North Mount Lyell was the name of a mine, mining company, locality (sometimes as North Lyell ) and former railway north of Gormanston on the southern slopes of Mount Lyell in the West Coast Range on the West Coast of Tasmania , and on to the ridge between Mount Lyell and Mount Owen.
29-484: The company was short-lived, however the mine, orebody and workings lasted long after the company was absorbed into the workings of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company following the failure of the smelters at Crotty . The stages of building the infrastructure of the mines, the smelters, and port at Kelly Basin were photographed by John Watt Beattie . The company was founded by James Crotty , and
58-698: A Senator for Tasmania from 1917 to 1923. Prior to entering politics, he worked as a miner and prospector. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), helping to establish a local branch of the party, and was Tasmania's first ALP premier. However, he was expelled from the party during the 1916 split and joined the Nationalists , whom he represented in the Senate. Earle was born on 15 November 1865 in Bridgewater, Tasmania ,
87-570: A drought and "made large investments in public works to alleviate war-caused unemployment". During the early years of World War I he encouraged the unemployed to enlist in the military. After the ALP was defeated at the 1916 election , Earle returned to his prior position as Leader of the Opposition. He viewed the aim of the ALP as "true progressive liberalism" rather than socialism, and some of his policy positions had alienated more radical members of
116-623: A few items untouched. The railway was totally rebuilt over the railway formation and recommenced operation in 2002 as the Abt Wilderness Railway, and was known as the West Coast Wilderness Railway and operated by Federal Hotels until 2013. The company has been significant in Australian business history works as Geoffrey Blainey , the Australian historian, began his career with the writing of
145-514: 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. 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 Copper Company
174-541: A result of which he developed an interest in politics. He was a member of the Hobart Debating Club and became acquainted with the colony's attorney-general Andrew Inglis Clark . After completing his apprenticeship, Earle worked on the mines at Mathinna , Zeehan and Corinna . In 1893 he was a miners' representative at a government conference in Hobart. He returned to Zeehan in 1898 and became prominent in
203-681: The Executive Council in the Hughes ministry from December 1921 to February 1923. He was defeated at the Senate election held in December 1922 , and again in 1925 , as a Nationalist candidate. In 1928 he stood as an independent candidate in Franklin, but was unsuccessful. Earle died at Kettering, Tasmania , on 6 February 1932. He left a widow but no children. His cousin, Alicia O'Shea Petersen , would later follow Earle into politics as
232-575: The House of Assembly the government relied on the vote of independent MP Joshua Whitsitt , and in the unreformed Legislative Council it had few supporters. Its accomplishments including the extension of public secondary education, the nationalisation of the Waddamana hydroelectricity scheme, and the establishment of the state's first national parks, Mount Field and Freycinet . Earle authorised large quantities of wheat to be imported in 1914 to alleviate
261-540: 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
290-545: The Queen River. The environmental impacts included: Smelting ended in the 1960s and CMT built a dam to contain tailings. Research by the Supervising Scientist published in 1997 overwhelmingly identified the lease site as the major source of acid drainage-related pollutants affecting the rivers and harbour, with metals contamination from tailing and slag deposits being very minor in comparison. Within
319-702: 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. Among the many individuals associated with the company during its long history were John Earle , Edward Braddon , Colin Syme , John Henry and Robert Sticht . The Mount Lyell Remediation and Research and Demonstration Program
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#1732793042919348-505: The company history The Peaks of Lyell , 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 . Pollution of the Queen and King Rivers , and Macquarie Harbour was 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
377-482: 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 which would assist by investing in exploration by becoming partners in some leases. The operations were conducted in various parts of
406-460: The late 2010s. The following locations were within the operating mine lease and indicate a separate orebody and operating life: Mount Lyell was also the operator of the 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) gauge Queenstown to Regatta Point railway from 1899 to 1963, which used the Abt rack system of cog railway for steep sections. In 1963 most of the railway was removed, leaving only
435-484: The lease site, the North Lyell Tunnel had water derived in part from underground workings and has approximately 78% of the lease site copper loading. Discharge from other tunnels and waste rock dumps accounts for 21%. The remaining 1% is from smaller sources. Downstream, chemical modelling and toxicological testing indicates that 95% to 99% of the acid drainage from the site must be neutralised or stemmed for
464-474: 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 . On 29 March 1993
493-664: The local community, serving on the Zeehan Municipal Council , on the local hospital board, and as president of the Gormanston branch of the Amalgamated Miners' Association. He was one of 28 men blacklisted by the manager of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company for being "disloyal and treacherous". In 1901, Earle chaired the conference which established the Workers' Political League (WPL),
522-599: The official reports that followed. The North Lyell locality (at which some of the workers killed in the disaster had addresses) was eventually overtaken by the Mount Lyell mine workings. A rare photo of the locality is in Blainey's book. The development of the Mount Lyell mine depended upon the resources of the North Lyell orebody and workings well into the late twentieth century. Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company
551-661: The organisation and members of the Parliamentary party obtaining control of the movement". He resignation was widely regarded as pre-empted his expulsion. In March 1917 Earle, who had by then joined the Nationalist Party of Australia , was elected by the Parliament of Tasmania to fill a vacancy in the Australian Senate . He retained his seat in the 1917 election . He became Vice-President of
580-401: The party, notably his support for overseas conscription . In November 1916, during the nationwide party split over conscription , he announced his resignation from the ALP in an open letter, stating that "the movement has been corrupted by bodies of extremists, irresponsible and in some cases distinctly disloyal men, aided and abetted by the weakness, cowardice, and treachery of the officers of
609-482: The predecessor of the modern Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch) . He was elected as the organisation's inaugural president in 1903. Earle was defeated by three votes in the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Waratah at the 1903 state election . He reprised his candidacy in 1906 and was successful, subsequently being elected as leader of the parliamentary party. Following electoral reform, Earle
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#1732793042919638-579: The resultant water quality to meet downstream environmental quality objectives. Contaminated sediments in the King River and Macquarie Harbour contribute relatively little of the total pollutant load entering the harbour. John Earle (Australian politician) John Earle (15 November 1865 – 6 February 1932) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Tasmania from 1914 to 1916 and also for one week in October 1909. He later served as
667-620: The son of Ann Teresa (née McShane) and Charles Staples Earle. His mother and father were of Irish and Cornish descent respectively. Earle grew up on his father's farm and attended the local state school. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed as a blacksmith at a foundry in Hobart . He attended engineering and science classes at the Hobart Technical School and also attended lectures at the Hobart Mechanics' Institute , as
696-649: Was a Tasmanian mining company formed on 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as Mount Lyell . Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in Queenstown, Tasmania . 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 and Gormanston . It remained dominant until its closure in 1994. The Mount Lyell mining operations produced more than
725-489: 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 to prevent any further pollution of the rivers and harbour. Mining was suspended at Mount Lyell due to accidents in the 2010s and remains in mothball situation in
754-431: Was conducted between 1994 and 1996 following the closing of the company, to reverse the ecological change upon the Queen and King Rivers , and Macquarie Harbour ; 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 in 1995. This company in turn
783-460: Was elected to the multi-member seat of Franklin at the 1909 election . He served Leader of the Opposition until 20 October 1909, when he formed a minority government of one week. He was the first premier of Tasmania from the ALP. In 1914, Earle and the ALP formed another minority government after the defeat of Albert Solomon 's government on a confidence motion . In addition to the premiership he also appointed himself attorney-general . In
812-619: Was for a few years a fierce competitor with Mount Lyell. Geoffrey Blainey gives a description of the rivalry and final amalgamation in The Peaks of Lyell . As Blainey points out, the North Mount Lyell workings eventually proved vital for the Mount Lyell Company. During Crotty's establishment of the company and its operations the company had: The 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster is also found in Blainey's work, but for decades later there were divergent and popular accounts from
841-466: Was taken over, and in 1912 the most severe calamity to visit the Mount Lyell company was the 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster , 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 revisiting many of the smaller mines that had been worked on in
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