT DISCOVERY". Daily Telegraph . Vol. XXIX, no. 14. Tasmania, Australia. 18 January 1909. p. 2. Retrieved 9 July 2017– via National Library of Australia.
60. "ZEEHAN AND DISTRICT". The Daily Telegraph . Launceston, Tasmania. 6 November 1900. p. 3. Retrieved 25 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
61. "DUNDAS". The Daily Telegraph . Vol. XVI, no. 177. Tasmania. 25 July 1896. p. 5. Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
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66. "North Heemskirk". Launceston Examiner . Tas. 21 July 1882. p. 3. Retrieved 9 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
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82. "CROTTY". The Daily Telegraph . Launceston, Tasmania. 18 November 1902. p. 6. Retrieved 10 February 2015– via National Library of Australia.
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References

• Blainey, Geoffrey (2000). The Peaks of Lyell (6th ed.). Hobart: St. David's Park Publishing. ISBN   0-7246-2265-9.
• How, Duncan (1992). Historic Mines of Western Tasmania, a walking guide. Walk the West Publications. ISBN   0-646-10651-1.
• Pink, Kerry (1984). The west coast story: a history of Western Tasmania and its mining fields (Rev. ed.). Zeehan, Tasmania: West Coast Pioneers' Memorial Museum. ISBN   0-9598295-2-0.
• Rae (2001). The Abt Railway and Railways of the Lyell region. Sandy Bay: Lou Rae. ISBN   0-9592098-7-5.
• Tuma, Andrew and Bottrill, R.S.(2006) "The minerals of Western Tasmania:Introduction, history and geological setting" in Australian Journal of Mineralogy, volume 12, No.2, December 2006
• Whitham, Charles (2003). Western Tasmania – A land of riches and beauty (Reprint 2003 ed.). Queenstown: Municipality of Queenstown.
• Whitham, Lindsay (2002). Railways, Mines, Pubs and People and other historical research. Sandy Bay: Tasmanian Historical Research Association. ISBN   0-909479-21-6.