Mary Kathleen

Situated roughly halfway between Cloncurry and Mt Isa is the now abandoned Mary Kathleen uranium mine. Clem Walton and his prospecting partner Norm McConachy discovered the rich uranium deposit in 1954 and they named it Mary Kathleen after McConachy's late wife, then quickly sold the rights to it and in 1955 Rio Tinto Mining set up Mary Kathleen Uranium Ltd. The mining method used was open cut and at the time was the largest known deposit in Australia. The town was purpose built and owned by the mining company and was home to about 1000 residents by 1961. The town 6 km from the mine had a full range of facility's including a post office, cinema, school, banks, sports ovals, bowls club, hotel, town hall, general stores, fire and police stations. The nearby Corella River was dammed by the company and created Lake Corella and it supplied reticulated water for the mine and township as well as a place for recreational activities. By 1963 the contract for the supply of Uranium had been completed and the mine mothballed.  So lets have a look around at this once bustling town.

 



This was once a Lawn Bowls Club.

Town centre was mostly on the left.

These slabs belonged to the Post Office, Town Office and ANZ Bank.

These are the Town Hall, Hotel, Shops and Library.

 More General Stores.

 Guess you could call this the main drag.

 

 This was a water feature in the park centre of town.

This used to be the Cafeteria where the miners were fed.

The whole area is now part of a privately owned station but the owners let travellers stay overnight so they can have a look around, it is a very popular spot in the tourist season.

Plenty of Ghost Gums around the area.

 Oh look a roundabout!! The road to the mine is on the right of the roundabout, on the left was all housing right down the road. The Police Station had several lives, it was first at Oona near Kajabbi and then to Dobbyn and onto Mary Kathleen. It is still in one piece and resides at Mary Kathleen Park and Historical Village in Cloncurry.

 The gates to the township also reside at Mary Kathleen Park in Cloncurry. The mine site is behind me and we are looking down towards that roundabout.

 The sealed road to the mine is still in pretty good shape for it's age.

The mine is located in those hills, the Selwyn Ranges.

What is left of the processing plant.

One of the overburden heaps looking towards the ranges.

 

 

 

Mary Kathleen had another leash on life after more than a decade in mothballs when some new contracts were signed. Reopening in 1974 mining continued until the ore ran out in 1982.

 

In 1983 they held a big auction at Mary K and sold off the whole town. A lot of the houses ended up in Cloncurry and some in Mt Isa. The open cut here is now fenced off and makes it very difficult to see it now, they say the area is still radioactive. Well I hope you enjoyed looking around Mary K as much as I did. Catch ya Later.