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Events/Discovery · 1882

Mount Morgan gold mining begins

Discovery, 1882, Australia.

What happened

Queensland says Mount Morgan was founded as a gold mining town in 1882 and mining continued until November 1990. It was the largest gold mine in Queensland in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with about 250 t of gold and 360,000 t of copper extracted. The work generated about 134 Mt of waste rock and tailings.1,2

Why it matters

The site is now a major abandoned mine remediation project.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Victoria produces most of the worlds gold

    Gold escorts carried about a tonne a week from Mount Alexander to Melbourne at the peak.3,4

  2. Fraser River gold rush

    The rush led Britain to create the Colony of British Columbia in 1858, partly from fear of American annexation. The legislature dates this to 2 August and Parks Canada to 19 November (proclamation by Governor James Douglas).5,6,7

  3. Otago gold rush

    It financed the early growth of Dunedin and the colony.8,9

  4. Alluvial gold found at Pilgrim's Rest

    It began the gold rush in the eastern Transvaal.10,11

  5. Mount Morgan gold mining begins

    The site is now a major abandoned mine remediation project.1,2

  6. Cyanide process for gold developed in Scotland

    USGS says heap leaching with cyanide was proposed in 1969 as a way to treat low-grade ores.12,13,14

  7. Jameson Raid

    Jameson Raid.15

  8. Dawson City at the height of the Klondike rush

    Parks Canada estimates 20,000 to 30,000 people at the height of the rush.16

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Where next

Mines

Located inMount Morgan MineSee the mine behind this story: Mount Morgan Mine.1

Sources

  1. Mount Morgan remediation project Queensland Government
  2. Mount Morgan Mine (item Q6922260), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Richest discoveries (Golden Victoria) State Library Victoria (Ergo)
  4. Wikidata item Q3141 (Melbourne)
  5. Fort Langley National Historic Site: History Parks Canada
  6. 1858: The Mainland of British Columbia Becomes a Crown Colony Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
  7. Fort Langley National Historic Site (item Q1282806), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  8. History of Gabriels Gully NZ Department of Conservation
  9. Gabriel's Gully (item Q5515501), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  10. Mpumalanga South African History Online
  11. Pilgrim's Rest (item Q2992348), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  12. Cyanide hazards to plants and animals from gold mining and related water issues (publication page) US Geological Survey
  13. Johannesburg Timeline 1800-1991 South African History Online
  14. Scotland (item Q22), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  15. Wikidata item Q916340 (Jameson Raid)
  16. Dawson Historical Complex National Historic Site Parks Canada

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Haul trucks by Lechhabmed, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Kimberley, South Africa: miners and washing gear at the Bultfontein diamond mine. Woodburytype, 1888, after a photograph by Robert Harris., Harris, Robert, active 1881-1888. (Public Domain Mark 1.0).