Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company

In the early stage of operations, Mount Lyell was surrounded by smaller competing leases and companies. Eventually they were all absorbed into Mount Lyell operations, or were closed down. In 1903 the North Mount Lyell Copper Company was taken over, and in 1912 the most severe calamity to visit the Mount Lyell company was the 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster, also known at the time as the North Lyell fire.

During its history, Mount Lyell had exploration leases surrounding its main mining area, and had at one time or other explored most of the West Coast Range revisiting many of the smaller mines that had been worked on in the early 1900s. As a consequence the Mount Lyell company had utilised considerable resources on maintaining leases over areas of promising geology – as well as checking older mining locations on the west coast. At various stages it also shared costs and resources with other companies which would assist by investing in exploration by becoming partners in some leases.

The operations were conducted in various parts of the Mount Lyell Lease, and in the mid-1970s, prior to reduction in the workforce, "Cape Horn" was located just west of the "Comstock" operation which was on the north side of Mount Lyell, while most of the North Mount Lyell workings were finished, "12 West" was still in operation due to its rich copper ores. "West Lyell open cut" which had been dominant in the 1950s was finished, and various parts of the lease were disappearing into the opening above the "Prince Lyell" workings.

Following the first large layoffs in the mid-1970s, the town of Queenstown lost its dominance on the west coast by the mid-1990s, and being mainly a company town many services closed by the 2000s, and the separate west Tasmanian local government authorities were amalgamated into the West Coast Council.

Beyond copper mining, the company operated chemical works producing sulphuric acid and superphosphate. In Victoria it established works at Yarraville by 1905, and in Western Australia it operated the Mount Lyell Chemical Works at North Fremantle (Rocky Bay). In 1927 Mount Lyell joined Cuming, Smith & Co. and Westralian Farmers Superphosphates to form Cuming Smith & Mount Lyell Farmers Fertilisers, each holding a one-third share; Mount Lyell’s interest was sold in 1963–64 and the business was renamed CSBP. Separately, in 1929 Mount Lyell’s Yarraville works were amalgamated with those of Cuming, Smith & Company and Wischer & Company to form Commonwealth Fertilisers and Chemicals, later absorbed into Imperial Chemical Industries Australia & New Zealand.

Centenary

On 29 March 1993 the company celebrated its centenary. At that stage it was known as the Copper Division of Renison Goldfields Consolidated Limited.

The Mount Lyell Mining Field, and the various activities of the company in Queenstown and the west coast of Tasmania were celebrated throughout the community.

People associated with the company

Among the many individuals associated with the company during its long history were John Earle, Edward Braddon, Colin Syme, John Henry, Robert Sticht, and Bowes Kelly.

The following locations were within the operating mine lease and indicate a separate orebody and operating life:

Iron Blow (1883–1929)

North Lyell (1896–1972)

Royal Tharsis (1902–1991)