Today was an administration day, in the morning anyway, but that didn't stop it from being hot. We did the customary shopping and a casual trip around Mt Isa.
Last visit here, we did the underground mine tour but decided not to do it this time. This particular underground mine, of the Hard Times Mining Company, is a specially constructed mine which purports to contain all the things you would see in the Mt Isa mine. This way they are able to keep tourists out of the actual mine - for safety, security etc reasons. Mt Isa's mine is a huge mine and that is understandable.
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| 221116 The Hard Times Mining Company |
A popular Mt Isa tourist attraction is the Riversleigh Fossil Display. The fossils originate at the Riversleigh Cattle Station in north western Queensland, near the NT border. We were shown through the display by an enthusiastic retiree, who has been "playing around" with the fossils in the field for forty years. There were some true to life models of some of the fossils. Fossils of fish, crocodiles, flightless birds, large wombat like creatures, bats, snakes, rodents et al, have been fossilised in the limestone rock.
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221116 Photograph of a photograph of Riversleigh
Cattle Station, the origin of the fossils in the display |
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221116 A sample of Riversleigh limestone containing
some bones and the gizzard stones (the little pebbles
on the LHS) of a large flightless bird |
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221116 Bullockornis, one of the Dromornithids, a giant
flightless bird, which lived about 26,000 years ago |
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221116 Madonna and Child, medium sized Diprotodonts,
lived 30 million years ago |
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221116 Palorchestes was a large extinct marsupial, unlike
any living animal today. It lived about 20,000 years ago |
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| 221116 Ghost bats, one devouring a Leggadina |
Mt Isa's water supply comes from Lake Moondarra, about 25km from the town. Another dam, Lake Julius 25km downstream from Moondarra, also on the Leichardt River, supplements Moondarra's supply in dry periods. Evaporation rate is very high here. Another water storage at nearby Clear Lagoon, provides natural filtration for water from Moondarra and Lake Julius.
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| 221116 Lake Moondarra, Mt Isa |
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| 221116 Lake Moondarra Mt Isa |
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| 221116 the dam wall at Lake Moondarra |
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| 221116 Lake Moondarra - the dam wall from a distance |
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| 221116 Downstream side of the dam wall |
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221116 "Wild" peacocks at Lake Moondarra
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221116 Some of the colours in the Selwyn Range
at Mt Isa near Lake Moondarra |
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Needless to say, Mt Isa's existence is due to the Mt Isa copper, silver, lead, zinc mine. For anyone wishing to know more about Mt Isa Mines, Wikipedia has an excellent presentation at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Isa_Mines
Some pictures of Mt Isa follow.
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| 221116 Mt Isa from the east |
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| 221116 MtIsa the town and the mine, from the town lookout |
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| 221116 Mt Isa Mine - mine spoil in the right background |
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| 221116 Mt Isa;s racecourse from the town lookout |
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| 221116 Flowers on a largish tree, at Lake Moondarra |
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| 221116 Frequently seen around Lake Moondarra |
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| 221116 Leichardt River, 10 km from Mt Isa |
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| 221116 More of the Leichardt River |
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| 221116 The pigeons' solution to beat the heat at Mt Isa |
Tomorrow we say goodbye to Mt Isa and head east.
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