Burra Monster Mine

Burra Mine and Engine House Museum


Useful Information

Location: Burra. 170 km northeast of Adelaide. East of the Stuart Highway to Alice Springs, off the Barrier Highway to Broken Hill and Sydney.
Open: All year daily 9-17. Closed Christmas Day. The key is part of the Burra Heritage Passport can be obtained from the Burra Tourist Office. [2004]
Fee: Burra Heritage Passport: Adults AUD 15, Concession AUD 11.
[2004]
Classification: MineCopper Mine
Light: n/a
Dimension: VR=187 m.
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: The Burra Mine and Enginehouse Museum.
Burra Tourist Office, Market Square, Burra. S.A., Tel: +61-8-8892-2154, Fax: +61-8-8892-2555. E-mail: contact
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
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History

1845 underground mine opened.
1867 mine closed.
1870 open pit mine continued.
1877 again closed.
1971 modern open cut mine opened.
1981 finally closed.
1994 declared a South Australian State Heritage Area.

Description

The Burra Burra Monster Mine was an underground mine reaching a depth of 183 meters. This mine, in operation during the mid 19th century produced 50,000 tonnes of copper metal during 30 years of operation. Reactivated in the 1970s, it produced additional 24,000 tonnes of copper metal in a decade. Today it is open to the public as an open air museum, showing numerous buildings of the interesting mining history.

The Powder Magazine was built in 1884. There is a reconstructed Cornish engine house, called Morphett's Flue from 1860. Today it contains a comprehensive display on beam engines and engine houses. An excavated tunnel with access to the pumping shaft is the underground bit of this mining museum.