Waratah, Tasmania

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Waratah Falls in Waratah with part of the town in the background
Waratah Falls in Waratah with part of the town in the background

Waratah is a town in western Tasmania. It was constructed to support a tin mine at Mount Bischoff. The town is built at the top of a waterfall, and water was diverted from the stream to provide water for mine sluicing and processing.

Tin was discovered at Mount Bischoff by James "Philosopher" Smith in 1871. The mine operated successfully at first. The easy ore was all extracted by 1893 when sluicing was discontinued. Mining continued opencut on the face of the mountain, and underground. The underground mine closed in 1914, but surface mining continued for some time before it also ceased after the price of tin slumped in 1929. The mine was reopened by the Commonwealth Government in 1942 to support the war effort, but it finally closed in 1947.[1]

It has a postcode of 7321.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Interpretive sign at the former mine site
  • Haygarth, Nic Baron Bischoff: Philosopher Smith and the Birth of Tasmanian Mining 2004. ISBN 0-9585831-1-0

[edit] External link

Coordinates: 41°26′S 145°31′E


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