Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company
Encyclopedia
Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

n mining company formed on the 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as Mount Lyell. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 mining company of the West Coast
West Coast, Tasmania
The West Coast of Tasmania is the part of the state that is strongly associated with wilderness, mining and tourism, rough country and isolation...

 from 1893 to 1994, and was based in Queenstown, Tasmania
Queenstown, Tasmania
Queenstown is a town in the West Coast region of the island of Tasmania. It is located in a valley on western slopes of Mount Owen on the West Coast Range.It had a population of 5,119 people . At the 2006 census, Queenstown had a population of 2,117....

.

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
Strahan, Tasmania
-See also:* Convicts on the West Coast of Tasmania* Macquarie Harbour* Railways on the West Coast of Tasmania* West Coast Piners-Further reading:* *...

 and Gormanston
Gormanston, Tasmania
Gormanston is a town in Tasmania on the slopes of Mount Owen, above the town of Queenstown in Tasmania's West Coast. At the 2006 census, Gormanston had a population of 167....

  It remained dominant until its closure in 1994.

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.

History

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
1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster
The 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster refers to a fire that broke out on 12 October 1912 at the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company operations on the West Coast of Tasmania...

, also known at the time as the North Lyell fire.

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
West Coast Range (Tasmania)
The West Coast Range of Tasmania is a group of mountains in the West Coast area of Tasmania in Australia that lies to the west of the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park...

 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 becoming partners in some leases.

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, and the separate west Tasmanian local government authorities were amalgamated into the West Coast Council
West Coast Council
The West Coast Council is a Local Government Area of Tasmania. It covers much of the west of Tasmania. It is the largest Local Government Area of Tasmania by area, and the second least densely populated, after the Central Highlands. It takes in the West Coast Range as well as portions of World...

.

Centenary

On the 29th March 1993 the company celebrated its centenary. At that stage it was known as the Copper Division of Renison Goldfields Consolidated Limited.
The Mount Lyell Mining Field, and the various activities of the company in Queenstown and the west coast of Tasmania were celebrated throughout the community.

Current

The Mount Lyell Remediation and Research and Demonstration Program
Mount Lyell Remediation and Research and Demonstration Program
The Mount Lyell Remediation and Research and Demonstration Program was a joint program 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 following 100 years of mine waste and...

 was conducted between 1994 and 1996 following the closing of the company, to reverse the ecological change upon the Queen
Queen River
The Queen River is a river that flows through Queenstown Tasmania, to the west of the West Coast Range in particular Mount Lyell and Mount Owen....

 and King Rivers
King River (Tasmania)
- Upper reaches :It rises in the vicinity of the Eldon Range, passes through the West Coast Range between Mount Huxley and Mount Jukes and empties in Macquarie Harbour near Strahan....

, and Macquarie Harbour
Macquarie Harbour
Macquarie Harbour is a large, shallow, but navigable by shallow draft vessels inlet on the West Coast of Tasmania, Australia.-History:James Kelly wrote in his narrative "First Discovery of Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour" how he sailed from Hobart in a small open five-oared whaleboat to discover...

; caused by the release of mine waste and effluent into the rivers. It is estimated that 100 million tonnes of tailings were disposed of into the Queen River.

The Mount Lyell lease and mine was reopened by Copper Mines of Tasmania
Copper Mines of Tasmania
Copper Mines of TasmaniaIs the name of the successor company to the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company that operated in Queenstown, Tasmania for just short of one hundred years....

  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. Government guidelines saw tailings dams created and special measures taken prevent any further pollution of the rivers and harbour.

Mine Operation

The following locations were within the operating mine lease and indicate a separate orebody - the operating life is also indicated : -
  • Iron Blow
    Iron Blow
    Iron Blow was the site of the earliest major mining venture at Mount Lyell on the west coast of Tasmania in 1883. It was above the location where Steve Karlson, Michael McDonough, and William McDonough were camped in the area on a ridge between mountains of the West Coast Range.-Original...

      1883 - 1929
  • North Lyell 1896 - 1972
  • Royal Tharsis 1902 - 1991
  • Lyell Comstock 1913 - 1959
  • Crown Lyell 1931 - 1985
  • West Lyell Open Cut 1934 - 1978
  • Cape Horn 1969 - 1987
  • Prince Lyell Mine 1969 -

Railway

see West Coast Wilderness Railway
West Coast Wilderness Railway
The West Coast Wilderness Railway, Tasmania is a reconstruction of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company railway between Queenstown and Regatta Point...

 for more details


Mount Lyell was also the operator of the Queenstown
Queenstown, Tasmania
Queenstown is a town in the West Coast region of the island of Tasmania. It is located in a valley on western slopes of Mount Owen on the West Coast Range.It had a population of 5,119 people . At the 2006 census, Queenstown had a population of 2,117....

 to Regatta Point
Regatta Point, Tasmania
Regatta Point is the location of a port and rail terminus in West Coast Tasmania, Australia- Port :Regatta Point is often assumed into the name of the locality across the bay in Macquarie Harbour, Strahan, Tasmania...

 railway from 1893 to 1963, which used the Abt rack system of cog railway for steep sections. This railway was rebuilt and recommenced operation in 2002 as the Abt Wilderness Railway, and is now known as the West Coast Wilderness Railway operated by Federal Hotels.

Archives

The company has been significant in Australian business history works as Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Norman Blainey AC , is a prominent Australian historian.Blainey was born in Melbourne and raised in a series of Victorian country towns before attending Wesley College and the University of Melbourne. While at university he was editor of Farrago, the newspaper of the University of...

, the Australian historian, began his career with the writing of the company history The Peaks of Lyell
The peaks of lyell
The Peaks of Lyell is a book by Geoffrey Blainey, originally published in 1954. It contains the history of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company, and through association, Queenstown and further the West Coast Tasmania...

, 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.

Further reading

(Available at Galley Museum)
  • 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
2003 edition - Queenstown: Municipality of Queenstown.
1949 edition - Hobart: Davies Brothers. ; ASIN
Asín
Asín is a municipality located in the Cinco Villas comarca of the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, located a few kilometers west of Orés. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 106 inhabitants....

 B000FMPZ80
1924 edition - Queenstown: Mount Lyell Tourist Association. ; ASIN
Asín
Asín is a municipality located in the Cinco Villas comarca of the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, located a few kilometers west of Orés. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 106 inhabitants....

 B0008BM4XC

See also

  • Railways on the West Coast of Tasmania
    Railways on the West Coast of Tasmania
    The history of the Railways on the West Coast of Tasmania has fascinated enthusiasts from around the world, because of the combination of the harsh terrain in which the railways were created, and the unique nature of most of the lines...

  • West Coast Tasmania Mines
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