Tartana

The Tartana mine is small open cut copper mine located near the King Vol mine about 40 kilometres north west of the far north Queensland town of Chillagoe. The mine is privately owned by Solomon Mines Pty Ltd. The Tartana copper mine produces copper sulphate from copper ore.

Tartana Copper Mine Dates Back to the Early 1900's

The Tartana mine, that is situated about 36 kilometres off the Burke Development Road, approximately 1,500 kilometres north west of Brisbane, near the Bowler Creek, is an old mine reported to have originally been developed by Tartana Limited in the early 1900's

Tartana Copper Mine Acquired by Solomon Mines Pty Ltd in 2014

The Tartana copper mine was leased to Carpentaria Exploration in 1970 before it was transferred to Mr Adams in 1986, who, in turn, transferred the ownership to Solomon Mines Pty Ltd in 2014. The mine produced 590 tonnes of copper sulphate during the 2011-12 financial year, 351 tonnes in the 2012-13 financial year and 236.89 tonnes during the 2013-14 financial year.

Copper Discovered in Chillagoe Area in 1837

The rich outcrops of copper in the Chillagoe area were first discovered by James Mulligan in 1873 and backed up by William Atherton in 1888.The Chillagoe Railway and Mining Company built a railway line through to the area in 1991 connecting it to Mareeba. The area experienced fast growth but was unfortunately involved in bringing down the state government in 1919 after the government acquired the local smelter. The management of the smelter brought with it damaging allegations of corruption. The royal commission that was formed to look into the matter destroyed the political careers of two former premiers, William McCormack and Ted Theodore.

Tartana Leases Comprise Three Mines; Tartana Hill, Tartana North and Tartana South

The Tartana Company was formed as a public company in 1901 to further explore, develop and work the three Tartana copper leases; the largest being the Tartana Hill lease that consists of 40 acres, the Tartana North lease of 10 acres and the Tartana South lease which also covered an area of 10 acres. It was planned at the same time to connect the mines to the Mungana railway terminus with the construction of a new tramway. Before the Tartana Company was formed the three leases were part of the North Chillagoe Mines group of leases.