*** Welcome to piglix ***

Mathinna, Tasmania

Mathinna
Tasmania
Mathinna is located in Tasmania
Mathinna
Mathinna
Coordinates 41°28′S 147°53′E / 41.467°S 147.883°E / -41.467; 147.883Coordinates: 41°28′S 147°53′E / 41.467°S 147.883°E / -41.467; 147.883
Population 287 (2011 census)
 • Density 0.2/km2 (0.52/sq mi)
Postcode(s) 7214
Elevation 300 m (984 ft)
Area 1,370.4 km2 (529.1 sq mi)
Location
LGA(s) Break O'Day Council
State electorate(s) Lyons
Federal Division(s) Lyons

Mathinna is a small Australian town in the north-east of Tasmania, 63 km east of Launceston. It was named after a young Aboriginal girl befriended by the Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land, Sir John Franklin and his wife, Lady Jane Franklin.

The town became established as a gold mining centre, shortly after gold was discovered in the area in the 1890s. The Golden Gate Mine in Mathinna was one of Tasmania's highest-yield gold mines, second only to Beaconsfield. At its peak in the late 1890s, the town sustained a population of over 5,000, including a large number of Chinese miners, making it the third largest town in Tasmania at the time.Melbourne-based mining company Riltec made a failed attempt to re-establish the Golden Gate mine in 1994, although recent gold mining efforts have been more successful, with a production target of 70,000 ounces made for the Mathinna mine in 2006.

Blackboy Post Office opened on 30 June 1870, was renamed Reedy Marsh, Blackboy in 1871 and Mathinna in 1882.

Premier of Tasmania Eric Reece, was born in the town in 1909.



...
Wikipedia

...