Beaconsfield, Tasmania

Beaconsfield is a town in the north of the Australian state of Tasmania. It is located 40 km north of Launceston on the west bank of the Tamar River at West Tamar Highway ( A7). It belongs to the Local Government Area West Tamar Municipality and had at the last census in 2006 had a total population of 1,056.

History

The first European to explore the area around present-day Beaconsfield was, in 1804, William Paterson, who led an expedition to Port Dalrymple and the settlement Yorktown founded. The terrain of Beaconsflield itself was first settled in the 1850s; The settlement was then called Brandy Creek. When limestone quarry was found in 1869 gold. The prospecting for gold began in 1877 and the population of the area grew considerably. 1879, the city was named in honor of Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, renamed. From 1881 was the newspaper of Beaconsfield Beaconsfield Tickler. .

1953 Beaconsfield was the first city in Australia, where the drinking water was treated with fluorine

Gold mining in Beaconsfield

First discovered in 1847 in Beaconsfield gold. When the gold rush began in 1851 in Victoria and New South Wales, the Tasmanian government suspended a premium for the discovery of economically viable gold field. 1877, the brothers William and David Dally discovered the ceiling of a degradable gold vein on the eastern slope of the Cabbage Tree Hill. This was the famous Tasmanian reef. In October 1877, the brothers sold their Dally Clain on Tasmanian reef for 15,000 pounds and 10 % stake in the company to be founded William D. Grubb and William Hart.

At the height of the gold rush 700 workers were employed in the gold mine and 26 tonnes of gold have been found.

An early settler, Mr. Campbell described the situation as follows:

The blacks were here in those days .... On each side which nothing but thick tea tree scrub and snakes .... When the rush for gold what Discovered there which only two shops, drapery and grocery but soon the little township swarmed with people. More shops, hotels, dancehalls and hall were built for plays to come to the town in Which They did plenty. There came circuses and the children got excited and Followed to see the horses and elephants going through the town to get somewhere to camp and build Their tents. Those entertainments came very Often Because there what plenty of money about. ( Eng.: At the time, blacks were here ... Everywhere there was nothing but thicket of Südseemyrte and snakes .... At the beginning of the gold rush, there were only two shops, a cloth shop and a grocery store, but soon swarmed the small town before people. More shops, hotels, dance halls and an amusement arcade were built to allow gambling came into the city, which was done in about large numbers. came circuses and the children followed them to see draw the horses and elephants through the city. the circuses looked for somewhere a place and set up their tents on. Such entertainment business came very often, because so much money was. )

Initially, the city Brandy Creek was named after the color of the water in the stream where gold was first discovered. Mr. Campbell continues:

The growing civic consciousness found voice in the demand for a new name for the town and in March 1879 Brandy Creek which renamed Beaconsfield, after Lord Beaconsfield, in a ceremony Conducted by Governor Weld after he rejected a suggestion did it shoulderstand be named after him. ( Eng.: The growing self-confidence of the urban population was reflected in the demand for a new city names down, and in March 1879 Brandy Creek was renamed Beaconsfield after Lord Beaconsfield in a led by Governor Weld ceremony after it had rejected the appointment for him.

1903 bought a UK company the Tasmanian Gold Mining and Quartz Crushing Company and turned it into the Tasmanian Gold Mining Company Ltd.. After water in the mines of Beaconsfield had become a big problem, a substantial capital injection was needed to buy suitable drainage systems and operate. The company test pits gold in two adjacent wells called Grubb and Hart. 1904 emerged nacelles and a central heating plant. These buildings are now home to the Beaconsfield Mine & Heritage Centre.

The underground gold mining began in 1879 with the Abtäufen of the three main shafts Hart, Main and Grubb.

Beaconsfield was the richest gold mining town in Tasmania. 1881 there were 53 companies in this field of work. All of these companies were bought by the owners of the Tasmania Mine.

The gold mine was closed in 1914 due to regular flooding of the shafts, but opened again in 1999 with mixed success. By 1914 the mine was driven to a depth of 450 m in the vein of gold and 800,000 ounces of gold promoted. In 1982, the Grubb Shaft Gold & Heritage Museum was founded (now Beaconsfield Mine & Heritage Centre, where to look for previous gold mining since 1984 exhibits ).

In the 1970s confirmed a test well that the gold vein until at least 200 m below the old excavations continued. In 1991, the old rigid shaft was re-established and pumped down to 160 m depth. In 1992, the project was abandoned after a change of ownership. 1993 was led again by deep drilling and since 1994, the Beaconsfield Mine Joint Venture carried out the deep drilling. A permanent pumping station at 181 m depth lowered the water levels in the bay since August 1995., The elevator and the shaft head were completed in January 1996 and the end of 1996 the shaft was ready. In fiscal year 1999/2000 they built a Iron Ore Processing Plant

In fiscal year 2004/2005 240 685 t of ore were encouraged, from which one won 3890 kg of gold.

In 2006, the owner of the Beaconsfield Mine Joint Venture ( BMJV ) were the Allstate Group with 51.51 % share and the Beaconsfield Gold Group with 48.49 % share. Allstate conducts the business of the BMJV and provides the staff.

Mine disaster in April 2006

On Tuesday, April 25, 2006, a small earthquake led to a collapse pit gold mine at Beaconsfield. 14 miners were saved, a miner, Larry Knight, was killed, and the remaining two miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb were trapped on a sole in a depth of about 1,000 m. Five days later, on Sunday, April 30, 2006, they found the two victims alive. The rescue of the two was not until Tuesday, May 9, 2006.

In September 2007, the Foo Fighters, the Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners brought to the memory of these events out on their album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.