The Kintore Headframe Reserve (Broken Hill, Far West New South Wales)

            The Kintore Headframe was previously located at the Kintore Shaft, principal shaft of the Central Mine. The shaft, commenced in 1903, was named after the Earl of Kintore, Chairman of Directors of the Central Mine. The mine was worked between 1884 and 1940, producing six million tons of ore. It was reworked by Broken Hill South Ltd, using Kintore Shaft, from 1944 to 1959.

In 1945, the old headframe over Kintore Shaft was replaced by the headframe located at the reserve, which came from No. 5 Shaft at the South Mine. A timber and iron structure was built to house a new electric winding engine adjacent to the old stone winderhouse.

The headframe is constructed of oregon and is supported by concrete footings and cross-braced with steel rods. It allowed access to the mine and extraction of remaining ore in the upper levels. Steel headframes replaced wooden headframes after 1930.

The old mine buildings were demolished and the headframe was relocated to the reserve on Blende Street as a community project in 1984 to allow open-cut mining of the original site.

The Kintore Shaft was typical of early shafts used at Broken Hill. It was divided into three compartments; the headframe covered two, which contained cages operated by a steam winding engine. The compartment not under the headframe was the ladderway covered by heavy timbers and a trapdoor.

The shaft had two levels of access. At ground level, gates allowed access to cafes on both sides. At the higher level, gates allowed entry on one side of the shaft, while higher again was a platform for changing cages. A ladder led to the top platform around the two pulley wheels, over which the winding rope passed.

Early shafts such as Kintore eventually proved inadequate to handle the massive Broken Hill orebody. Sinking of much larger rectangular and circular shafts started in the 1920s, and concrete and steel replaced timber as a lining after 1930.

The double cylindrical winding drum was originally located in the winderhouse at No. 1 Shaft at the North Mine. Sinking of No. 1 Shaft commenced in 1905. It was similar in size to Kintore Shaft with two cage compartments.

A Fraser and Chalmers steam winding engine was erected in 1909 and used to haul two-ton loads of ore. It was a twin cylinder horizontal engine with a diameter of 24 inches (60cm) and a stroke of 60 inches (152cm).

The steam winder was converted to electric drive with a 1000 horsepower motor when the Central Power Station commenced in 1931. The winder handled a maximum of 960 one-ton trucks per eight-hour shift, down to the 1700 foot level.

The drums are 10 feet (3m) in diameter and operated at 86rpm (2700 feet per minute), using 1.4inch (35mm) diameter wire rope with a breaking strain of 74 tons. Grooves in the surface of the drums ensured correct coiling of the rope and supported it against crushing. Each drum had an individual brake, and clutches within the body of each drum allowed either drum to operate with the other idle.

The Kintore Reserve is located at the former right-of-way for the Silverton Tramway Company. The company constructed and operated between Broken Hill and Cockburn at the South Australian border via Silverton. This line was used from 1888 until 1970 when standard gauge was introduced on a more direct route via Thackaringa.

After closure of the line, the company donated this section of the railway reserve to the City of Broken Hill for museum purposes. Since 1970, the company has acted as shunting contractor to the mining industry in Broken Hill, hauling concentrates to the marshalling yard.

Source: City of Broken Hill & Mines and Energy SA.

Taken on: January 1, 2024

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Sets appears in: • Broken Hill, Far West New South Wales (Wilyakali Country)

Groups appears in: • WORLD MINING HERITAGE ⚒

Camera: Nikon D5600, f/8.0, 0.4 sec, 13mm (=19mm), ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D5600
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