Chillagoe smelters
| Chillagoe smelters | |
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Chillagoe Smelters, 2009
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| Location | Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park, Mareeba Mining District, Chillagoe, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia |
| Coordinates | 17°08′40″S 144°31′11″E / 17.1445°S 144.5198°ECoordinates: 17°08′40″S 144°31′11″E / 17.1445°S 144.5198°E |
| Design period | 1900 - 1914 (early 20th century) |
| Built | 1900 - 1910s |
| Official name: Chillagoe Smelters, Chillagoe State Smelters | |
| Type | state heritage (archaeological, built) |
| Designated | 21 October 1992 |
| Reference no. | 600675 |
| Significant period | 1900-1910s (fabric) 1901-1914, 1920-1943 (historical) |
| Significant components | embankment - railway, machinery/plant/equipment - mining/mineral processing, residential accommodation - housing, weir, slag pile/slag heap, flue, chimney/chimney stack |
 Location of Chillagoe smelters in Queensland
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Chillagoe smelters is a heritage-listed refinery at Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park, Mareeba Mining District, Chillagoe, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. It operated in the early 1900s. It is also known as Chillagoe State Smelters. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
In its heyday the Chillagoe Smelters were the centre of a thriving mining industry that brought wealth and development to the Chillagoe area. By June 1901, when the railway was completed, Chillagoe was a flourishing town. The railway enabled equipment for the large, innovative Chillagoe Smelters to become operative by September 1901. The Chillagoe Railway & Mining Company equipped its work sites with the most up-to-date machinery and the surrounding mines at Mungana, Zillmanton and Redcap worked on a large scale. At times, the mines, railway and smelter provided employment for up to 1,000 workers.
Chillagoe Smelter operated until 1943 and in its 40 odd year lifetime treated 1.25 million tons of ore, yielded 60,000 tons of copper, 50,000 tons of lead, 181 tons of silver and 5 tons of gold. By 1943, other smelters were built closer to the then major ore producing areas such as Mount Isa. Easy access to these areas outweighed the economic usefulness of the state run Chillagoe Smelter. In 1950, the buildings and equipment were auctioned. Today the site is managed by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
The first explorer in the Chillagoe region was James Venture Mulligan on his 1874 exploration trip. Then took up pastoral leases in 1887 and built a timber homestead on the bank of Chillagoe Creek.
John Moffat sent the first prospecting party into the area in mid 1887 and they pegged many surface shows. Mining on a serious scale began in the district in 1892 at Muldiva, where Moffat's company commenced silver production. Unfortunately a few months before the silver price crashed and the newly built smelter only operated for eighteen months. Moffat erected small exploratory smelters at Calcifer in 1894 and at Girofla (Mungana) in 1896.
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