Mount Mulligan, Queensland
Encyclopedia
Mount Mulligan was a mining town in northern Queensland
, Australia
, the site of Queensland's worst mining
disaster
.
A railway connected Mount Mulligan with Dimbulah on the Chillagoe Railway. It opened on 7 April 1915 and was officially closed in January, 1958.
It was a coal
mining town from 1910 until 19 September 1921 when an underground explosion
killed 75 miners (all the miners in the town). The mine closed, but reopened in 1923 and continued in production until 1957 when a hydro-electric scheme eliminated the need for the coal.
The town's coal was mined from shafts dug into a Permian
layer within the cliff face or escarpment of a large 18 km x 6.5 km free-standing conglomerate and sandstone massif (rising up to 400 metres above the township) known by the name given it by the small group of prospectors who first sighted it in 1874 while searching the Hodgkinson River for gold, under the leadership of James Venture Mulligan
.
The conglomerate and sandstone massif known to local Djungan aboriginal peoples as Ngarrabullgan
was given James Mulligan's surname. The name Mount Mulligan was later given to the township that grew in the shadows of the massif's escarpment.
The area of the township itself remains gazetted as a township, but is now a ghost town
, with a single cemetery, a single occupied residence, a single chimney stack, and the overgrown remains of the once busy mining operations and electricity generator. At the 2006 census
, Mount Mulligan and the surrounding area had a population of 55.
Nearby towns are Julatten, Dimbulah
, Mount Carbine
and Mount Molloy
.
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the site of Queensland's worst mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
disaster
Disaster
A disaster is a natural or man-made hazard that has come to fruition, resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment...
.
A railway connected Mount Mulligan with Dimbulah on the Chillagoe Railway. It opened on 7 April 1915 and was officially closed in January, 1958.
It was a coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
mining town from 1910 until 19 September 1921 when an underground explosion
Explosion
An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
killed 75 miners (all the miners in the town). The mine closed, but reopened in 1923 and continued in production until 1957 when a hydro-electric scheme eliminated the need for the coal.
The town's coal was mined from shafts dug into a Permian
Permian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
layer within the cliff face or escarpment of a large 18 km x 6.5 km free-standing conglomerate and sandstone massif (rising up to 400 metres above the township) known by the name given it by the small group of prospectors who first sighted it in 1874 while searching the Hodgkinson River for gold, under the leadership of James Venture Mulligan
James Venture Mulligan
James Venture Mulligan was a bushman and prospector. He was born in Drumgooland, County Down, Ireland and emigrated to Australia in 1859...
.
The conglomerate and sandstone massif known to local Djungan aboriginal peoples as Ngarrabullgan
Ngarrabullgan
Ngarrabullgan , officially named Mount Mulligan by the State, is a large tabletop mountain located 100 kilometers west of Cairns in the north of Queensland .The tabletop mountain is a monolith bounded by high cliffs that fall 200 to 400 m to the surrounding...
was given James Mulligan's surname. The name Mount Mulligan was later given to the township that grew in the shadows of the massif's escarpment.
The area of the township itself remains gazetted as a township, but is now a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
, with a single cemetery, a single occupied residence, a single chimney stack, and the overgrown remains of the once busy mining operations and electricity generator. At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Mount Mulligan and the surrounding area had a population of 55.
Nearby towns are Julatten, Dimbulah
Dimbulah, Queensland
Dimbulah is a town located in Far North Queensland, Australia, 114 kilometres from Cairns by road, on the Atherton Tableland. The town was established in 1876 to service the Tyrconnell Gold Mine, one of the richest mines on the Hodgkinson Gold Fields...
, Mount Carbine
Mount Carbine, Queensland
Mount Carbine is a town in Far North Queensland, Australia. It lies close to the Mount Carbine Tableland. At the 2006 census, Mount Carbine had a population of 91.-Notes and references:...
and Mount Molloy
Mount Molloy, Queensland
Mount Molloy is a historic mining and timber town lying 160 kilometres north of Cairns. At the 2006 census, the town and surrounding area had a population of 276.At its height it was a copper mine in the 1890s...
.
External links
- Queensland Government Placenames Database
- http://www.youtube.com/user/MikePearceFilms#play/all/uploads-all/0/yp6bysvSqcE