Irvinebank

Irvinebank, a rural village and former mining and tin-smelting town, is 80 km south-west of Cairns.

In 1880 the Great Northern tin discovery was made at Herberton, 25 km east of Irvinebank. Two years later three prospectors, James Gibb, Andrew Thompson and James McDonald, found promising tin lodes in the catchment of the Gibbs and McDonald Creeks, in the vicinity of the future Irvinebank. The Glen Smelting Company in Herberton, managed by John Moffat, acquired several of the tin shows in Gibbs Creek in 1883.

Further Reading: 

K.H. Kennedy, ed, Readings in North Queensland mining history, vol 1, Townsville, History Department, James Cook University, 1980

Ruth S. Kerr, John Moffat's empire, St Lucia, J.D. & R.S. Kerr, 1979

Ruth S. Kerr, John Moffat of Irvinebank, St Lucia, J.D. & R.S. Kerr, 2000

Ray Langford, Two white swans, Atherton, Ray Langford, 2002

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