Scores of workers at Mount Isa Mines have paid the ultimate sacrifice over the years but there is no memorial to the deaths anywhere in the city.
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Now two former residents have taken on the task of investigating whether a mining memorial could be built in the town as part of Mount Isa's 100 year celebrations in 2023.
John Moran and Steve Trevor were in town recently to meet with Mayor Danielle Slade and other interested parties and discuss the possibility.
Mr Moran first raised the possibility of a memorial wall in a letter to the North West Star in 1998 and reiterated his call in January this year after Moranbah launched its miners memorial.
He said Cr Slade was very supportive of their proposed memorial to mine workers killed at MIM and also that the project should be embraced as a Mount Isa centenary event.
"(The Mayor) will be meeting with Queensland Government Minister for Mines shortly and will discuss the Memorial being part of Isa`s Centenary as well as booking the annual September 19 Miners Memorial Service for Mount Isa in 2023," Mr Moran said.
"I suggested that September 2023 could be the month for a grand opening of the Memorial wall and the whole month be dedicated to the workers of MIM past and present."
Mr Moran and Mr Trevor had follow-up meetings with Mick Tully and then with Deputy Mayor Phil Barwick and Cr.George Fortune and then with Robbie Katter.
"Steve and I then inspected several proposed sites throughout the City including all the hill which we climbed," he said.
"We have had literally hundreds if not thousands of supporters for the proposed Memorial on several Facebook posts. It has been overwhelming."
Now Kennedy MP Bob Katter has thrown his full support behind what he called "a marvellous idea".
"Personally, I think the memorial should be a 20 or 30 foot high monument, made of bronze to commemorate the hundreds of us who have died down the mines in North-West Queensland, but it will be up to the people of Mount Isa past and present," Mr Katter said.
"I worked in the mines myself in Mount Isa so I am well aware of the grave dangers. I too was in a hairy situation working in the lead smelter. It's intrinsically a dangerous occupation."
Mr Katter said the monument should also be a tribute to the many prospectors who died in the North-West Queensland region.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
