Mount Bischoff is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

and former

tin mine Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm. History Tin extraction and use can ...

in the north-western region of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Australia. The mountain is situated adjacent to

Savage River National Park Savage River National Park is located in north-west Tasmania, Australia. Established in April 1999, it is the largest undisturbed area of temperate rainforest in Australia since the era of the thylacine. Unlike other national parks of Tasmania ...

near the town of

Waratah Waratah (''Telopea'') is an Australian-endemic genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees, native to the southeastern parts of Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania). The best-known species in this genus is ''Telopea speci ...

Location and features

Tin was discovered at Mount Bischoff in 1871 by James "Philosopher" Smith. The mountain was named in the early nineteenth century after the Chairman of the Van Diemen's Land Company

James Bischoff James Bischoff (1776–1845) was Chairman and Managing Director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, and author of works on the wool trade and Van Diemen's Land. Life Bischoff was of a German family which settled in Leeds in 1718. He was born in Le ...

Tin mine

The mine operated successfully at first by the Mount Bischoff Tin Mining Company, using

sluicing In syntax, sluicing is a type of ellipsis that occurs in both direct and indirect interrogative clauses. The ellipsis is introduced by a ''wh''-expression, whereby in most cases, everything except the ''wh''-expression is elided from the clause. ...

with water from the top of the waterfall in Waratah. In June 1883, the mine installed one of the first hydro-electric generators in Australia and employed it to light the offices, workshop and manager's house. The easy ore was all extracted by 1893 when sluicing was discontinued. Mining continued opencut on the face of the mountain, and underground. The manager of the mine from 1907 to 1919 was

John Dunlop Millen John Dunlop Millen (3 May 1877 – 1 August 1941) was an Australian engineer and politician. He served as a Senator for Tasmania from 1920 to 1938, representing the Nationalist Party until 1931 and then the United Australia Party (UAP). He m ...

; he was "credited with the modernisation of the mine’s facilities and was regarded by all those associated with the mine’s operations as an effective manager". The underground mine closed in 1914, but surface mining continued for some time before it also ceased after the price of tin slumped in 1929. The mine was reopened by the

Commonwealth Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

in 1942 to support the war effort, but it finally closed in 1947. The mine was connected to the Emu Bay Railway by the Waratah Branch of that railway which was run from Guildford Junction to Waratah between 1900 and mid 1940.

2000s revival

After several minor attempts, in 2008

Metals X Limited A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typica ...

, a Perth-based mining company, through its subsidiary Bluestone Mines Tasmania Pty Ltd, the operator of the Renison Bell, one of largest tin mines in the world today, decided to mine the remaining tin at Mount Bischoff to blend with ore at its Renison Bell operation. A large open cut operation taking in all the old historic workings was developed at Mount Bischoff for this purpose with the ore being trucked to the Renison Bell processing plant. At the time ore reserves at Mount Bischoff were estimated to be grading at 1.20 percent tin. In 2009/10 of ore was mined at the Mount Bischoff open pit that produced of tin in concentrate. The open cut mine at Mount Bischoff is currently on care and maintenance. Bluestone Mines Tasmania Pty Ltd is continuing its exploration program at Mount Bischoff.

Location and features

Tin mine

2000s revival

See also

References

Further reading