{{Short description|Mountain and former mine in Tasmania}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}} {{Infobox mine | name = Mount Bischoff | image = Mount Bischoff mine.jpg | width = 280 | caption = Former open cut mine at Mount Bischoff (2006) | pushpin_map = Australia Tasmania | pushpin_mapsize = 280 | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption= Location in Tasmania | pushpin_image = | pushpin_label = Mount Bischoff | pushpin_label_position = top | coordinates = {{coord|41|25|12|S|145|31|12|E|type:mountain_region:AU-TAS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}<ref>{{Gazetteer of Australia |name=Mount Bischoff (TAS) |feature=TAS19375 }}</ref> | place = North West region | subdivision_type = State | state/province = Tasmania | country = Australia | products = Tin | amount = <!--include units--> | financial year = | type = | greatest depth = | opening year = | active years = {{bulleted list|1870s{{endash}}1929|1942{{endash}}1947|2008{{endash}}''present''}} | closing year = | owner = {{bulleted list|''Privately owned'' {{small|(1871{{endash}}1929)}}|Government of Australia {{small|(1942{{endash}}1947)}}|Metals X {{small|(2008{{endash}} )}} }} | official website = {{URL|metalsx.com.au/}} | acquisition year = | nrhp = | superfund = }}

'''Mount Bischoff''' is a mountain and former tin mine in the north-western region of Tasmania, Australia. The mountain is situated adjacent to Savage River National Park, near the town of Waratah.

==Location and features== The mountain was named in the early nineteenth century after the chairman of the Van Diemen's Land Company, James Bischoff. Tin was discovered there in 1871 by James "Philosopher" Smith.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/M/Mt%20Bischoff.htm |title=Mount Bischoff |publisher=Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, University of Tasmania |date=2006 |last=Bacon |first=Carol |access-date=1 July 2015}}</ref>

== Tin mine == The first operator of the mine was the Mount Bischoff Tin Mining Company,<ref>{{cite web |title=Mount Bischoff Tin Mining Company (1873 - ) |url=https://www.eoas.info/biogs/A001253b.htm |website=Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation |publisher=Swinburne University of Technology |access-date=2024-08-27}}</ref> which used a sluice supplied with water from the top of the waterfall in Waratah.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198902522 |title=Mount Bischoff |newspaper=The Tasmanian |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=22 February 1879 |access-date=2 January 2020 |page=7 |via=Trove}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | author1=Ulrich, George H. F. (George Henry Frederick) | author2=Mount Bischoff Tin Mining Co | title=The Mount Bischoff tin mines : Mr. Ulrich's report to the directors of the Mount Bischoff Tin Mining Company, Launceston | publication-date=1874 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/34663000 |access-date=2 January 2020}}</ref> In June 1883, the mine installed one of the first hydro-electric generators in Australia, using it to light the offices, workshop and manager's house.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burgess |first1=Julian |title=Duck Reach and Launceston's Electric Light |date=2016 |publisher=Christopher (Gus) Green |isbn=978-0-994 1608-1-2 |page=13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The engineering feats of Tasmania's hydro electric system |url=https://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2013/07/29/3813028.htm |website=ABC Hobart |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=4 January 2020}}</ref>

The easy ore had all been extracted by 1893, when sluicing was discontinued. Mining continued as an open-cut on the face of the mountain, as well as underground. The manager of the mine from 1907 to 1919 was John Dunlop Millen, who was "credited with the modernisation of the mine’s facilities and was regarded by all those associated with the mine’s operations as an effective manager".<ref name=bio>{{cite news|url=https://biography.senate.gov.au/millen-john-dunlop/|title=Millen, John Dunlop (1877–1941)|work=The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate|year=2004|volume=2|publisher=Melbourne University Press|first=Scott|last=Bennett}}</ref> The underground mine closed in 1914, although surface mining continued for some time, ceasing after the price of tin slumped in 1929. In 1942, the mine was reopened by the Commonwealth Government to support the war effort, but it closed again in 1947.<ref>Interpretive sign at the former mine site</ref>

Between 1900 and mid-1940, the mine was connected to the Emu Bay Railway by the Waratah Branch of that railway, which ran from Guildford Junction to Waratah.

== 2000s revival == In 2008, after several earlier minor attempts, Metals X Limited, a Perth-based tin mining company, through its subsidiary Bluestone Mines Tasmania Pty Ltd, the operator of the Renison Bell tin mine, decided to mine the remaining ore at Mount Bischoff, to blend with ore from its Renison Bell operation. A large open cut operation, taking in all the old historic workings, was developed, with the ore being trucked {{convert|80|km}} to the Renison Bell processing plant. At the time, ore reserves at Mount Bischoff were estimated to be {{convert|845000|t|LT}} grading at 1.20 percent tin. In 2009/10 {{convert|198000|t|LT}} of ore was mined at the Mount Bischoff open-cut, which produced {{convert|6267|t|LT}} of tin in concentrate.

By 2015, the mine at Mount Bischoff was on care and maintenance, but Bluestone Mines Tasmania Pty Ltd was continuing its exploration program.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mt Bischoff |work=Mining Link |url=http://mininglink.com.au/site/mt-bischoff |access-date=1 July 2015 }}</ref>

==See also== {{stack|{{Portal|Australia|Mountains|Geology}}}} * {{section link|List of mountains in Australia|Tasmania}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book |author-link=Geoffrey Blainey |last=Blainey |first=Geoffrey |title=The Peaks of Lyell |edition=6th |publisher=St. David's Park Publishing |location=Hobart |year=2000 |isbn=0-7246-2265-9}} * {{cite book |last=Haygarth |first=Nic |title=Baron Bischoff: Philosopher Smith and the birth of Tasmanian mining |year=2004 |isbn=0-9585831-1-0}} * {{cite book |last=McIntosh Reid |first=A. |title=The Mount Bischoff Tin Field |publisher=Department of Mines, Government of Tasmania |location=Hobart |year=1923 |url=http://www.mrt.tas.gov.au/mrtdoc/dominfo/download/GSB34/GSB34.pdf }} * {{Cite book | author-link=Charles Whitham |last=Whitham |first=Charles| author2=Mount Lyell Tourist Association | title=Western Tasmania : a land of riches and beauty | publication-date=1924 | publisher=Mount Lyell Tourist Association | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/12518157 | access-date=7 June 2018 }} - see (pages 74–78)

==External links== * [https://portal.ga.gov.au/deposit-report/minerals/mount-bischoff/335457 Mount Bischoff Deposit Summary Report] * [https://portergeo.com.au/database/mineinfo.asp?mineid=mn488 Mt Bischoff]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bischoff, Mount}} Category:Mount Bischoff Category:Mountains of Tasmania Category:Tin mines in Tasmania Category:North West Tasmania