NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

(available in mid-April 2024)

"A Magnificent Gold Mine"

Nick is a rare beast who moves effortlessly between science and the humanities. His narrative of ‘jiggery pokery’ by the mine’s London directors, and the skullduggery of vested interests in works’ tenders, is balanced by the technical, geological, and engineering evolution of the Beaconsfield venture. —Anne Maskell, historian

The Tasmania Gold Mining & Quartz Crushing Company mine at Beaconsfield, then the most important gold mine in Tasmania, was taken over in 1903 by the London-based Tasmania Gold Mining Company Ltd, managed by John Taylor and Sons.

Geologist and former tin-miner Nick Langsford has written a thoroughly-researched, highly readable, and well-illustrated account of the financing, construction and development of the mining operation, which employed the latest steam technology. This included three huge Hathorn, Davey pumping engines and a magnificent Fraser-Chalmers highspeed steam winder.

In spite of the advanced technology the mine was not a financial success and closed in 1914, the result of declining ore grades, poor gold recoveries and high mining costs.