Renison Bell is an underground

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

mine and locality on the West Coast of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

History

In 1890, tin-bearing

gossan Gossan (eiserner hut or eisenhut) is intensely oxidized, weathered or decomposed rock, usually the upper and exposed part of an ore deposit or mineral vein. In the ''classic'' gossan or iron cap all that remains is iron oxides and quartz, often ...

was found near Argent River by George Renison Bell. He claimed land and formed the Renison Bell Prospecting Association. Renison Bell Post Office opened on 1 July 1908 and closed in 1976. In 1934, "Paddy" O'Dea amalgamated adjoining leases and mines into the Renison Associated Tin Mines NL. In the 1970s, Renison Bell gave its name to the historical conglomerate RGC (Renison Goldfields Consolidated) which once owned and operated mines in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. RGC sold the Renison Bell Mine to Murchison United NL a Brisbane-based Australian company, in August 1998. Murchison United operated the Rension Bell Mine during the period of lowest tin prices in history. In July 2003, Murchison United went into administration and the mine production ceased. April 2004 saw the purchase of Renison Bell by Bluestone Tin Limited. Bluestone Tin Limited operated the mine and mill at Rension Bell, under continuing low tin prices, until placing the operation into 'care and maintenance' in September 2005. Bluestone Tin Limited, now part-owned by Metals X Limited as part of a joint venture with Yunnan Tin Co., recommissioned the mill and mine in 2008. The first tin produced in August 2008. It is located on the former

Emu Bay Railway The Emu Bay Railway was a Tasmania, Australian railway company. The railway was significant during full operation, in that it linked the Tasmanian Government Railways system at Burnie with that at Zeehan that further linked to the Mount Lye ...

line, now called the Melba line, which is owned and operated by TasRail east of

Zeehan Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan and neighbouring mining towns of Rosebery and Queenstown. History The greater Zeehan a ...

- not far from

Melba Flats Melba Flats is a railway siding on the Melba railway line east of Zeehan that served as a terminus for trains carrying copper ore from the Mount Lyell Mining & Railway Company in West Coast, Tasmania, once the Emu Bay Railway ceased services in ...

, which is the current terminus of that railway line.

References

* * * Tuma, Andrew and Bottrill, R.S. (2006) ''The minerals of Western Tasmania: Introduction, history and geological setting''. in Australian Journal of Mineralogy, volume 12, No. 2, December 2006 *

History

See also

References

Further reading