Melba Flats
| Melba Flats | |
|---|---|
| Facility information | |
| Location | Zeehan |
| Coordinates | 41°50′52.16″S 145°24′46.55″E / 41.8478222°S 145.4129306°E |
| Constructed | 1970 |
| Operator | TasRail |
| Rail information | |
| Rail lines | Melba Line |
| Rail gauge | Narrow gauge |
| Road information | |
| Street access | Murchison Highway |
Melba Flats is a railway siding on the Emu Bay Railway east of Zeehan that served as a terminus for trains carrying copper ore from the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company in west coast Tasmania, once the Emu Bay Railway ceased services into the Zeehan townsite.[1]
The section of line near Melba Flats was operational by December 1900. The Rosebery to Zeehan connection closed on the 14 August 1965, however the Rosebery to Melba Flats section re-opened on the 15 January 1970. The Mount Lyell company had trucks deliver the ore along the Queenstown to Zeehan road to this siding.
The Melba Flats area is the site of numerous historical workings; hand workings and hand constructed mining shafts dating back to the 1880s. Lead, zinc, silver, tin and nickel have been located in varying quantities in the area.
Allegiance Mining are planning to open pit mine niccolite and pentlandite, copper, gold and platinum minerals from small deposits on Melba Flats.
Notes
References
- Atkinson, H.K. (1991). Railway Tickets of Tasmania. the Author. ISBN 0-9598718-7-X.
- Blainey, Geoffrey (2000). The Peaks of Lyell (6th ed.). Hobart: St. David's Park Publishing. ISBN 0-7246-2265-9.
- Whitham, Charles. Western Tasmania: A Land of Riches and Beauty.
- Whitham, Lindsay (2002). Railways, Mines, Pubs and People and other historical research. Sandy Bay: Tasmanian Historical Research Association. ISBN 0-909479-21-6.
Coordinates: 41°50′S 145°24′E / 41.833°S 145.400°E