Battery Hill

Useful Information

Location:	Tennant Creek. 1.5 km from the centre of Tennant Creek. 7 km south-southwest from Burrundie.
Open:	MAY to SEP daily 9-17. OCT to APR Mon-Fri 9-17, Sat, Sun 9-12. Underground tours: daily 7:30, 9:30, 14, 15:30.
Fee:	Adults AUD $13, Children AUD $7.
Classification:	Gold mine
Light:
Dimension:
Guided tours:	D=60 min.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Battery Hill Regional Centre, PO Box 601, Tennant Creek N.T. 0861, Tel: +61-8-8962-3388, Fax: +61-8-8962-2509. Battery Hill Mining Centre, Battery Hill Peko Road, Tennant Creek, NT, 0860, Tel: +61-8-8962-1281, Fax: +61-8-8962-2022. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1882	gold was discovered at Spring Hill by JH Lawries and McKenzie.
1903	mine abandoned.
1949	Northern Territory Prospecting and Development Co. Ltd. intersected a valuable ore body.
1950	ten head stamp battery installed.
NOV-1996	Battery Hill Regional Centre completed.
19-AUG-1998	included in the Northern Territory Heritage Register.

Description

Battery Hill Mining Centre is a location with many mines and other remains of the gold rush. The Tennant Creek Regional Tourist Association developed this site as a tourist attraction preserving many unique remains of mining. Battery Hill Regional Centre houses the Information Centre, a theatrette and displays. Nearby is an outdoor picnic and entertainment area. There are the Gold Stamp Battery, the Battery Hill Mine, a mining museum, a nature walk and a number of historic buildings and machines.

Tennant Creek Gold Stamp Battery is one of only three remaining working ten head stamp batteries in Australia. This machines were part of the process of extracting gold from gold ore, they were used for crushing the ore. The battery's mortar boxes show the words A.Harkness & Co Engineers Bendigo 1900, the stampers iron frame A.Harkness & Co. Victoria Foundry Bendigo 1895. This stamp was powered by an internal combustion engine, but only the concrete platform for this engine remains. It was installed in 1950 and was operated until 1955.

Additional machinery includes a concrete amalgam retort, a large corrugated iron water tank, an explosives magazine, remains of a rock and earth dam, a vertical boiler and a large cylinder compressor.

During the late 19th Century Spring Hill was one of the more productive mines in the Northern Territory. It has been worked intermittently for nearly a century, various companies owned the leases. The most important remains are from the mid 20th century.