| Mount Isa Queensland |
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 Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia |
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  Mount Isa
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| Population: | 22,600 | ||||||
| Established: | 1923 | ||||||
| Postcode: | 4825 | ||||||
| Coordinates: | 20°44′S 139°30′E / 20.733°S 139.5°ECoordinates: 20°44′S 139°30′E / 20.733°S 139.5°E | ||||||
| Elevation: | 356 m (1,168 ft) | ||||||
| Time zone: | AEST (UTC+10) | ||||||
| Location: |
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| LGA: | City of Mount Isa | ||||||
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Mount Isa is a city in North-West Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, based on combined production of lead, silver, copper and zinc.[1]
With a population of about 23,000 in the city[2] and 31,000[3] in the surrounding district, Mount Isa is the administrative, commercial and industrial centre for the state's vast north-western region. Although situated in an arid area, the artificial Lake Moondarra[4] 19 km north of the city on the Leichhardt River provides both drinking water and an area for watersports, birdwatching and recreation. Locals often refer to Mount Isa as "The Isa".
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History
The city came into existence soon after 1923 when John Campbell Miles discovered a rich seam of silver-lead - the western edge of the Cloncurry field. Named after the Mount Ida[5] goldfields in Western Australia, mining operations began there a year later.[6] In 1964, the town made national headlines after the events leading to the infamous 1964 Mount Isa strike. Mount Isa was proclaimed a city in 1968 when the population has reached 18,000. The city and surrounds grew in front of and around the mine to the point that, by 1972, 34,000 people resided in the town.[citation needed] The population dropped steadily for the next three decades until a mining boom occurred, steadily increasing the population to near-similar figures from the 1970s-80s.
Governance
Mount Isa at local level is part of the City of Mount Isa, at state level is part of the electoral district of Mount Isa in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, and at federal level is part of the Division of Kennedy in the Australian House of Representatives.
Local industry and business
Mount Isa's industry is largely dependent on mining. Xstrata Plc operates the Mount Isa Mines lease adjacent to the town, which comprises the "Enterprise" underground copper mine, X41 underground copper mine, "Black Star Open Cut" silver-lead zinc mine, and metallurgical processing facilities. Silver-lead-zinc ore is also mined 20 km to the north at Hilton from the "George Fisher" underground mine, and the adjoining "Handlebar Hill" open cut, which is trucked back to Mount Isa for processing.
Mount Isa is in the top two of largest copper mining and smelting operations in the country.[7] Copper and lead are smelted on site, with copper anodes and zinc concentrate being transported 900 km to the city and port of Townsville on the east coast. The lead ingots are transported to a refinery in Britain where the silver is extracted. The mine is the most significant landmark in the area, with the stack from the lead smelter (built 1978), standing 270 m tall, visible from all parts of the city and up to 40 km out.[citation needed]
In 2008 a Queensland Government Health report found that more than 10 per cent of children in Mount Isa had lead levels above World Health Organization recommendations. The mining operator Xstrata denied responsibility and stated that the town has naturally high levels of lead in the soil.[8]
Tourism
- Attractions include the Hard Times Mine at "Outback at Isa".
- The Mount Isa Rodeo and Mardi Gras (held on the same weekend) has given Mount Isa the title of "Rodeo Capital of Australia". The occasion may well triple the city's population in these few days.[citation needed]
- A memorial has been made especially for the Rodeo, down Rodeo Drive; the sidewalks have special memorials embedded in the cement.
- The burial place of John Campbell Miles, the founder of Mount Isa, on the corner of Rodeo Drive and Miles Street. His ashes are buried underneath a large statue where each panel represents a significant part of Mount Isa. Miles' ashes used to be watched over by a large clock where the statue now stands.
- The World War II-era Mount Isa Underground Hospital is an historical building that has been registered on the Heritage List (Register of the National Estate and the Queensland Heritage Register).
Culture and sport
The local theatre group, the Mount Isa Theatrical Society, or MITS, often holds plays and musicals, at least once every few months or so.
Cricket, rugby league and tennis are the most common sports but BMX, shooting, dancing and ten-pin bowling are also present. Mount Isa has a Go Kart Club[9] situated off Duchess Road on the southern side of town.
Mount Isa also has a cinema complex, situated in the CBD, that contains three air-conditioned cinemas, a skate park/aquatic centre and a multi-purpose sporting complex for basketball and other indoor sports. Mount Isa's events complex, Buchanan Park, opened in May 2007, can hold up to 6,000 people and is used for special events such as concerts and expos. It is also the home of the city's annual show and rodeo.
In September 2008, plans were made to build a massive motor sports complex on the city's north-eastern outskirts. This complex was to include a drag-racing track, a BMX track and a mini-stadium that can seat 2,000 people.
The city is known for its annual rodeo and Mardi Gras street parade every August. There is also an annual Multicultural Festival in early September.
Famous people
- Simon Black, Australian rules footballer
- Gerard Denton, cricketer
- Simmone Jade Mackinnon, actress
- Deborah Mailman, actress
- Pat Mackie, union leader (1964/5 dispute)
- Gene Miles, rugby league player
- Greg Norman, golfer
- Scott Prince, rugby league player
- Nathan Fien, rugby league player
- Pat Rafter, tennis player
- Carl Webb, rugby league player
- John White, squash player
- Bill Sweetenham, Olympic swimming coach[10]
- Richard De Chazal, international fashion designer and photographer[11][12]
Demographics
Mount Isa City (not including Camooweal) has an estimated population of 22,564 housed in approx. 9,050 dwellings, making the city the largest and most populous one in Queensland's vast western interior, and one of the largest centres in outback Australia. The district population is 30,942 and incorporates the Cloncurry, Boulia, Burke, Carpentaria, Doomadgee, Flinders, Mornington and Richmond shires.[citation needed]
The ratio of males to females living in Mount Isa is reputedly five to one. Mayor John Molony drew international press attention in August 2008 when he told the Townsville Bulletin newspaper that Mount Isa's gender imbalance made it a good place for "not so attractive" women to live.[13][14] However, the most recent census found that men actually comprise only 52.6% of the population and that the five-to-one figure is an exaggeration.[15]
Franchises such as McDonald's, K-Mart, Best and Less, Donut King, Coffee Club, Blockbuster, Harvey Norman, Gametraders, and EB Games have established stores in Mount Isa, as well as many smaller locally-owned business, many in the rejuvenated K-Mart shopping complex in the Central Business District. The population find the somewhat lack of heavy traffic, laid-back atmosphere and friendly hellos on the street to be a nice change from what they would normally find in bigger crowded coastal cities. Mount Isa's major nightclub, the Irish, is open 9 p.m. to late two nights a week.
Media
Radio
- AM 666 Zinc (commercial)
- FM 100.9 Mob FM (commercial-70% country)
- FM 101.7 ABC Classic FM [1]
- FM 102.5 Hot FM (commercial)
- FM 103.3 4TAB (horse racing)
- FM 104.1 ABC Triple J
- FM 104.9 ABC News Radio [2]
- FM 105.7 Radio Rhema (religious)
- FM 106.5 ABC Local Radio [3]
- FM 107.1 ABC Radio National [4]
Television
- VHF 6 ABC Qld [5]
- VHF 8 MSCM (mainly Seven Network)
- UHF 29 SBS
- UHF 32 Imparja (mainly Nine Network)
- UHF 35 NITV (Aboriginal programs) [6]
Newspapers
- The North West Star – printed daily Mon–Fri
- The Courier Mail – Mon–Sat
- Sunday Mail – Sun
- Townsville Bulletin – Mon–Sat (Mount Isa version printed on Saturdays)
Suburbs
The Leichhardt River divides the city into areas known as "mineside" and "townside". Xstrata, the power station and the Airport are on the mineside, whilst the majority of the city, including the CBD and Base Hospital are on the townside. In recent years, with the mining boom and demand for accommodation and land causing a population increase, the city has bugan to spread out, with new suburbs in the south-east and north of the city being planned or developed. It is hoped these expansions will cater for a 40,000+ population in the next 10-20 years.
- Mineside
- Happy Valley
- Kalkadoon - includes airport and Kalkadoon Park
- Mica Creek – includes Mica Creek Powerhouse
- Miles End - includes Mount Isa train station
- Parkside – Mount Isa's largest and oldest suburb. Contains Rish Nightclub inside the Irish Club.
- Soldiers Hill – all streets and parks named after war locations and soldiers, such as Madang Street and Gallipoli Park
- Townside
- Breakaway
- Fisher
- Healy
- Lanskey
- Menzies – includes Buchanan Park events complex.
- Mornington
- Mount Isa City – includes main shopping centre and eateries
- Mount Isa East – has own post office and smaller shopping centres
- Pioneer – includes TAFE campus and ten-pin bowling complex
- Ryan – mostly industrial, includes army and State Emergency Service barracks
- Spreadborough - mostly bushland and light industry.
- Sunset - multi-purpose centre
- The Gap
- Townview
- Winston
Transport
Mount Isa city and surrounds are serviced by a 35 vehicle taxi service. Also, a taxi service known as "Isa-Curry" express transports passengers to and from the neighbouring centre of Cloncurry to Mount Isa and back again, usually for shopping and medical requirements. Additionally, many of the city's clubs have courtesy buses to and from their establishments that run seven days a week and into the early hours of the morning. Greyhound Australia has a depot in Mount Isa, with coach services to and from Townsville, Brisbane and Tennant Creek.
The city is served by QR passenger train The Inlander, which travels overnight to Townsville twice a week in each direction.
Mount Isa Airport has regular daily services to Brisbane, Cairns and Townsville, as well as once-weekly services to Darwin and the Gold Coast thanks largely in part to AirNorth, in addition to other services to remote Outback communities in western Queensland. The primary carriers which service Mount Isa and district areQantasLink - Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville; AirNorth - Darwin, Gold Coast; Regional Express - Townsville. In November 2009, it was announced that Skytrans and Westwing Aviation will commence flights in and out of Mount Isa to and from cities on the coast, commencing February 2010. Regional Express (REX) also announced flights between Mount Isa and Townsville starting after Christmas 2009.
Education
Mount Isa has eight public primary schools and three private primary schools:
- Happy Valley State School
- Healy State School
- Townview State School
- Barkly Highway State School
- Central State School
- Sunset State School
- Mount Isa School of Distance Education
- Mount Isa Special School
- St Kieren's (private)
- St Josephs (private)
- Mount Isa Christian College (private)
And three high schools:
- Good Shepherd Catholic College (private)
- Mount Isa School of Distance Education (to grade 10)
- Spinifex State College (Three campuses, Junior from grade 8 to grade 10, Senior from grade 11 to grade 12)
The residential campus of Spinifex College is unique in the fact that it is the only State-run boarding-type school in Queensland. Mount Isa is also home to the School of the Air, a unique-to-Australia way of schooling isolated students in Australia's vast lightly populated country areas. The city also holds the main campus of the Mount Isa Institute of TAFE, offering courses in a wide range of fields, including mining, agriculture and trades. In addition, James Cook University has a presence, with the Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health in the Base Hospital complex.
Climate
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) | 36.4 | 35.3 | 34.3 | 31.8 | 27.8 | 24.9 | 24.7 | 27.2 | 31.1 | 34.6 | 36.4 | 37.1 | 31.8 | |
| Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) | 23.8 | 23.5 | 21.8 | 18.6 | 13.9 | 10.1 | 8.6 | 10.3 | 14.3 | 18.5 | 21.4 | 23.0 | 17.3 | |
| Mean total rainfall (mm) | 110.6 | 99.4 | 65.6 | 16.5 | 13.1 | 3.8 | 6.4 | 4.1 | 6.9 | 20.5 | 34.2 | 70.7 | 454.3 | |
| Mean number of rain days | 7.8 | 7.3 | 4.2 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 3.9 | 5.7 | 36.6 | |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology | ||||||||||||||
See also
External links
References
- ^ http://www.australianexplorer.com/mt_isa.htm Mount Isa at Australian Explorer
- ^ ABS Census 2006
- ^ ABS Census 2006 QLD North West Statistical Division
- ^ Mount Isa Water
- ^ http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/property/placenames/detail.php?id=23053 Place name details: Mount Isa
- ^ What is Mount Isa's history? Mount Isa City Council
- ^ 1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2008
- ^ Queensland Health
- ^ Australian Karting Association (Qld) Incorporated
- ^ Bill Sweetenham: the bloke from Mount Isa saving British swimming - smh.com.au
- ^ Australian Story Program 24, 1997
- ^ Artlink Magazine - Male Nude: A Private View
- ^ http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24193460-2,00.html Ugly girls welcome, says beer goggle capital
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSSYD14437220080818?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews Outback mayor seeks "ugly duckling" women
- ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/20/women.australia The ugly face of Oz
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