Mount Bischoff Tin Mines, Tasmania.

Rare c.19th engraving of the Mount Bischoff Tin Mine, near the town of Waratah in north-western Tasmania.

Mount Bischoff’s tin deposit was discovered by James ‘Philosopher’ Smith in 1872. Smith was granted a lease, and mining commenced with a pick and shovel. The first loads of ore were taken by bullock carts over muddy bush tracks to Emu Bay. In 1873 Smith floated the Mount Bischoff Tin Mining Company, which became successful, paying a return of over tenfold on the initial investment. Smith did not make a cent, as he parted company with his fellow directors in 1876, before the first dividend was paid in 1878. Alluvial surface deposits were worked first, followed by the development of open cuts and then underground workings. The deposit has yielded 5,500,000 tonnes of ore from which 56,000 tonnes of tin metal has been extracted. Most was mined during the period 1873–1915. A tramway was built to the coast in 1879, and a railway in 1883. found the massive Mount Bischoff orebody in 1872. Smith was granted a lease, and mining commenced with a pick and shovel. The first loads of ore were taken by bullock carts over muddy bush tracks to Emu Bay. In 1873 Smith floated the Mount Bischoff Tin Mining Company, which became successful, paying a return of over tenfold on the initial investment. Smith did not make a cent, as he parted company with his fellow directors in 1876, before the first dividend was paid in 1878. Alluvial surface deposits were worked first, followed by the development of open cuts and then underground workings. The deposit has yielded 5,500,000 tonnes of ore from which 56,000 tonnes of tin metal has been extracted. Most was mined during the period 1873–1915. A tramway was built to the coast in 1879, and a railway in 1883.

From the original edition of Freason’s Monthly Illustrated Adelaide News.