 Former open cut mine at Mount Bischoff (2006) | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
  Mount Bischoff Location in Tasmania | |
| Location | North West region |
| State | Tasmania |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 41°25′12″S145°31′12″E / 41.42000°S 145.52000°E [1] |
| Production | |
| Products | Tin |
| History | |
| Active |
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| Owner | |
| Company |
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| Website | metalsx |
Mount Bischoff is a mountain and former tin mine in the north-western region of Tasmania, Australia. The mountain is situated adjacent to Savage River National Park, near the town of Waratah.
The mountain was named in the early nineteenth century after the chairman of the Van Diemen's Land Company, James Bischoff. Tin was discovered there in 1871 by James "Philosopher" Smith. [2]
The first operator of the mine was the Mount Bischoff Tin Mining Company, [3] which used a sluice supplied with water from the top of the waterfall in Waratah. [4] [5] In June 1883, the mine installed one of the first hydro-electric generators in Australia, using it to light the offices, workshop and manager's house. [6] [7]
The easy ore had all been extracted by 1893, when sluicing was discontinued. Mining continued as an open-cut on the face of the mountain, as well as underground. The manager of the mine from 1907 to 1919 was John Dunlop Millen, who was "credited with the modernisation of the mine’s facilities and was regarded by all those associated with the mine’s operations as an effective manager". [8] The underground mine closed in 1914, although surface mining continued for some time, ceasing after the price of tin slumped in 1929. In 1942, the mine was reopened by the Commonwealth Government to support the war effort, but it closed again in 1947. [9]
Between 1900 and mid-1940, the mine was connected to the Emu Bay Railway by the Waratah Branch of that railway, which ran from Guildford Junction to Waratah.
In 2008, after several earlier minor attempts, Metals X Limited, a Perth-based tin mining company, through its subsidiary Bluestone Mines Tasmania Pty Ltd, the operator of the Renison Bell tin mine, decided to mine the remaining ore at Mount Bischoff, to blend with ore from its Renison Bell operation. A large open cut operation, taking in all the old historic workings, was developed , with the ore being trucked 80 kilometres (50 mi) to the Renison Bell processing plant. At the time, ore reserves at Mount Bischoff were estimated to be 845,000 tonnes (832,000 long tons) grading at 1.20 percent tin. In 2009/10 198,000 tonnes (195,000 long tons) of ore was mined at the Mount Bischoff open-cut, which produced 6,267 tonnes (6,168 long tons) of tin in concentrate.
By 2015, the mine at Mount Bischoff was on care and maintenance, but Bluestone Mines Tasmania Pty Ltd was continuing its exploration program. [10]
The history of Tasmania begins at the end of the Last Glacial Period when it is believed that the island was joined to the Australian mainland. Little is known of the human history of the island until the British colonisation of Tasmania in the 19th century.
The King River is a major perennial river in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia 139 kilometres (86 mi) south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan and neighbouring mining towns of Rosebery and Queenstown.
The West Coast of Tasmania is one of the regions of Tasmania in Australia. It is mainly isolated rough country and is associated with wilderness, mining and tourism. It served as the location of an early convict settlement in the early history of Van Diemen's Land, and contrasts sharply with the more developed and populous northern and eastern parts of the island state.
Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as Mount Lyell. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in Queenstown, Tasmania.
The Melba Line is a 1,067 mm narrow-gauge railway on the West Coast of Tasmania. The line was originally constructed as a private railway line named the Emu Bay Railway and was one of the longest-lasting and most successful private railway companies in Australia. While at present the line travels from Burnie to Melba Flats, it previously ran through to Zeehan carrying minerals and passengers as an essential service for the West Coast community.
Renison Bell is an underground tin mine and locality on the West Coast of Tasmania, Australia.
Mount Read is a mountain located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia, and is at the north west edge of the West Coast Range.
The North Mount Lyell Railway was built to operate between the North Mount Lyell mine in West Coast Tasmania and Pillinger in the Kelly Basin of Macquarie Harbour.
William Harper Twelvetrees was an English geologist who was important for the characterisation of the geology of Tasmania.
Waratah is a locality and town in North Western Tasmania adjacent to Savage River National Park. The town was constructed to support a tin mine at Mount Bischoff. It is built at the top of a waterfall, and water was diverted from the stream to provide water for mine sluicing and processing. At the 2021 census, Waratah had a population of 249. It was also the first town in Australia to have electric street lights in 1886.
Tullah is a town in the northern part of the West Coast Range, on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia, about 111 km south of Burnie. The town has a population of approximately 202 people.
The Moorina Power Station is a decommissioned hydroelectric power station, located near the hamlet of Moorina in far north-eastern Tasmania, Australia. Opened in 1909 and decommissioned in 2008, at the time of its closure, Moorina Power Station was the oldest operating electricity generator in Australia.
James (Philosopher) Smith was a politician, goldminer, explorer and discoverer of tin reserves in Tasmania, Australia including the Mount Bischoff mine.
Derby is a town in north-east Tasmania, Australia, situated at the intersection of the Cascade and Ringarooma Rivers.
The Anthony Power Development Scheme, part of the Pieman River power development scheme, was a proposed scheme for damming parts of the upper catchment of the Pieman River in Western Tasmania, Australia.
John Dunlop Millen was an Australian engineer and politician. He served as a Senator for Tasmania from 1920 to 1938, representing the Nationalist Party until 1931 and then the United Australia Party (UAP). He managed the Mount Bischoff tin mine before entering politics and served a term as president of the Institution of Engineers, Australia.
The Emu Bay Railway was a Tasmania, Australian railway company. The railway was significant during full operation, in that it linked the Tasmanian Government Railways system at Burnie with that at Zeehan that further linked to the Mount Lyell railway allowing connection through to Queenstown.
Heinrich Wilhelm Ferdinand "Ferd" Kayser, was the mine manager of Mount Bischoff Tin Mining Company for thirty years.
