Queen River, Tasmania

Last updated

Queen
Queen River.JPG
Relief Map of Tasmania.png
Red pog.svg
Location of the Queen River mouth in Tasmania
Location
Country Australia
State Tasmania
Region West Coast
City Queenstown
Physical characteristics
Source Mount Lyell, West Coast Range
 • location Gormanston
 • coordinates 42°0′56″S145°34′46″E / 42.01556°S 145.57944°E / -42.01556; 145.57944
Source confluenceWest Queen River and East Queen River
 • location Queenstown
 • coordinates 42°3′47″S145°33′30″E / 42.06306°S 145.55833°E / -42.06306; 145.55833
 • elevation164 m (538 ft)
Mouth King River
 • coordinates
 42°09′23″S145°31′42″E / 42.15639°S 145.52833°E / -42.15639; 145.52833
 • elevation
60 m (200 ft)
Length13 km (8.1 mi)
[1]

The Queen River, part of the King River catchment, is a minor perennial river located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. It is notable for its high level of pollution caused by mining runoff which has led the river to be uninhabitable to life.

Contents

Course and features

The Queen River rises below Gormanston, sourced by runoff from the West Coast Range and in particular the peaks of Mount Lyell and Mount Owen. The two branches of the river, West Queen River and East Queen River, merge north of Queenstown and flow through the city and continue south, joined by one minor tributary before reaching its confluence with the King River.

The river valley is low-lying and narrow, and the subsequent fogs are notable in their effect, some created by smelter fumes in earlier years. [2] [3] [4]

In April 1906, a significant flooding occurred in Queenstown and the southern part of the town due to the river overflowing. [5] [6] Subsequent recorded floods include in 1922, [7] 1937 [8] and 1954. [9]

Tailings

For over 80 years the main carrier of Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company mining residue, and the local sewage. It is estimated that 100 million tonnes (98,000,000 long tons) of tailings were disposed of into the Queen River. [10] This in turn flowed into the lower part of the King River, and then into a delta at the mouth of the river where it met Macquarie Harbour. [11] [12] This 'acid mine drainage' is derived from water leaching through the exposed and oxidised sulfide rocks. When it was in operation, the fumes from the ore smelter produced acid rain which also leached minerals from the bare Queenstown hills.

Following the Mount Lyell Remediation and Research and Demonstration Program with the construction of tailings dams, and general reduction of waste into this river, the river flow is now rusty in colour rather than silvery grey as it was previously.

In 1992 the King River was dammed above the confluence with the Queen River to generate hydroelectric power at the Crotty Dam. This changed the flow regime in the King River, and affected the way tailings were transported through the river system. The tailings in the river greatly affect the water quality.

Since the closure of the mine in late 1995, and the construction of a tailings dam by the new operators, tailings no longer enter the river system. However, acid water continues to enter the river due to mine dewatering and run-off from the waste rock dumps. Without the buffering previously provided by the alkaline tailings, the acidity in the Queen and King rivers has increased, and dissolved metal concentrations have greatly increased-to levels completely inhospitable to life.

The river passes under and adjacent to the revitalised railway now known as the West Coast Wilderness Railway. South of Queenstown on the edge of the river is the early settlement of Lynchford where a gold mine and other mining activity supported a small community in the early days of the railway. [13]

In October 2018, TasDance dancers performed in the river, as part of The Unconformity festival, to create awareness of the effects mining pollution has on river systems. The performance was entitled "Junjeiri Bullun, Gurul Gaureima" (which translates to "Shallow Water, Deep Stories") and depicted native animals moving through the water while also exploring local indigenous history. [14]

See also

river in the 1970s Queen River in the 1970s.jpg
river in the 1970s

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queenstown, Tasmania</span> Town in Tasmania, Australia

Queenstown is a town in the West Coast region of the island of Tasmania, Australia. It is in a valley on the western slopes of Mount Owen on the West Coast Range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King River (Tasmania)</span> River in Tasmania, Australia

The King River is a major perennial river in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyell Highway</span> Highway in Western and Central Tasmania

The Lyell Highway is a highway in Tasmania, running from Hobart to Queenstown. It is the one of two transport routes that passes through the West Coast Range, the other being the B28 Anthony Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Coast Range</span> Mountain range in Tasmania, Australia

The West Coast Range is a mountain range located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.

Lake Margaret is a concrete-faced gravity dam with an uncontrolled spillway across the Yolande River, located on the north side of Mount Sedgwick, in the West Coast Range, West Coast of Tasmania, Australia.

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.

Gormanston is a town in Tasmania on the slopes of Mount Owen, above the town of Queenstown in Tasmania's West Coast. In the 2016 census, Gormanston had a population of 17.

Crotty is the site of a former gazetted town in Western Tasmania, Australia. The town was on the southern bank of the King River, on the eastern lower slopes of Mount Jukes, below the West Coast Range. The locality was formerly named King River

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Mount Lyell Railway</span> Former railway company in Tasmania, Australia

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.

The Mount Jukes mine sites were a series of short-lived, small mine workings high on the upper regions of Mount Jukes in the West Coast Range on the West Coast of Tasmania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Burbury</span> Lake in Tasmania, Australia

Lake Burbury is a man-made water reservoir created by the Crotty Dam inundating the upper King River valley that lies east of the West Coast Range. Discharge from the reservoir feeds the John Butters Hydroelectric Power Station, owned and operated by Hydro Tasmania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Huxley (Tasmania)</span> Mountain in Western Tasmania, Australia

Mount Huxley is a mountain located on the West Coast Range in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. With an elevation of 926 metres (3,038 ft) above sea level, the mountain was named by Charles Gould in 1863 in honour of Professor Thomas Henry Huxley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Jukes (Tasmania)</span> Mountain in Western Tasmania, Australia

Mount Jukes is a mountain located on the Jukes Range, a spur off the West Coast Range, in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crotty Dam</span> Dam in Western Tasmania, Australia

The Crotty Dam, also known during construction as the King Dam, or the King River Dam on initial approval, is a rockfill embankment dam with a controlled and uncontrolled spillway across the King River, between Mount Jukes and Mount Huxley, located in Western Tasmania, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darwin Dam</span> Dam in Tasmania, Australia

The Darwin Dam is an offstream earthfill embankment saddle dam without a spillway, located in Western Tasmania, Australia. The impounded reservoir, also formed by Crotty Dam, is called Lake Burbury.

The Mount Lyell Remediation and Research and Demonstration Program was a joint rehabilitation programme between the Supervising Scientist Australia and the Department of Environment and Land Management, Tasmania to clean up the King River, Queen River and Macquarie Harbour.

James Crotty was an Irish-born Australian mining prospector who formed a mining company, the North Mount Lyell mining company, in the western region of Tasmania, just before the turn of the twentieth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Coast Wilderness Railway</span> Rebuilt railway between Queenstown and Strahan, Western Tasmania, Australia

The West Coast Wilderness Railway is a reconstruction of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Mount Lyell railway in Western Tasmania between Queenstown and Regatta Point, Strahan. The railway is significant because of its Abt rack system to conquer the mountainous terrain through rainforest, with original locomotives still operating on the railway today. Now operating as a tourist experience with a focus on sharing the history of Tasmania's West Coast, the original railway began operations in 1897 as the only link between Queenstown and the port of Strahan.

The Unconformity is an arts festival held in Queenstown, Tasmania in Australia.

References

  1. ↑ "Map of Queen River, TAS". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "FOG AT QUEENSTOWN". Launceston Examiner . Tas. 28 June 1899. p. 6. Retrieved 19 June 2015– via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "A DENSE FOG". The Examiner (DAILY ed.). Launceston, Tas. 7 July 1905. p. 6. Retrieved 19 June 2015– via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "QUEENSTOWN". Zeehan and Dundas Herald . Tas. 22 June 1914. p. 4. Retrieved 19 June 2015– via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "HEAVY FLOODS IN TASMANIA". The Register . Adelaide. 19 April 1906. p. 5. Retrieved 19 June 2015– via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "FLOODS IN TASMANIA". The Argus . No. 18, 644. Victoria, Australia. 19 April 1906. p. 5. Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "Queen River". The Mercury . Vol. CXVIII, no. 17, 294. Tasmania, Australia. 10 March 1923. p. 7. Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Queenstown Council". The Advocate (Tasmania) . Tasmania, Australia. 3 April 1937. p. 8. Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "Close Watch on Rail Bridges". The Examiner (Tasmania) . Vol. CXIII, no. 45. Tasmania, Australia. 4 May 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 6 November 2016– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "Locals fear mine pollution turning Queen River into 'Pumpkin Soup Creek'". ABC News. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  11. ↑ Davies, P.; Mitchell, N.; Barmuta, L. (1996). The impact of historical mining operations at Mount Lyell on the water quality and biological health of the King and Queen River catchments, western Tasmania. Canberra: Supervising Scientist Report 118, Supervising Scientist. ISBN   0-642-24317-4.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  12. ↑ McQuade, C. V.; Johnston, J. F.; Innes, S. M. (23 August 1995). Review of historical literature and data on the sources and quality of effluent from the Mount Lyell lease site. Canberra: Supervising Scientist Report 104, Supervising Scientist. ISBN   0-642-24303-4.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  13. ↑ Rae, Lou (2001). The Abt Railway and Railways of the Lyell region. Sandy Bay: Lou Rae. ISBN   0-9592098-7-5.
  14. ↑ (20 October 2018) Unconformity festival dancers make splash in Queenstown's toxic orange river, ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 20 October 2018.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.