Philosophers Ridge
Philosophers Ridge is the long spur that connects Mount Lyell and Mount Owen in the West Coast Range of Western Tasmania.[1]
On it the significant sites of the Mount Lyell copper field occurred.
The original Iron Blow was on its slopes.[2] was discovered on the ridge by Karlson and McDonough [3]
The North Lyell Mine, scene of the 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster was at its northernmost end, on the slopes of Mount Lyell. Very close to the mine was the settlement of the same name, the North Lyell tram traversed the ridge, as well as the ill fated North Lyell aerial tram. These feature no longer exist due the mining of the area, but they all had significant parts to play in the history of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company.
The Gap the point where the Queenstown to Gormanston road (originally known as the Queenstown to Gormanston Dray Road - now known as the Lyell Highway) passed over the ridge, is the southern most named feature that remains.
Down the western slope of the ridge, the Mount Lyell Haulage, and the Mount Lyell aerial tram took ore from the mines that worked on the ridge to the Queenstown smelters.
The eastern slope of the ridge faced into the Linda Valley and the town of Gormanston.
Notes
- ↑ "COPPER MINING.". Zeehan and Dundas Herald (Hobart, Tas. : 1890 - 1922). Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 19 May 1908. p. 2. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
- ↑ "GOLD.". Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899). Tas.: National Library of Australia. 20 July 1887. p. 3. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
- ↑ In the chapter Poverty Gully of The Peaks of Lyell - describes the Iron Blow feature as -the strange formation... jutted twenty or thirty feet above the surface
Coordinates: 42°04′S 145°35′E / 42.06°S 145.58°E