Mount Isa began as a mining lease in the early 1920s founded by John Campbell Miles.
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Last week we looked at an early booklet that look at the first years of the town with rare photos of the period.
This week we continue our delve into the booklet.
In a chapter called "further development", government geologist B. Dunstan said it soon became apparent to Miles and others that the easy finds were limited and large low-grade bodies could only be worked on a big scale.
Two companies were formed which soon merged as Mount Isa Mines Ltd with a capital of two million pounds and a controlling interest purchased by Russo-Asiatic Company.
MIM immediately began work on Rio Grande, Black Star and Black Rock.
They sunk a central shaft on Urquhart Hill which tapped all the ore bodies by drift with the ore electrically hauled in.
A 1.5 million gallon dam was built on Rifle Creek and connected by pipeline to Mount Isa and the railway was extended from Duchess.
Mr Dunstan said MIM built "comfortable cottages" for its staff of 1250.
"The plant provides for the handling of 1000 tons of carbonate ore and 500 tons of sulphide ore per day, fine grinding of both classes, tabling the coarser carbonates on Diesters, and flotation of the rest of the carbonates and all the sulphides in McIntosh cells; then sintering and smelting in lead blast furnaces, the zinc concentrates being sold pending the erection of a zinc plant," Mr Dunstan wrote.
On February 11, 1931, the Brisbane Courier interviewed MIM general manager Julius Kruttschnitt who said Mount Isa was living up to its expectation.
He told the paper Mount Isa was a large low-grade proposition and needed to be worked by the most economical means.
He estimated a workforce of 900-1000 at full production and more would be done for the community, saying it was already ahead of work for the mine,
He expected the company to start producing in April and gradually get up to 1500 tons a day until conditions warranted 2000 tons a day.
In the underground work, he said the two main shafts were mostly clear of water and they were concentrating on the main haulage shaft which when complete would connect to the other shafts,
The Methodists were the first to hold religious services on the field but the Church of England quickly established a central block of land with the Bush Brothers of Cloncurry visiting and holding services where they could.
In 1929 they moved the church building from Selwyn, where Mt Elliott mine was closing down,to Mount Isa. It was a small building and MIM offered a second block of land to build another church. Rev J Mackie of the Bush Brotherhood of St Barnabas conducted services.
The same year the Catholic Church uprooted from Duchess to Mount Isa which was declared a new parish under the Bishop of Rockhampton. Rev Father O'Twomey arrived in 1930 and a new church was opened on July 13 that year, with a convent and school following in 1931.
The first provisional school was established in 1924 with a sapling framework and a roof of iron.The earth floor and hessian walls housed a teacher and 26 children though that number decreased to 19 by 1925. In 1926 they built a new school under teacher Mr Wadley with 26 pupils and that number grew to 38 by 1928.
Mr F, Byrne assisted Mr Wadley in 1929 with an average of 76 pupils and a new wing taken in from Kuridala, and later a third teacher.
By 1930 there were four teachers and 270 children on the roll there was "rumour" of more extensions when the mine was completed.
Children were already in competition with Cloncurry in the sports of tennis, basketball, running and football with the booklet reporting "two lady teachers had been added to the staff".
Mount Isa attracted its fair share of ex-service men who immediately began to create a branch of the RSSILA (Returned Sailor's & Soldier's Imperial League - later the RSL).
By May 6, 1929 they had 40 branch members who began work relieving distressed ex diggers, providing comforts for those in hospital, helping widows and orphans, and securing pensions where possible.
On the social side they arranged dances and entertainments and it quickly increased to 140 in the branch.
In view of this, the booklet said, they had decided to build a club, a temporary structure to begin with.
"The Mount Isa Mines is naturally proud to have as employees, such a number of returned men, and the branch will no doubt be able to count upon its support in the good works which it has taken in hand," it said.