Mount Moran Battery is a heritage-listed former stamper battery at New Woolgar Road, Gilberton,

Shire of Etheridge The Shire of Etheridge is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia in what is known as the Savannah Gulf region. Its economy is based on cattle grazing and mining. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government e ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. It was built from 1924 to . It was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. A ...

on 22 September 2000.

History

Mount Moran Battery is situated on a sloping ridge above the seasonally active Agate Creek, west of Forsayth. The isolated five head stamp battery was erected in 1924 to crush ore won from the three reefs worked in the area - the Mona, Iona and Bosker. Gold was discovered in the Georgetown Mining District in 1868 and a series of gold and base metal discoveries followed. The region became known as the Etheridge Gold and Mineral Field. The field peaked as a gold producer in the 1890s but was in decline by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. High base metal prices turned attention to lead, silver and copper and the field boomed until the onset of the Depression in the late 1920s again caused prices to drop. A brief revival in gold mining followed but the labour and materials shortages of

World War Two World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

ended all mining. During the early years of gold discoveries on the Etheridge field small amounts of alluvial gold were found in gullies around Mount Moran. Although it was not until the 1920s that the area produced three working gold reefs. Between 1922 and 1936 the three mines, the Mona, Iona and Bosker, yielded of gold. Ore from the area was first crushed at the Ortona battery. By 1924 Mount Moran required its own crushing facilities. The ten head battery at Ortona, situated about from Mount Moran field, was relocated from Ortona to its present site. In 1924 there was increased prospecting in the area with satisfactory results. Several new gold-bearing lodes were discovered, however most of the work was confined to the Finger Point mine. Here, the principal owners formed a syndicate and amalgamated their holdings in a lease. The claims in the area were the Blue Spec, Bosker, Brown Hill, Dinkum, Finger Print, Lucky Hit, Iona and Peg Leg, with the deepest shafts of being sunk on the Peg Leg and Finger Print respectively. The 1930s saw a brief revival in the area then known as "the Mount Moran group of gold mines". In 1936 the Mount Moran Battery crushed of ore to yield of gold. However, there appears to have been no activity after this date. The Mount Moran Battery presumably ceased operation as the mines in the area closed.

Description

The Mount Moran Battery contains the remains of a five head stamp battery including mortar box, stamper rods and belt wheel. The battery frame has been removed. A colonial boiler, the remains of a steam engine with fly wheel and several berdan pans are located alongside the stamp battery. A collapsed corrugated iron camp is located across a gully to the west of the battery. A small steam pump is located near a well on a watercourse east of the battery. The place includes several early open workings.

Heritage listing

Mount Moran Battery was listed on the

on 22 September 2000 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Mount Moran Mine is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's mining history, in particular the Etheridge Gold and Mineral Field. It contributes to an understanding of ore crushing technology utilised on a marginal lode and is an example of a small battery which was set up to crush ore for a few small mines in an isolated area of the remote field.

References

Attribution

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Mount Moran Battery Queensland Heritage Register Gilberton, Queensland (Etheridge Shire) Industrial buildings in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Buildings and structures in Far North Queensland Mining in Queensland