Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company
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Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on the 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as Mount Lyell.
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[edit] Location
Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994. Its operations were based in Queenstown, Tasmania. In its processing of the ore, it was also able to extract significant amounts of silver and gold.
Following consolidation of leases and company assets at the beginning of the twentieth century, Mount Lyell was the major company for the communities of Queenstown, Strahan and Gormanston It remained dominant until its closure in 1994.
[edit] Operations
In the early stage of operations, Mount Lyell was surrounded by smaller competing leases and companies. Eventually they were all absorbed into Mount Lyell operations, or were closed down. In 1903 the North Mount Lyell company was taken over, and in 1912 the most severe calamity to visit the Mount Lyell company was the 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster, also known at the time as the North Lyell fire.
The operations were conducted in various parts of the Mount Lyell Lease, and in the mid 1970s, prior to reduction in the workforce, "Cape Horn" was located just west of the "Comstock" operation which was on the north side of Mount Lyell, while most of the North Mount Lyell workings were finished, "12 West" was still in operation due to its rich copper ores. "West Lyell open cut" which had been dominant in the 1950s was finished, and various parts of the lease were disappearing into the opening above the "Prince Lyell" workings.
Following the first large layoffs in the mid 1970s, the town of Queenstown lost its dominance on the west coast by the mid 1990s, and being mainly a company town many services closed by the 2000s. Also the separate west tasmanian local government authorities were amalgamated into the West Coast Council.
[edit] Production
The Mount Lyell mining operations produced more than a million tonnes of copper, 750 tonnes of silver and 45 tonnes of gold since mining commenced in the early 1890s - which is equivalent to over 4 billion dollars worth of metal in 1995 terms.
[edit] Exploration
During its history, Mount Lyell had exploration leases surrounding its main mining area, and had at one time or other explored most of the West Coast Range revisiting many of the smaller mines that had been worked on in the early 1900s.
As a consequence the Mount Lyell company had utilised considerable resources on maintaining leases over areas of promising geology - as well as checking older mining locations on the west coast. At various stages it also shared costs and resources with other companies who would assist by investing in exploration by beccoming partners in some leases.
[edit] Railway
Mount Lyell was also the operator of the Queenstown, Tasmania to Regatta Point, Tasmania railway from 1893 to 1963. This railway was rebuilt and recommenced operation in 2002 as the Abt Wilderness Railway, and is now known as the West Coast Wilderness Railway.
[edit] History and archives
The company has been significant in Australian business history works as Geoffrey Blainey, the Australian historian, began his career with the writing of the company history The Peaks of Lyell, which has now progressed to its sixth edition.
Also, due to circumstances at the winding up of Mount Lyell significant amounts of company records were deposited with Tasmanian state archives.
[edit] Legacy
Mount Lyell Remediation and Research and Demonstration Program was conducted between 1994 and 1996 following the closing of the company .- The Mt Lyell company had achieved long lasting ecological change upon the Queen and King Rivers, and Macquarie Harbour by releasing the mine waste and effluent into the rivers. It is estimated that 100 million tonnes of tailings were disposed of into the Queen River. The new company that took over the lease - Copper Mines of Tasmania - complied with government guidelines and created new tailings dams and took measures to prevent any further pollution of the rivers and harbour.
[edit] Successor
The Mount Lyell lease and mine was re opened by Copper Mines of Tasmania in 1995. This company in turn was acquired by Sterlite Industries an Indian based company in 1999. As a consequence it is part of the Vedanta group of companies. Its concentrate material is shipped to India for processing.
[edit] References
- Atkinson, H.K. (1991). Railway Tickets of Tasmania. ISBN 0-9598718-7-X.
- Blainey, Geoffrey (2000). The Peaks of Lyell, 6th ed., Hobart: St. David's Park Publishing. ISBN 0-7246-2265-9.
- Bradshaw, Noeline. The North Lyell Mining Disaster. Queenstown: Galley Museum Volunteer Committee. (Available at Galley Museum)
- Crawford, Patsy (2004). God Bless Little Sister. Margate: Red Hill Books. ISBN 0-9752152-0-5.
- McQuade, C.V. Johnston, J.F. and Innes, S.M Review of historical literature and data on the sources and quality of effluent from the Mount Lyell lease site Mount Lyell Remediation Research and Demonstration Program. Supervising Scientist Report 104, Supervising Scientist, Canberra. ISBN 0-642-24303-4
- Rae, Lou. The Abt Railway and Railways of the Lyell region. Sandy Bay: Lou Rae. ISBN 0-9592098-7-5.
- Whitham, Charles. Western Tasmania - A land of riches and beauty, Reprint 2003, Queenstown: Municipality of Queenstown.
- 2003 edition - Queenstown: Municipality of Queenstown.
- 1949 edition - Hobart: Davies Brothers. OCLC 48825404; ASIN B000FMPZ80
- 1924 edition - Queenstown: Mount Lyell Tourist Association. OCLC 35070001; ASIN B0008BM4XC
