Kidston State Battery is a heritage-listed stamper battery at Kidston in Einasleigh, Shire of Etheridge, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1907 to 1950. It is also known as Kidston Township. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
History
Payable gold was discovered on the Copperfield River in September 1907, leading to the Oaks Rush, as the field was initially known. It was declared the Oaks Goldfield in April 1908 and had a peak population of 1,700 by June 1908.
A township developed on the west bank of the Copperfield River. The mining warden noted in August 1908 that tents were being replaced by wood and iron buildings. By the dry season of 1909, the population had fallen dramatically to about 100 alluvial miners using dry blowers, but reefers had started work on the quartz veins. W. Brown's Pioneer mill of five head was erected in May 1909 and W. Suhle and Archbold's large Enterprise mill of five stamps was transferred from Georgetown and operating by April 1910.
Kidston, as the township for the Oaks diggings was named, was unusual for a North Queensland goldfield in that the citizens at first successfully excluded public houses and grog shops. However, despite the temperance movement, there were two hotels by 1909, and Kidston developed the usual rowdiness of a bush mining town. There were two halls, a school and a police station. A Kidston citizen's band was formed in 1912. Union activity was more evident and Kidston became more radical than other gold-mining towns in the Etheridge.
Kidston settled into systematic mining and was not directly affected by World War I nor the closure of the Chillagoe smelters. Water supply problems were alleviated in 1915 when a government dam was built on Butchers Creek. A period of high gold prices (1920–24) may have influenced the decision to build the Kidston State Battery. but the gradual decline of the field and the inadequacy of existing crushing equipment also added pressure. In May 1920, the Government Geologist, Dr Harold Ingemann Jensen, recommended that a modern battery be constructed at Kidston. By September the Union Battery at Percyville was being dismantled and the machinery moved to Kidston, while other machinery was obtained from the Big Reef (Castleton). Between eleven and eighteen men were employed establishing a sawmill, supplying the timber and constructing the battery, which commenced operations in May 1922.
During the 1920s, the Oaks Goldfield reached a stage where the large, low-grade deposits were becoming too poor to work in bulk. Consequently, most miners developed smaller, richer reefs which produced low tonnages of ore that were insufficient to keep the battery fully engaged.
In 1923, the battery treated 57 lots of ore totalling yielding of gold. In 1924 a number of improvements were made to the battery but owing to wet weather which cut off the battery from the mines, of ore less were treated but the output rose to of gold. The battery operated from January to November 1925 treating 27 parcels of lower grade ore totalling producing of gold. Mining quartz in bulk was unprofitable, so only small rich leaders could afford to be worked. In 1926, only nine parcels of ore were treated - yielding of gold. The battery was only working intermittently during the year owing to the lack of supplies.
In 1929, the battery operated efficiently for 78 days. The battery treated 14 parcels of ore totalling in 1930 with a yield of of gold. Crushing was only done intermittently. Two additional berdan pans were added in 1930. The introduction of motor transport to the field in 1931 enabled larger amounts of ore to be hauled in to the battery. Water for the battery had to be obtained by sinking into the riverbed. of stone were crushed for a yield of of gold. The school closed in 1930, but 15 buildings still remained in the township.
The battery operated from January to June 1932 and stopped for lack of water. of low grade (4.5 dwts per ton) stone were crushed for a yield of of gold. The battery operated almost continuously in 1933. A box race brought water to the battery from the Copperfield River. Although of ore were treated, it was of a much lower quality (surface loam) than previously, being only of 3 dwt average per ton. There were many machinery breakdowns in the battery in 1934. Considerable repairs were necessary, including replacement of the Ackroyd wood producer gas generator by a No.6 Hornsby producer gas generator to operate on either coke or charcoal. of stone (much of it surface loam) were crushed for a yield of of gold (3 dwts per ton).