Stannum is a small

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

mining village on the

Northern Tablelands The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England regio ...

, in the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. in

Tenterfield Shire Tenterfield Shire is a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the New England (Australia), New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is situated adjacent to the New England Highway. The mayor of the Te ...

. It is 14 kilometres north north-west of Deepwater and south-west of

Tenterfield Tenterfield is a regional town in New South Wales, Australia, situated at the junction of the New England and Bruxner highways, along the Northern Tablelands, within the New England, New South Wales, New England region. At the , Tenterfield ha ...

and 48 kilometres from Glen Innes.The village is situated on a plateau known as the Mole Tableland in close proximity to the

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

border on the

. Another

tin mining 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 ca ...

village, Torrington lies 13 kilometres to the west. The region covers an area of approximately 60,597 hectares or around 606 square kilometres (km²) (149,737 acres).

History

Stannum was formerly known as Nine Mile. ''Nine Mile'' Post Office opened on 1 May 1890, was renamed ''Stannum'' in 1905 and closed in 1983.

Demographics

In the Stannum had a population of approximately 197 (51.3% male, 48.7% female), of which 9 were indigenous persons (comprising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders). Around 54 families live in the area and of those 38.9% have one or more children under the age of 15. Eight percent of families have only a single parent while 46.6% of couples have no children. The 88 private dwellings in Stannum are owned outright by 45% of their occupiers, 13.6% are being purchased (e.g. by mortgage) and 14% are being rented. On average there are around 2.3 people per private dwelling in the area. The composition of occupied private dwellings in Stannum is as follows: 96.6% separate houses, 0.0% semi-detached houses (e.g. townhouses, row or terrace houses), 0.0% flats (including units and apartments) and 3 other dwellings. In terms of people aged 15 years or more living in Stannum 50% are married, 18.4% are divorced or separated, 13% are widowed and 26.6% have never married. Compared to the rest of Australia, Stannum has a below average migrant population, with around 78.2% of residents being born in Australia. The top 5 countries of birth for migrants in the area are: United Kingdom (6.6%), New Zealand (3.0%), Italy (2%), Netherlands (2%) and France (2%).Census QuickStats : Stannum
Retrieved on 21 January 2009.

Industry

The Stannum deep lead tin mine is thought to extend to over 5 kilometres in length. Battery Mountain to the immediate north-west of Stannum has high concentrations of tin bearing veins in this region. Further exploration of the Stannum region is planned to evaluate the possibility of further mining here.YTC Resources
Retrieved on 21 January 2009. The median weekly family income for people living in Stannum was $616 per week. The main industry of employment for employed persons aged 15 years and over was sheep, beef cattle and grain farming in which 56.9% of the population was employed.

Fauna

The Stannum region is a popular site for bird-watching. Birds that may be seen here include the

apostlebird The apostlebird (''Struthidea cinerea''), also known as the grey jumper, lousy jack or happy family, is a quick-moving, gray or black bird about 33 cm (13 in) long. It is a native to Australia where it roams woodlands, eating insects an ...

(''Struthidea cinerea''), channel-billed cuckoo (''Scythrops novaehollandiae''), dollarbird (''Eurystomus orientalis''), hooded and eastern yellow robins,

Pacific baza The Pacific baza (''Aviceda subcristata''), also known as the crested hawk, crested baza, and Pacific cuckoo-falcon, is a slender, medium-sized species of hawk in the family Accipitridae. It is mostly grey, brown, and white coloured and grows t ...

(''Aviceda subcristata''), yellow-tailed black and glossy black cockatoos (''Calyptorhynchus lathami''), rainbow, musk, and little

lorikeet Loriini is a tribe of small to medium-sized arboreal parrots characterized by their specialized brush-tipped tongues for feeding on nectar of various blossoms and soft fruits, preferably berries. The species form a monophyletic group within the p ...

s, king and turquoise

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

s, rainbow bee-eater (''Merops ornatus''), restless flycatcher (''Myiagra inquieta''), white-throated and brown treecreepers (''Climacteris picumnus''),

honeyeater The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New Gui ...

s (including scarlet), diamond, plum-headed and redbrowed

finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches generally have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where the ...

es,

tawny frogmouth The tawny frogmouth (''Podargus strigoides'') is a species of frogmouth native to the Australian mainland and Tasmania and found throughout. It is a big-headed, stocky bird often mistaken for an owl due to its nocturnal habits and similar colouri ...

(''Podargus strigoides''), and

wedge-tailed eagle The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') also known as the eaglehawk, is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. A ...

References

External links

{{authority control Mining towns in New South Wales Towns in New England (New South Wales)