Kuridala, Queensland

Hampden Smelter

This once thriving Copper, Gold and Silver mining operation is now a Heritage listed deserted ghost town. If you draw a line across Australia from Townsville to Geraldton, Kuridala during the First World War was the richest town in Australia north of this line, with close to 2,000 residents in the boom. Situated approximately 80kms south of Cloncurry off the Barkly Highway, Kuridala, originally named Hampden (after the mining company) then Friezland (changed in WW1 due to its German pronunciation) began as a mining smelter in 1906, continuing during the boom until 1919 then in a reduced capacity through to 1928, when operation ceased. Many components of the mine were sold to the fledgling mining provence of Mount Isa (discovered in its current capacity by John Campbell Miles in 1923). Interesting to note the hospital building in Kuridala was cut in half and also relocated to Mount Isa, one half is now the administration building for the Mount Isa Central State School and the other half is the museum of the Underground Hospital. In the 1980’s the last resident left Kuridala and now there is nothing left of the town, just an eerie cemetery and dilapidated remains of the old smelters. During our visit we saw a dingo, kangaroo and of course many cows. It was exciting to explore this abandoned site that only a hundred years earlier was the thriving centre of activity in the region.