Charters Towers Shaft Repair Program
Charters Towers was founded in the 1870s following discovery of gold at Towers Hill on Christmas Eve 1871. Ten major gold reefs were eventually mined and hundreds of shafts were sunk. More than 200 tonnes of gold were produced from 1871 to 1917.
- View a glossary of mining terms used on this page.
Public safety and health issues are associated with subsidence around historic shafts, old wells, trenches, dumps and unconsolidated fill. Remnant tailings deposits known as the ‘red and white dumps’, located at the base of Towers Hill, also contain about 20,000m3 of contaminated material. The dumps are part of a heritage listing.
At present, 1,160 actual and potential shaft sites have been catalogued within the Charters Towers city limits area.
We are managing issues in cooperation with the Charters Towers Regional Council in order to:
- make the abandoned shafts safe to reduce the risk to people and animals
- inform the public about where the abandoned shafts lie (for example for land development purposes).
Work is carried out based on an assessment of risks. Reports of possible subsidence are investigated with the highest priority.
If you want information on mining-related activity on a parcel of land in the Charters Towers area, visit GeoResGlobe.
Project snapshot
Region: North Queensland
Location: Charters Towers, Latitude -20.0788000, Longitude 146.2575000
Commodity: Gold
Mining type: Historical underground
Date of abandonment: N/A
Status: Shaft investigation and remediation as required
Native title interest: Ngrragoonda Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC
Public land registers: Parcels of affected land are listed on the Environmental Management Register and the Contaminated Land Register
Photo gallery
Key risks
Health and safety risks associated with:
- potential subsidence under buildings, roads or in areas with unrestricted public access
- recreational use of the red and white dumps which creates dust and potential exposure to contaminated tailings material
- abandoned mill sites (Brilliant Deeps and Rainbow Mills).
Environmental risks associated with contaminated tailings material.
Completed works
- More than 400 shafts have been made safe since 1996
- Red and white dumps have been fenced to prevent people accessing the contaminated tailings material
Planned works
- Ongoing investigation of shaft notifications and remediation as required
- Ongoing proactive work to identify potential shaft locations and remediate
- Ongoing work with Charters Towers Regional Council and local organisations to appropriately address cultural heritage values of sites