Central Highlands

The old smelter chimney near Clermont. Here is some of the descriptive text from the sign......

The Municipality of Copperfield was declared in 1874.

This thriving town sprang up around the discovery of a large amount of solid copper ore and attracted people from around the world to mine it.

In the early 1870s Charles George Bettridge settled in Copperfield. Using his skills as a bricklayer, Bettridge built a kiln across Sam Creek where he and his father made thousands of bricks. The chimney stacks of Copperfield were constructed from these. The distinctive glossy finish was achieved by sprinkling powdered glass on the surface.

The brick chimney rises 33.5 metres, distinguishing itself as a definitive landmark. It is the last remaining chimney of 21 original chimneys. Although the condition of the chimney varies when viewed from different angles, restoration by Council has preserved enough of this furnace component to give an idea of copper refinement processes in the mid- 1 800s. Each side of the chimney base measures two metres in length, and the south side features arched openings which face the reverberatory furnaces. The furnaces are in poor condition, but they indicate the enormity of the Peak Downs Copper Mines along with the remnant cement lined pits, concrete tanks, a large slag heap and numerous, scattered bricks.

Due to the fall in copper prices and other economic woes, the mine folded in 1907. But nineteenth century copper smelting infrastructure is rare in Queensland, and the preserved remains of the Copperheld Chimney stand as a testimony to the ingenuity and nature of early mining technologies.Read more