miners

Mount Isa, a mining town and the biggest population centre in north-west Queensland, is 820 km west of Townsville, 160 km from the Northern Territory border and 350 km south of the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is situated in an extensive mineral-rich region stretching from south of Cloncurry to west of Burketown. Unlike many other great mining towns, including Broken Hill and Charters Towers, Mount Isa is unlikely to run out of minerals to mine, having mastered the treatment of large volumes of lower grade ore. The Mount Isa mining field was discovered by an itinerant prospector, John Campbell Miles (c1883-1963) in 1923. Miles was camped on the Leichhardt River and took rock samples from an outcrop, knowing by their weight that they were mineralised. A government assayer at Cloncurry found an astonishing lead content of up to 78%. A few months later the Government geologist confirmed the mineral potential, starting a rush of leasehold applications. Miles named the outcrop Mount Isa, explaining in the 1950s that he did so in memory of the Mount Ida mine, about 20 km northwest of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Miles never explained why he substituted Isa for Ida. A rudimentary mining township soon formed and Mount Isa Mines Ltd was floated in January 1924. Storekeepers brought buildings from other towns, mainly Kuridala, south of Cloncurry, and two open-air picture theatres were started. By the end of 1924, there were a provisional school, a progress association, and a surveyed town on the east side of the Leichhardt River. Many businesses had been set up next to the mine on the west side of the river. Putting the town on the east side indicated a certain sensitivity to good town planning. Source: www.queenslandplaces.com.au/mount-isa

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The Linda Memorial was erected to commemorate those who died in accidents in Mount Morgan Mine from 1894 to 1909.

On 5 November 1908, an accident occurred in the Linda section of the mine in which seven men were killed. Widespread concern and sympathy were evoked and a large public funeral was held. Five more miners were killed on 4 November of that year and a monument was erected for all who had died as the result of accidents in the Mount Morgan Mine; a total of 26 miners between 3 December 1894 and 28 July 1909.

Source:
monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/disaster/industrial/displ...

Approximately one and half hours into the afternoon shift on Saturday, September 5 1908 in the Mount Morgan Goldmining Co. workings at the 850 Level, in No. 4 drive, a large fall of rock estimated at approximately 2,000 tons crushed the life out of seven miners in an instant. This was then, the most serious loss of life suffered in the history of the mine. All seven bodies had been recovered from the accident site by around 5.30 pm the following evening due largely to the tremendous effort put in by large numbers of miners over the twenty-four hours.

Mount Morgan residents were up early on Monday morning September 7 to see the coffins of the four Gympie miners carried on the shoulders of their local mining mates from the morgue at the hospital to the railway station where they were placed on the mail train to be transported home to their loved ones in Gympie. Both sides of the road for a distance of nearly two miles were packed by local residents, many of whom joined the solemn procession as it passed by. At 1.20 am on Tuesday morning September 8, the Rockhampton mail train arrived at the Gympie railway station to be met by a large crowd gathered there. It was said to be the saddest occasion ever witnessed in the town when the four coffins were removed from the train. Later in the day, a lorry bedecked in flowers and carrying the deceased departed the HILLYARD residence on Cootharaba Hill for the cemetery where they were laid to rest by their loved ones and friends in their respective graves.

Funeral of the Gympie Miners took place on Tuesday afternoon. The cortege was probably the largest. It extended from the cemetery gates to the Post Office. The City, Model, Monkland and Salvation Army bands played the “Dead March”.

Source:
www.gfhs.com.au/the-fate-of-gympie-men/

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