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Events/Discovery · 1888

Tin mining starts at Greenbushes

Discovery, 1888, Australia.

What happened

Edward Hardman reported tin at Greenbushes in 1886. David Stinton discovered a tin field in 1888, which brought alluvial miners. Talison describes the area as the longest continuously operated mining area in Western Australia.1,2,3

Why it matters

The site later became a major lithium mine.1,2,3

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Bolivian tin output stands at 3,749.5 t

    It was the base of a rise to 9,279.5 t by 1899 as silver faded.4

  2. Tin mining starts at Greenbushes

    The site later became a major lithium mine.1,2,3

  3. Antofagasta railway reaches Oruro

    The line to the Pacific cut costs of sending Bolivian ore to Europe.4,5,6

  4. Bolivian tin output reaches 9,279.5 t

    Annual output had nearly tripled in twelve years, ahead of the tin boom of the 1900s.4,6

  5. Penpoll builds a Liverpool smelter for Bolivian tin

    The smelter was built solely to treat Bolivian material.5,7

  6. Malay States export duty protects Straits tin smelters

    The discriminatory duty indirectly shielded Penang and Singapore smelters from American competition.8,9

  7. Treaty requires Chile to build the Arica-La Paz railway

    The peace treaty left Bolivia landlocked and Chile promised a railway for Bolivian trade.10,11

  8. Arica-La Paz railway opens

    Arica-La Paz railway opens.12

Open the full timeline

Where next

People

Discovered byDavid StintonDavid Stinton is part of this story: Tin mining starts at Greenbushes.1

Mines

Located inGreenbushesTin from 1888, tantalum from 1942, lithium concentrate from 1983.13ExamplesSan RafaelTin also came from a find at Greenbushes in 1888, in Western Australia.1

Events

Came out ofGreenbushes lithium production beginsThe lithium mine grew out of a tin field found by David Stinton in 1888.1

Places

Located inGreenbushesSee the place where this happened: Greenbushes.1

Sources

  1. Tin (Mining and Energy Western Australia exhibition) State Library of Western Australia
  2. About Talison Lithium
  3. Greenbushes (item Q1826852), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. Correa Vera L., Del poder a los tratados: desarrollo y ferrocarriles en Bolivia, 1870-1904 Historia 46(2) (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, via Redalyc)
  5. Hillman J., The Emergence of the Tin Industry in Bolivia Journal of Latin American Studies 16(2) (Cambridge University Press)
  6. Wikidata item Q35246 (Oruro)
  7. Wikidata item Q24826 (Liverpool)
  8. Wong Lin Ken, Singapore: Its Growth as an Entrepot Port, 1819-1941 Cambridge University Press (journal article, DOI 10.1017/S002246340000953X)
  9. Wikidata item Q61092 (George Town (Penang))
  10. La historia del ferrocarril de Arica a La Paz Memoria Chilena, Biblioteca Nacional de Chile
  11. Wikidata item Q2203 (Arica)
  12. Wikidata item Q2962328 (Arica-La Paz railway opens)
  13. Greenbushes Lithium Operation technical report summary 2025 Albemarle Corporation (SEC exhibit 96.1, SLR technical report summary)

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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Pictures: Timna in de Negevwoestijn; rotspartij "de zuilen van Salomo", Poll, Willem van de / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Salar de Atacama, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Kopermijn te Kolwezi in de provincie Shaba (Katanka), Mieremet, Rob / Anefo / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).