Mount Morgan Mine
Mount Morgan Mine was a copper, gold and silver mine in Queensland, Australia. Mining began at Mount Morgan in 1882 and continued until 1981. Over its lifespan, the mine yielded approximately 262 metric tons (258 long tons; 289 short tons) of gold, 37 metric tons (36 long tons; 41 short tons) of silver and 387,000 metric tons (381,000 long tons; 427,000 short tons) of copper.[1] The mine was once the largest gold mine in the world.[2]
 Mount Morgan Mine Stack, 2010 | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
  Mount Morgan Mine Location in Australia | |
| Location | Mount Morgan |
| State | Queensland |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 23°38′28″S 150°22′31″E |
| Production | |
| Products | Copper Gold Silver |
| Production | Copper: 387,000 tonnes Gold: 262 tonnes Silver: 37 tonnes |
| Financial year | 1882 - 1981 |
| History | |
| Opened | 1882 |
| Closed | 1981 |
| Owner | |
| Company | Norton Gold Fields |
| Year of acquisition | 2007 |
The Mount Morgan Mine also operated assay laboratories, brickworks, foundry, power house and workshops (including carpentry, electrical and plumbing) as part of its operations.[3] The Mount Morgan Mine also contained Fireclay Caverns excavated to provide clay for the mine brickworks.[4]
Wealth from the Mount Morgan mine funded Persian oil exploration, establishing the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, which became BP in 1954. Wealth from the Mount Morgan mine was also bequeathed in 1912 to establish the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
Resources
The area near the mine contains sedimentary and igneous rocks.[5] The gold was rated 0.998 fine.[5]
History
The Beginning (1882 to 1886)
In 1882, a syndicate was created to open a gold mine at Ironstone Mountain, 39 kilometres (24 mi) south of Rockhampton, Queensland. The syndicate comprised William Knox Darcy (later influential in establishing the Anglo Persian Oil Company), Walter Russell Hall (later influential in establishing the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research), Thomas Skarratt Hall, and Thomas, Frederick and Edwin Morgan. Ironstone Mountain was later renamed Mount Morgan after the Morgan members of the syndicate.
Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Limited (1886–1928)
In October 1886, the syndicate became the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Limited, with James Wesley Hall, the younger brother of Walter Russell and Thomas Skarratt Hall, as the first general manager. The Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Limited operated using underground mining methods until 1927 when fire destroyed underground workings. The company deliberately flooded its underground workings in response to the fire and went into liquidation.
By 1907 the mine had produced $60,000,000 worth of gold, making it one of the most productive in the world.[5]
Mount Morgan Limited (1928–1990)
The Mount Morgan Mine was reestablished using open-cut mining methods in 1928, operating as Mount Morgan Limited.
Conversion to open-cut operation included substantial modernization of Mount Morgan’s mining infrastructure and mining techniques. Mount Morgan Limited became a subsidiary of Peko-Wallsend in 1968 and continued operations until 1974, when Mount Morgan Limited began to reach the end of its ore body. Mount Morgan Limited progressively scaled back its workforce and operations until it reached the end of its ore body in 1981.
From 1982 to 1990, Mount Morgan Limited began processing tailings of its previous operations at the Mount Morgan mine site. In parallel, Mount Morgan mine facilities were used to process materials from other Peko-Wallsend operations. At the end of both such operations in 1990, the Queensland Government began negotiating with Mount Morgan Limited regarding terms of closure.
Recent
The Queensland Government began administration of the site in 1992. Perilya/Aumin NL commenced further exploration in 1992 leading to plans for potential further reprocessing at the Mount Morgan mine site in the future. Since 2007 the mine and mining leases have been owned by Norton Gold Fields. An estimated 327,000 ounces (9,300,000 g) of gold still exist at the site.[6]
Broader influence of the mine
BP
William Knox Darcy, an original member of the Mount Morgan gold mine syndicate, used proceeds from the Mount Morgan gold mine to fund oil exploration in Persia. The exploration made successful oil discovery in 1908 and commenced the Anglo Persian Oil Company. The company became The British Petroleum Company (BP) in 1954.
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Walter Russell Hall was also a member of the original Mount Morgan Gold Mine syndicate. Substantial personal wealth of Walter Russell Hall was bequeathed on his death in 1912 to establish the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust. The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research was established from the trust in 1915.
Today
| External image | |
|---|---|
 Water in the old Mount Morgan gold mine is being treated |
The Mount Morgan mine site is currently a tourist attraction in the Central Queensland region. The site contains remaining structures of its mining operations including the General Office, Gold Rooms and Main Stack. The Arthur Timms lookout overlooks remaining mine buildings and the Mount Morgan township.
According to former Queensland Minister for Mining, Stirling Hinchliffe, water in the pit contains elevated levels of copper, aluminium, magnesium and other metals.[7] The site contains a lime dosing water treatment plant and onsite evaporators.[8] Controlled water releases done to prevent an uncontrolled release during heavy rainfall events has been done twice in March 2011, once in January 2013 and again in February 2013.
In June 2011, the Government of Queensland announced $24.2 million in funding for site rehabilitation and management.[7] On 26 January 2013, the mine filled with water and overflowed in the Dee River for the first time ever.[9]
Although mining company Carbine Resources announced plans in 2014 to extract gold, copper and pyrite from tailings and improve the mine's acid mine drainage problem,[10][11] it withdrew the proposal in March 2018 due to its doubts over the financial viability of the project.[12]
Estimates for a partial rehabilitation of the toxic environmental legacy of the old gold mine start at $450 million, but no costings of a full rehabilitation of the site have yet been carried out.[11]
See also
- Mining in Australia
- G. A. Richard, general manager of the mine 1903–1912
References
- Queensland Government: Mines and Energy: Mount Morgan Mine Rehabilitation Project: Project Summary Archived 2011-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
- "Mount Morgan Mine Project". Norton Gold Fields. Archived from the original on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- Operations of Mount Morgan Limited, September, 1969 pp12-27
- Romilio, Anthony; Dick, Roslyn; Skinner, Heather; Millar, Janice (13 February 2020). "Archival data provides insights into the ambiguous track-maker gait from the Lower Jurassic (Sinemurian) Razorback beds, Queensland, Australia: evidence of theropod quadrupedalism?". Historical Biology. 33 (9): 1573–1579. doi:10.1080/08912963.2020.1720014. ISSN 0891-2963.
- Emmons, William Harvey (1917). The Enrichment of Ore Deposits, Issue 625. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 343–344. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- "Reserves & Resources". Norton Gold Fields. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- Cole Latimer (14 June 2011). "QLD provides mine rehab funding boost". Mining Australia. Archived from the original on 27 April 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- Andrew Cripps (22 February 2013). "Controlled water release at Mount Morgan Mine site". Media Release. Department of the Premier and Cabinet. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- Ian Townsend (14 February 2013). "Queensland's toxic Dee River reveals national mine waste problem". RadioNational. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 18 February 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- "Former central Queensland gold mining town of Mount Morgan set to shine again". ABC News. 16 June 2017. Archived from the original on 24 March 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
- "Mount Morgan abandoned mine site brings environmentalists and farmers together". ABC News. 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 24 March 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
- "Farmers 'disgusted' as proposal at abandoned central Queensland gold mine canned". ABC News. 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
External links
