Melba Flats
Melba Flats is a railway siding on the Emu Bay Railway east of Zeehan that served as a terminus for trains carrying copper ore from the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company in west coast Tasmania, once the Emu Bay Railway ceased services into the Zeehan townsite.[1]
| Melba Flats | |
|---|---|
Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| Location | |
| Location | Zeehan |
| Coordinates | 41°50′52.16″S 145°24′46.55″E |
| Details | |
| Built | 1970 |
| Operated by | TasRail |
| Type of harbour | dry port |
| Rail lines | Melba Line |
| Rail gauge | Narrow gauge |
| Street access | Murchison Highway |
The section of line near Melba Flats was operational by December 1900. The Rosebery to Zeehan connection closed on the 14 August 1965, however the Rosebery to Melba Flats section re-opened on the 15 January 1970. The Mount Lyell company had trucks deliver the ore along the Queenstown to Zeehan road to this siding, until 1994.[2]
The Melba Flats area is the site of numerous historical workings; hand workings and hand constructed mining shafts dating back to the 1880s. Lead, zinc, silver, tin and nickel have been located in varying quantities in the area.
Allegiance Mining in the 2000s investigated open pit mining of niccolite and pentlandite, copper, gold and platinum minerals from small deposits on Melba Flats.[3][4]
Melba Flats loading facility is currently mothballed by its current owners TasRail. TasRail has also placed the railway line north of the Melba Flats loading facility to Rosebery into care and maintenance, till a new customer for the loading facility is found.
Notes
- Whitham, Lindsay (2002). Railways, Mines, Pubs and People and other historical research. Sandy Bay: Tasmanian Historical Research Association. ISBN 0-909479-21-6. page 15 - for details of the demise of the Zeehan terminus of the Emu Bay Railway
- Faulkner, Keith; Evetts, Robert; Potts, Dick; Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company; Emu Bay Railway Company; Pasminco Limited; Tas Steam Alive Video Productions (1995), The final Mt Lyell copper train, 14 Dec 1994, Tas Steam Alive, retrieved 19 November 2018
- "(AEAGM) Allegiance pleased with latest Melba Flats results", Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, Financial Times Ltd, 12 October 2004, retrieved 19 November 2018
- "High Grade Drilling Results From Melba Flats Project", CNW Group, COMTEX News Network, Inc, 9 January 2008, retrieved 19 November 2018
References
- Atkinson, H.K. (1991). Railway Tickets of Tasmania. the Author. 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.
- Whitham, Charles. Western Tasmania: A Land of Riches and Beauty.
- Whitham, Lindsay (2002). Railways, Mines, Pubs and People and other historical research. Sandy Bay: Tasmanian Historical Research Association. ISBN 0-909479-21-6.