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Sundown Tin and Copper Mine is a heritage-listed mine at Little Sundown Creek, Stanthorpe, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from to 1920s. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 July 2000. == History == Tin was discovered at Sundown in 1893, and a reward claim was granted for 40 acres, but at that date there was no machinery on the ground. Mining had ceased in 1894 for want of equipment, and copper prices were at rock-bottom at that time.〔 The copper and tin deposits were on opposite sides of Little Sundown Creek, and were mined from different shafts. With rising prices the mine was operating again in 1897, and much development work was carried out in 1898. By 1899 a smelter must have been erected, as 470 tons of ore was smelted for 53 tons of matte containing 30% copper and 50oz silver per ton, and 20 men were employed. More ore was raised in 1900, but the mine was under exemption through 1901-1903, a time of low copper prices.〔 In 1904 the mine was described as having an open-cut on the tin portion, and on the copper section a tramway ran down 7 chains from the mine to the reverberatory furnace. The only building standing besides the furnace was the assay office. Firewood was swung across the creek to the furnace on wire ropes. The copper adit was driven 270 ft, with winzes and drives off it, and a shaft connecting to the surface 60 ft from the portal. The most recent smelting of 150 tons of ore produced 25 tons of matte containing 29% copper and 76oz silver and 6 dwt gold per ton matte. Mining recommenced in 1904, but was abandoned again in 1907, this time reputedly due to falling tin prices, though copper fell dramatically in 1907 as well. However, Kershaw and Dodds intended to erect a crushing works at the site the following year.〔 The mine was worked under tribute in 1909 - 1910. In 1911 -1912 work recommenced, with both copper and tin prices resurging. A road was cut to the site, and a shaft sunk in the bottom of the tin mine, which had previously been mined largely by open-cut. The old smelter was described as still being in good condition in 1913, but mining was clearly slow .〔 In 1914 the mine was taken over by the Sundown Tin and Copper Mining Company (N.L.) which erected a 10-head battery driven by a suction-gas plant, and built two fines dams. No work had been done for some time on the tin portion, but some had been going on for copper. In 1915 a calciner was erected, together with "another" Wilfley concentrating table and a 5 ft Berdan crushing pan, and a new shaft was sunk on the tin deposit. The new tin shaft had poppet legs erected over it in 1916, and a 16 hp Tangye winding engine and vertical boiler were installed. That year 69.5 tons of tin and 26 tons of copper concentrates were produced.〔 Work carried out in 1916-17 included the construction of flues for saving arsenic, the electric lighting of the mines and mill, the construction of a new concrete dam, a new elevated double rope line form the new tin shaft to the mill, new self feeders at the mill, and the redressing works was to be remodelled and shifted from its present location at the mill to the calciner. The battery consisted of the 10 head stamper, 4 classifiers, 5 Wilfley tables, 2 Berdan pans and several buddles. The single reverberatory furnace was used to calcine the tin concentrates and drive of arsenic and sulphur. In 1917 a Merton calciner was erected and flues for arsenic recovery constructed. It is likely that these replaced the old reverberatory furnace and calciner. Arsenic became and important product of the mines, the demand escalating during the prickly pear infestation. New shafts were sunk at both the tin and copper mines. The lack of water reduced output in 1918, only 23 tons of tin and 12.5 tons of copper concentrates being produced, but the new shafts were continued, the three compartment copper shaft having poppet legs and ore bins erected, and a cableway built to the battery bins. A new reverberatory furnace was built and a water pipeline laid to the Severn River. The Merton Furnace was described in 1918 as being for the roasting of arsenic concentrates, with the arsenic being condensed in 200 ft of "mud flues", while the new reverberatory furnace was for copper smelting.〔 Production in 1919 and 1920 was modest, and in 1921 the smelter treated 100 tons of ore yielding 20 tons of matte containing 37% copper, and 60oz silver per ton. Air compressors and rock drills were obtained, and the calciner and reverberatory furnace were in working order. 30 tons of arsenic and 5.4 tons of copper were produced in 1922, and 200 tons of arsenic in 1923. In 1924 the furnace and part of the mill was leased by Arsenic Limited to O.C Roberts Limited, who remodelled the furnace to treat high-grade ore, as a result of the Prickly Pear Land Commission letting a 12-month contract for the supply of Roberts Improved Pear Poison, which was manufactured at Wallangarra. The ore was to come form the nearby Beecroft Mine.〔 The arsenic works ceased operation in 1925, and tin does not seem to have been mined after 1923. There is no reference to copper after this date either.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sundown Tin and Copper Mine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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