Mount Morgan Mine Stack, 2010
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Location | |
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Location | Mount Morgan |
State | Queensland |
Country | Australia |
Coordinates | 23°38′28″S 150°22′31″E / 23.64111°S 150.37528°ECoordinates: 23°38′28″S 150°22′31″E / 23.64111°S 150.37528°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 |
Water in the old Mount Morgan gold mine is being treated |
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 tonnes of gold, 37 tonnes of silver and 387,000 tonnes of copper. The mine was once the largest gold mine in the world.
The Mount Morgan Mine also operated assay laboratories, brickworks, foundry, power house and workshops (including carpentry, electrical and plumbing) as part of its operations. The Mount Morgan Mine also contained Fireclay Caverns excavated to provide clay for the mine brickworks.
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.
The area near the mine contains sedimentary and igneous rocks. The gold was rated 0.998 fine.
In 1882, a syndicate was created to open a gold mine at Ironstone Mountain, 39 km 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.
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.