History

Australia’s first mining era

Greg J Drew

Introduction During the period 1841–1851 the In 1842 and Captain Charles Bagot jointly were the site of Australia’s first mining era. This was the discovered copper on unsurveyed crown land near the present decade prior to the discovery of gold in the eastern states town of Kapunda. Very little land outside the area when virtually all of the metalliferous mines in Australia had been surveyed and sold at that time and the 1842 Act for were located in and as a result its population the Sale of Waste Land of the Crown stipulated that such land grewfrom 15 000 in 1841 to 64 000 in 1851. had to be sold at auction in 80-acre lots at a minimum price of The 1840s mining boom followed the discovery of £1 per acre. Keeping their discovery a secret, Captain Bagot silver–lead ore at Glen Osmond, in the foothills of the Mount requested an 80-acre section be surveyed around the outcrop, Lofty Ranges on the outskirts of Adelaide (Fig. 1). The Glen and put in a tender of £80 which was accepted in January Osmond discoveries were quickly followed by the discovery 1843: this section became the Kapunda Mine. and exploitation of a large number of mines, the most Mining operations commenced in January 1844 (Fig. 2) and significant being the copper deposits at Kapunda (1844) and by 1846 several rows of miners’ cottages had been constructed Burra (1845). These developments came at a crucial time in on the mining property, the first company housing in Australia. the history of South Australia: in the early 1840s the newly In 1845 the first horse whim in the Colony was erected to created colony was on the verge of bankruptcy and was saved from collapse by the mining boom. The mining of copper ores at Kapunda and Burra caused Mount the first major decentralisation away from Adelaide and Remarkable MOUNT REMARKABLE by 1850 Burra with a population of 5000 was the largest 1846 inland town in Australia and seventh largest overall. In 1850 COPPER ROADS 1844–1870 minerals constituted 67% of the value of exports from the Kapunda to Port Adelaide 1844–1857 Burra to Port Adelaide 1845–1849 Colony and wool 29%. A large proportion of the population Burra to Port Wakefield 1849–1857 Burra to Gawler 1857–1861 was directly or indirectly dependent on mining and South Burra to Kapunda 1861–1870 Australia was the third largest copper producer in the world. BURRA 1845 s)" Burra These mineral deposits, the first exploited less than five Burra Princess Royal Clare )" years after first settlement of the Colony, had a profound s Spencer Gulf Mintaro)" )" Black Springs Leasingham )" effect on settlement. They brought about a major influx of )" Apoinga Hoyleton )" )" s Halbury )" Auburn )" Tothill Creek capital and immigrants into the Colony after the depression of Balaklava)" )" )" Port )" Riverton Marrabel )" the early 1840s and provided employment for a large number Hamilton r Wakefield )" e Tarlee Kapunda v )" Ri of people. Land was surveyed for mineral tenements, mining )" s Kapunda Linwood y s a . r R Bagot Wheal Barton r t u townships and agricultural purposes. Basic road networks gh )" Gap i M L Sheaoak Log . were established during this period to cart ore to Port Adelaide Gawler R )" Gawler North Rhine Gulf )" Smithfield for shipment to and also to deliver heavy machinery to St Vincent REEDY CREEK s Montacute 1846 the mines. Port Adelaide )" s Group Tungkillo ADELAIDE )" s Glen Osmond Group s MOUNT BARKER 1846 The first discoveries Worthing )" Kanmantoo/Bremer/Paringa Callington 0 50 km s)" Strathalbyn Group Strathalbyn Glen Osmond South Australia Lambert The first metalliferous mine in Australia, Wheal Gawler,

commenced operations within sight of Adelaide in 1841. )" Kingscote )" Town Land at Glen Osmond had been surveyed into sections and Mine sold in the late 1830s and, according to the existing Land Sale S Smelter Copper roads Regulations, mineral rights belonged to the land owners. The 1844–1870

Glen Osmond mines were small, employing up to 200 people 204125-020 Special survey at one time, but they were the first to attract Cornish miners Figure 1 The mines and smelters of Australia’s earliest mining era. as settlers to South Australia. Mining ceased by 1851, partly Also shown are the special mineral surveys and the various copper due to the exodus of miners to the newly discovered Victorian roads which operated between 1844 and 1877 taking ore and copper goldfields. from the mines to Port Adelaide.

42 MESA Journal 61 June 2011 First mining

drain water from the mine, but it was incapable of handling the volume and in 1848 the first Cornish beam engine in Australia was erected. By 1850 the mine employed 300 men and boys, and copper to the value of nearly £1 million was produced up to closure in 1879. Until 1846 settlement was generally confined to the vicinity of the mine, but in that year land surrounding the mine was surveyed into sections and sold by auction. The North Kapunda Mining Company purchased 13 sections, gambling on discovering northern extensions of the Kapunda lodes. The company employed a Cornish mine captain and 30 miners to prospect Figure 2 The Kapunda Mine, 1845, by ST Gill, showing the main shaft and first horse whim in their property, but no ore was found. South Australia. This is the earliest image of mining activity in South Australia and predates the first mining photographs by about 20 years. Gill also captured images of the Glen Osmond and To recover some of its investment the Burra mines during the late 1840s. (Courtesy of the Art Gallery of South Australia; PIRSA photo 035324) company laid out the township of North Kapunda (later Kapunda) in 1849 and was laid out to incorporate the two blocks. This was situated near the by 1851 the township contained 350 discoveries, one in each half, and lots mine and cottages were constructed houses and had a population of about were drawn to determine ownership by the company for miners and their 2000. Thus, the basic plan of the private (Fig. 3). SAMA gained the northern families. The early rapid development township of Kapunda was determined half and what was to become the Burra of the Burra Burra Mine led to a by the surveying into 80-acre sections of Burra Mine. PRMC won the southern shortage of housing for miners and the land surrounding the Kapunda Mine. half and what was considered to be their families, which resulted in many the more impressive outcrop, but the Special mineral surveys living in dugouts along Burra Creek. ore quickly petered out at depth and Kooringa was both the first company Following the discovery of copper operations at the Princess Royal mine township and the first mining township on crown land at Kapunda and its ceased in 1851. in Australia. Because the company subsequent survey and purchase for £80, Mining commenced at the Burra did not grant freehold title in their regulations originally issued in 1842 Burra Mine in September 1845. It was township until the 1870s when the mine stipulating that the minimum amount soon to become the largest mine in was nearing closure, other townships of land that could be purchased in Australia (Fig. 4) and produced 80 000 t developed adjacent to the northern unsurveyed districts was 20 000 acres at of dressed ore up to 1851, with peak boundary of the company property. £1 per acre were brought into force. This production of 23 000 t in 1851 which became the only way to acquire mineral was about 5% of the world’s copper rights on unsurveyed crown land after production. Its orebody was so rich Aberdeen 1844. Four such special (or monster) Bon Redruth that it was it was referred to as the Accord Llwchwr surveys were made and purchased Mine Ì Smelting works Monster Mine and the Eighth Wonder Ì before the system was abolished in Burra Kooringa of the World and during its first six Burra 1851: Burra Creek (1845), Mount Mine years of operation issued 15 dividends Barker (1846), Mount Remarkable B of 200%. More than 1000 men and u (1846) and Reedy Creek (1846). rr boys were employed on the mine and a a

C r further 1000 were employed as carters, e Burra Creek e woodcutters and smelter men. k The first discoveries of minerals outside the surveyed districts were near Burra It is interesting to note that it was just possible to include the two Princess Creek in 1845 by two shepherds at Royal Mine Ì two separate localities. To acquire the discoveries within the original special mineral rights, the Burra Creek Special survey, resulting in the Burra Burra Mine being very close to the northern to Adelaide Survey was jointly purchased in late (~140 km) 1845 by two parties that were formed to boundary. This was a critical factor in the establishment of the various Burra raise the sum of £20 000. These parties Burra Creek Special Survey were Mining townships. South Australin Mining Association Association (SAMA) and the Princess In 1846 GS Kingston, a director of 0 2 4 Princess Royal Mining Company Royal Mining Company (PRMC). The SAMA, laid out the company township Kilometres 204125_015 survey, measuring 8 miles by 4 miles, of Kooringa of 40 acres in half-acre Figure 3 Burra Creek Special Survey, 1845.

MESA Journal 61 June 2011 43 History

price of £1 an acre. The MacFarlanes, together with their financial supporters, formed the Paringa Mining Company with sufficient capital to purchase 8000 acres, with the South Australian Company to purchase the balance of 20 000 acres. The Mount Barker Special Survey took place in January 1846 and the two companies agreed to divide it into 20 strips, each of 1000 acres, and to select one strip at a time, with the choice of the first strip decided by drawing lots (Fig. 5). The South Australian Company won the right to first choice and selected strip 5, and the Figure 4 The Burra Mine, 1850, by ST Gill, showing Roachs Enginehouse at the centre of MacFarlane group’s first choice was mining activities. (Courtesy of the Art Gallery of South Australia; PIRSA photo 049922) strip 4. The South Australian Company chose the name Kanmantoo for their To break the company’s monopoly as Llwchwr. This, with its Welsh street mine, while the MacFarlane group’s the government surveyed the township names, became a ‘Welsh’ village. orebody became the Paringa Mine. of Redruth, adjacent to the northern Other Burra private townships Mining commenced in the boundary of the special survey. It was include Hampton (laid out in 1857), Kanmantoo area in 1846 and by 1850 named after the renowned Cornish Copperhouse and Lostwithiel (laid a number of other mines had been mining town and comprised 120 out in 1859), St Blazey (1861), New established, most bearing the names of allotments which were sold at auction Aberdeen (1872) and Graham (1874). famous Cornish mines including Wheal in August 1849. These allotments were Prosper, Wheal Friendship, Wheal Mary, Wheal Harmony and Wheal centred around a Police Reserve which Mount Barker Maria. The most important mines were already contained a police station that In 1845, encouraged by reports of Kanmantoo, Paringa (1846) and Bremer had been built in 1847. The township mineralisation in the Mount Lofty (1850). The companies divided their contained a strip of parklands and Ranges, the South Australian Company land into mining setts in the Cornish its streets were named after Cornish sent two Cornish miners to explore the fashion and offered them for lease. mining towns. Mount Barker district. The Cornishmen By 1850 the mining townships of St In 1846 Section 4 adjoining the reported to the company’s secretary Ives (1846), Kanmantoo (1849) and northern boundary of the special survey in South Australia, William Giles, Callington (1850) had been laid out was purchased at auction by the Bon that they had found a rich deposit of by the companies to serve the nearby Accord Mining Company, of Aberdeen, copper ore, and this was confirmed by mines. Other townships surveyed were Scotland. The high price obviously the company’s geologist, JC Dixon. Tavistock and Staughton in 1846, and reflected the hope that the Burra ore The company directors in England Kanmantoo South in 1857. St Ives and body would extend northwards into this instructed Giles to purchase the Callington were named after famous freehold of the land and, accordingly, property. However no extension was Cornish towns and the area was known Giles applied to the Treasury for the encountered and in 1849 the company as the ‘ of the Colony’. area he wanted. laid out the township of Aberdeen adjacent to the Bon Accord Mine, Giles’ application was refused as an Mount Remarkable presumably to recoup some of its outlay earlier application for a part of the land After a report that a hill of copper by selling land. had already been granted to Duncan had been seen at the head of Spencer and Lachlan MacFarlane of Mount Gulf the Mount Remarkable Special In 1849 the Burra Smelting Works Barker, who wanted the land for grazing Survey of 20 000 acres was applied were erected opposite the mine, across their sheep. However, the MacFarlane for and granted in May 1846 to the Burra Creek. These were the largest brothers, who were by now undoubtedly Mount Remarkable Mining Company. smelting works outside Swansea in well aware of the mineral find, refused However, the company proved Wales, until the Wallaroo Smelting to give way to the South Australian unsuccessful and was dissolved Works were erected in 1861. Welsh Company and were supported by a in 1851. In 1852 the townships of smelter men were brought to Burra by group of influential Adelaide men. Bangor and Melrose were laid out at the Patent Copper Company and in 1855 Eventually a compromise was reached the southern and northern ends of the a section near the northern boundary when the two parties agreed to make survey, respectively, and sold with the of the special survey was acquired by a combined application for a special remainder of the company property at the smelting company and subdivided survey of 20 000 acres at the regulation auction in January 1853.

44 MESA Journal 61 June 2011 First mining

discoveries on adjoining sections and an inn, chapel and 35 cottages. Up to other companies including the Adelaide 100 men were employed at the mine and Victoria mining companies were which ceased operations by 1852.

B r

e formed to work them. Up to 100 miners Prince m s H e ig r were employed in the area and 3000 t of hw Copper roads a y Tavistock hand-picked ore raised up to 1851. S Up until 1844 the only well-defined c

o t ts road north of Gawler passed through Kanmantoo Strathalbyn area Kanmantoo R Captain Bagot’s pastoral property of N i South v a e

i r Copper ore was first discovered rn Koonunga to the east of Kapunda. e Kanmantoo Mine in the area in 1846 and in 1849 Ì In early 1844 Bagot defined a road Paringa Mine Ì the Strathalbyn Mining Company between Kapunda and Gawler which Staughton was formed and purchased eight became the first copper road in South C St. Ives BremerÌ M r Mine o e Callington mineral sections near the township of Australia (Fig. 1). Bagot, in a bullock unt e k Strathalbyn. In 1850 a township was dray with a plough attached and leading Ba rker C laid out on one of the sections, but the first convoy of ore, followed a pre- re ek before any allotments were sold the marked route from the mine to Gawler.

Mount Barker Special Survey mine had ceased operations due to Near the junction of the mine road Paringa Mining Company 0 2 4 difficulties in treating the ore. and the Gawler to Koonunga road (the Kilometres South Australian Company present Gawler to Greenock road) the 204125_016 North Rhine Mine plough broke and was substituted by the limb of a she-oak. Later an inn was Figure 5 Mount Barker Special Survey, 1846. Four mineral sections in the Hundred erected at the junction of the two roads of Jellicoe near the River Rhine were and the township that was established, Reedy Creek purchased at a government land sale in named She-Oak Log, still exists. The Reedy Creek Special Survey 1849. Subsequently, the North Rhine of 20 000 acres was purchased in Mining Association was formed to Drays carting ore from the mine September 1846 by the Australian work the property and established the followed the furrow and the road Mining Company to acquire mineral township of Rhinefield near the River quickly became established. All rights to a copper discovery in the Rhine to serve the mining community. produce from the Kapunda Mine used vicinity of Reedy Creek, 50 km east of The mine closed in 1851 but was this road until the railway was extended Adelaide. Operations commenced at the reworked between 1859 and 1863. A to Kapunda in 1860. The road was not Tungkillo Mine in 1847 and Cornish unique Cornish enginehouse built in determined by survey, but rather by miners and captains were brought to 1860 still marks the location of this convenience and subsequent surveys the Colony by the company to work the early mining endeavour. used the road as a cadastral boundary. mine. In 1849 the company surveyed Although the road has long since been replaced as the main connection a mining township on its land near the Worthing Mine mine. The township, named Southend, between Kapunda and Gawler, its Copper ore was discovered in 1847 original location can still be clearly had a population of 600 people at its peak near Hallett Cove on property known in 1850 but was virtually abandoned traced on present day plans, even where as Worthing Farm, belonging to John the road no longer exists. when the mine closed in 1851. and Alfred Hallett. The Worthing Mine Up to 1849, ore from the Burra Company was formed in 1849 and by Other early mines Burra and Kapunda mines was shipped 1851 a small community of more than to Swansea in Wales for smelting. Montacute area 100 people had developed near the As many as 1200 bullock drays, each mine. Although the mine was of little In late 1843 an outcrop of green copper carrying about 2 t of ore, were to be consequence as a copper producer its ore was discovered on crown land in seen on the roads between Burra and Cornish enginehouse and chimney are the Torrens Gorge area, about 20 km Port Adelaide. Heavy machinery (steam the most significant relics of Australia’s east of Adelaide. Attempts were made cylinders weighted up to 20 t) was earliest mining era. to purchase an 80-acre section to secure also conveyed to the mines from Port the mineral rights as had been done the Adelaide. About 50 000 t of ore was previous year at Kapunda. However, Wheal Barton carted to Port Adelaide from the Burra the outcrop was recognised during The Wheal Barton Mining Association Burra Mine up until 1849. the subsequent survey and when the was formed in December 1849 to Between 1845 and 1851, three 80-acre section was put up for auction work outcrops of copper ore near the main lines of roads were established in February 1844 it was purchased by township of Truro. The existence of between Burra and Port Adelaide: one a syndicate. The Montacute Mining mineralisation had been kept secret until via Kapunda and Apoinga, another Company was formed to work the mine the land had been surveyed and sold. via Kapunda and Waterloo and a third which was named after Montacute In 1850 Charles Barton laid out the via Riverton and Saddleworth. The Hill in Somerset. The discovery of township of Barton, about 0.5 km west roads converged at Black Springs and ore at Montacute led to further copper of the mine. The township included at Gawler. The Riverton–Saddleworth

MESA Journal 61 June 2011 45 History

line became known as the Great laid out by the government and sold at Australia Department of Mines and Northern Road and is today the main auction in July 1850. Like the copper Energy, Adelaide. route to Burra from Adelaide. Like the roads between Burra and Gawler, Drew GJ 1983. Glen Osmond Mines: a earlier copper road between Kapunda the Gulf road ran through largely guide to the historic mine site, Brochure. and Gawler, these roads were not unsurveyed and unsettled country and South Australia Department of Mines and Energy, Adelaide. determined by survey, but rather by settlements were established along the aspects of convenience, the availability route at the various watering localities. Drew GJ 1987. Australia’s earliest mining of water and creek crossings. Land was era and its effect on land survey and Private townships laid out along settlement, Report Book 1987/00003. quickly surveyed along these routes the route included Mintaro, Auburn South Australia Department of Mines and and inns and settlements established to and Leasingham and the settlement Energy, Adelaide. serve the traffic. Townships were later of Dunns Bridge later became the Drew GJ 2002. Discovering historic Burra, laid out around the inns and settlements, township of Balaklava. The various South Australia. National Trust of South most of them private. Examples include townships were mainly supported by Australia. Saddleworth, Riverton, Hamilton, the money spent in cartage of copper Drew GJ and Jones J 1988. Discovering Glendore (Black Springs) and Emuville. from Burra. Their survival depended on historic Kapunda, South Australia: At Black Springs, where the three the subsequent development of farming Australia’s first mining town. Kapunda roads converged at a watering hole, a and grazing activities. Tourism Committee. licence was granted in October 1846 Drexel JF 1982. Mining in South Australia. The Gulf road was abandoned in Special Publication 3. South Australia to Daniel Cudmore for a hotel named 1857 when the railway reached Gawler the Miners Arms. Later this became Department of Mines and Energy, and traffic reverted to the Burra to known as the Emu Hotel. Following Adelaide. Gawler roads. However some sections commencement of the Karkulto Mine Dutton F 1846. South Australia and its of the Gulf road have survived to the a short distance to the north in 1850, Mines. Austraprint, Adelaide. present day. Edmund Bowman purchased land Yelland EM 1970. Colonists, copper and around the hotel and springs and laid The railway reached Kapunda in corn in the Colony of South Australia 1850-51. Hawthorn Press, Melbourne. out the township of Emuville. This 1860 and Burra in 1870, ending a consisted of 38 four-acre blocks with quarter of a century of carriage of For more detailed information see Drew (1987) frontages on the roads to Burra and copper by road, which was responsible on which this article is based. Apoinga to the south. However the for a unique period of survey and Karkulto Mine was not successful and settlement in South Australia. Emuville did not eventuate, although it is still shown on present day cadastral Conclusion plans. The township of Glendore (later Australian Mining Black Springs) which was laid out A number of relics survive from the History Association 1.5 km to the south of the springs has early mining era which took place survived to the present day. in South Australia between 1841 and 1851. These include distinctive Messrs. Penny and Owen constructed 17th AMHA Cornish mine buildings and chimneys one of the first smelters in South at a number of abandoned mine sites. Annual Conference Australia in 1848 at Apoinga, 32 km However, the numerous townships south of Burra, where timber was and road networks established to serve plentiful. Ore was purchased from 2011 these early mines will remain long after Burra and the first smelted copper was the mining relics have disappeared to September produced in January 1849. By 1851, 14–17 50 t of copper were being produced remind future generations of Australia’s Hahndorf, South Australia per week and the smelters supported a first mining era. The topic of this article is the theme The theme is Australia’s Earliest Mining population of more than 100 in a village Era which refers to the first era of metal of the 17th AMHA Annual Conference of about 30 houses. Lack of ore due to which took place the erection of smelters at Burra and 2011 being organised by the Australian in the Mount Lofty Ranges of South the exodus of miners to the Victorian Mining History Association (see below). Australia in the period 1841–1851. goldfields resulted in closure of the Four days of presentations will be mixed Apoinga smelters in 1852. Further reading with short tours to mining history sites After the establishment of smelters Auhl IL 1986. The story of the ‘monster in the Adelaide Hills. There are also three at Burra in 1849, copper ingots were mine’: the Burra Burra Mine and its full-day tours. transported along a new road from townships 1845 - 1877. Investigator Black Springs to the head of St Vincent Press, Adelaide. Gulf for shipment to Port Adelaide. Auhl IL and Marflett D 1975.Australia’s This route saved about 80 km of land earliest mining era, South Australia cartage and became known as the Gulf 1841-1851. Rigby Ltd, Adelaide. Road. The township of Port Wakefield, Chilman JK 1982. Silver and a trace of www.mininghistory.asn.au/conference/ consisting of 146 one-acre blocks, was gold, Special Publication 1. South

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