05 May Here in History by Betty Laver
Manganese on Auckland Hill, Gladstone
Manganese mines had operated on Auckland Hill from the
late 1860’s. In the 1890’s, it was found that manganese was a
successful means of extracting gold from the complex ore leaving
the conventional stamper battery and mercury amalgamation
techniques behind. The Mt Morgan mine needed such a boost,
so a syndicate of men from Toowoomba eventually started work
on the manganese mine at the foot of Auckland Hill on the creek
side. The ore was regularly dispatched to Rockhampton by the
small vessel Cruiser and from there it was taken to Mt Morgan for
treatment. This project provided employment in Gladstone. The
first twenty tonnes produced were sent to London and the bulk of
the remainder of the ore produced was used in Queensland. In
1899 the Sea Gull carted manganese to Rockhampton for Mt
Morgan. The old shafts, which were sunk into solid rock, were
only partly covered by a rusting steel grate. In later years, they
become dangerous to the unwary climber who negotiated the
stone set of stairs that wound its way up Auckland Hill from
Captain Cook Park. With the shafts being right beside the stairs,
many incidents were reported of people almost falling into them,
especially at night.
Photo from Jimmy Harris -Manganese being mined on Auckland
Hill 1891.
