Mathinna, Tasmania

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Mathinna
Tasmania
Population: 195 (2006)[1]
Postcode: 7214
Elevation: 300 m (984 ft)
Location:
LGA: Break O'Day Council
State District: Lyons
Federal Division: Lyons

Mathinna is a small Australian town located in the north-east of Tasmania, 63 km east of Launceston. It was named after a young Aboriginal girl befriended by the Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land, Sir John Franklin and his wife, Lady Jane Franklin.[2]

The town became established as a gold mining centre, shortly after gold was discovered in the area in the 1890s. The Golden Gate Mine in Mathinna was one of Tasmania's highest-yield gold mines, second only to Beaconsfield. At its peak in the late 1890s, the town sustained a population of over 5,000, including a large number of Chinese miners, making it the third largest town in Tasmania at the time.[3] Melbourne-based mining company Riltec made a failed attempt to re-establish the Golden Gate mine in 1994[4], although recent gold mining efforts have been more successful, with a production target of 70,000 ounces made for the Mathinna mine in 2006.[5]

Premier of Tasmania Eric Reece, was born in the town in 1909.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). Mathinna (State Suburb). 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
  2. ^ Tasmanian Personalities - Mathinna], Discover Tasmania. Retrieved on 27 May 2007.
  3. ^ Community History - Mathinna, Fingal Online Access Centre (Tasmanian Communities Online). Retrieved on 27 May 2007.
  4. ^ Making a Nation - About Mathinna, The Examiner. Retrieved on 27 May 2007.
  5. ^ Gold exploration ramping up in state's north east, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 29 May 2006. Retrieved on 27 May 2007.
  6. ^ The Parliament of Tasmania from 1856 - Eric Reece, Government of Tasmania. Retrieved on 27 May 2007.

[edit] External links


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