On Tuesday, September 19, the Mount Isa community, along with much of Queensland, will have the chance to come together to commemorate the lives of miners lost in mining tragedies in Queensland.
The Miners Memorial Day Service will be held on Tuesday morning from 10.30am-11.30am at the Mount Isa Civic Centre.
The day is a time to formally pause and honour the memory of the over 1,500 miners who have lost their lives at work in Queensland.
It is held on the anniversary of the worst mining disaster in Queensland's history, when 75 miners lost their lives in a coal dust explosion at Mount Mulligan in far north Queensland (about 160km west of Cairns).
Mount Mulligan was a coal mining town from 1910, until September 19, 1921, when an underground explosion killed all of the town's 75 miners.
The township has been abandoned since 1958 and what remains is a graveyard, a smoke stack and the remnants of the once busy town.
A plaque sits at the site, dedicated to the town and people of Mount Mulligan, and names each of the victims of the mining disaster, some of who were father-and-son.
A royal commission into the disaster detailed the events leading up to the explosion and its aftermath.
Recommendations from the royal commission brought significant reform to the Queensland mining industry, including the first coal mining-specific legislation and measures which are now standard industry practice.
The Mt Mulligan explosion is acknowledged as Australia's third most deadly mining disaster, trailing NSW's 1902 Mount Kembla explosion which killed 96 people and the 1887 Bulli mine gas explosion which had 81 fatalities.
The Mount Isa Miners Memorial Day Service will be held on Tuesday, September 19. RSVP at tinyurl.com/3ahwnmen by September 11.
Finn Coleman
Having grown-up in the Hawkesbury, I understand the importance of the Hawkesbury Gazette in highlighting stories that members of the local community care about - including events, businesses, sports and the people that make our town unique.
Having grown-up in the Hawkesbury, I understand the importance of the Hawkesbury Gazette in highlighting stories that members of the local community care about - including events, businesses, sports and the people that make our town unique.
