Kuridala Township site
| Kuridala Township site | |
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Hampden Smelter at Kuridala, 2003
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| Location | In the locality of Kuridala, Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia |
| Coordinates | 21°16′47″S 140°30′26″E / 21.2797°S 140.5072°ECoordinates: 21°16′47″S 140°30′26″E / 21.2797°S 140.5072°E |
| Design period | 1900 - 1914 (early 20th century) |
| Built | 1880s-1920s |
| Official name: Kuridala Township, Hampden Smelter and Mining Complex, Hampden Township, Kuridala Smelter, Friezeland Township | |
| Type | archaeological (landscape) |
| Designated | 12 June 2009 |
| Reference no. | 645604 |
| Significant period | 1890s-1940s |
| Significant components | well, artefact field, tank stand, building foundations/ruins, bore, mullock heap, shaft, machinery/plant/equipment - mining/mineral processing, building foundations/ruins, pump, chimney/chimney stack, boiler room/boiler house, headframe, cemetery, grave marker, burial/grave, grave surrounds/railings, artefact field, engine/generator shed/room / power supply, building foundations/ruins, slag pile/slag heap, chimney/chimney stack, mounting block/stand, furnace, cutting - railway, embankment - railway, artefact field, building foundations/ruins, railway station, formation - railway |
 Location of Kuridala Township site in Queensland
Location of Kuridala Township site in Queensland
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Kuridala Township site is a heritage-listed mining camp in the locality of Kuridala, Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1880s to 1920s. It is also known as Hampden Township, Hampden Smelter, Kuridala Smelter, and Friezeland Township. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 12 June 2009.
Copper was discovered at Kuridala in 1884 and the Hampden mine commenced during the 1890s. A Melbourne syndicate took over operations in 1897 and with increasing development of the mine in 1905-06 the Hampden Cloncurry Limited company was formed. The township was surveyed as Hampden in 1910 (later called Friezland, and finally Kuridala in 1916). The Hampden Smelter operated from 1911 to 1920 with World War I being a particularly prosperous time for the company. After the war the operations and the township declined and the Hampden Cloncurry company ceased to exist in 1928. Tribute mining and further exploration and testing of the ore body has continued from 1932 through to the present day.
The Kuridala Township and Hampden Smelter are located approximately 65 km south of Cloncurry and 345m above sea level, on an open plain against a background of rugged but picturesque hills.
The Cloncurry copper fields were discovered by Ernest Henry in 1867 but lack of capital and transport combined with low base metal prices precluded any major development. However, rising prices, new discoveries in the region and the promise of a railway combined with an inflow of British capital stimulated development. Additionally, Melbourne based promoters eager to develop another base metal bonanza like Broken Hill led to a resurgence of interest, especially in the Hampden mines.
The copper deposits at Kuridala (initially named Hampden) were discovered by William McPhail and Robert Johnson on their pastoral lease, Eureka, in January 1884. The Hampden mine was held by Fred Gibson in the 1890s and acquired in 1897 by a Melbourne syndicate comprising the "Broken Hillionaires" - William Orr, William Knox and Herman Schlapp. They floated the Hampden Copper Mines N. L. with a capital of £100,000 in £100 shares of which 200 were fully paid up. With this capital they commenced a prospecting and stockpiling program sending specimens to Dapto and Wallaroo for testing. Government Geologist, W.E. Cameron's report on the district in 1900 discouraged investors as he reported that few of the lodes, other than the Hampden Company's main lode at Kuridala, were worth working.
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