North Mount Lyell was the name of a mine, mining company, locality (sometimes as North Lyell) and former railway north of Gormanston on the southern slopes of Mount Lyell in the West Coast Range on the West Coast of Tasmania, and on to the ridge between Mount Lyell and Mount Owen.
North Mount Lyell Copper Company
The company was short-lived, however the mine, orebody and workings lasted long after the company was absorbedStrictly the name was North Mount Lyell Copper Co. Ltd. see – , and, and consider the 1894 report of the AGM of the North Mount Lyell Company referring to Crotty into the workings of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company following the failure of the smelters at Crotty.
The stages of building the infrastructure of the mines, the smelters, and port at Kelly Basin were photographed by John Watt Beattie.
Founder The company was founded by James Crotty, and was for a few years a fierce competitor with Mount Lyell. Geoffrey Blainey gives a description of the rivalry and final amalgamation in The Peaks of Lyell. As Blainey points out, the North Mount Lyell workings eventually proved vital for the Mount Lyell Company.* – Chapter 12 'The Feud of the Irishmen' – for the Bowes Kelly and James Crotty rivalry – North Mount Lyell vs Mount LyellAnnual reports after the amalgamation emphasize the output and value of the North Lyell mine to the companies operations
Establishments During Crotty's establishment of the company and its operations the company had:
The North Mount Lyell mine on its lease adjacent and east of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company leases Shipping Port and railway terminus at Kelly Basin and Pillinger, Tasmania Smelter and town at Crotty, Tasmania at the eastern foot of Mount Jukes and just south of the King River, Tasmania Railway terminus at Linda, Tasmania Aerial ropeway between North Lyell mine and LindaRegarding the construction and completion in 1901 – North Mount Lyell Railway
1912 disaster The 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster is also found in Blainey's work, but for decades later there were divergent and popular accounts from the official reports that followed.
Locality The North Lyell locality (at which some of the workers killed in the disaster had addresses) was eventually overtaken by the Mount Lyell mine workings. A rare photo of the locality is in Blainey's book.The Peaks of Lyell, the photograph caption has The site of North Lyell town, blasted away to form the modern open cut – photograph adjacent to page 206 of 1967 third edition
20th century output The development of the Mount Lyell mine depended upon the resources of the North Lyell orebody and workings well into the late twentieth century. – although not very precise, the news report refers to the North Lyell operation still in working mode, but reduced capacity
See also Railways on the West Coast of Tasmania West Coast Tasmania Mines
Notes