Tin Mining
Date Published
Like alluvial gold mining, tin mining could be carried out by individuals or small groups. Tin mines and Chinese miners, often working through the "tribute" system, existed in the southern Queensland (Stantorpe), northern NSW (Tingha, Emmaville), the Northern Territory and north-east Tasmania (Weldborough, Moorina, etc.). Tin prices and Chinese participation in tin mining was at its peak in the 1880s and 1890s and declined thereafter or was only done by capital intensive methods.
"During the year 1872—the first 10 months of the tin rush at Quartpot Creek—1407 tons of tin ore, valued at £109,816, were produced, and the quantity of ore secured, in the Stanthorpe district, during the first 41 years of the tin mines—1872 to 1912 inclusive—represented 36.72 per cent, of the total production of that mineral in Queensland."
