Mount Morgan, Queensland
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Mount Morgan is a town and Local Government Area located in central Queensland, Australia. It is situated on the Dee River, 38 kilometres south of the city of Rockhampton, and is 680 kilometres north of the state capital, Brisbane. The Burnett Highway passes through the town. Town population is 3500. The town is the administrative centre of the Mount Morgan Shire. It is also the site of Queensland's most polluted river (the Dee River).
Mount Morgan was founded as a gold mining town in 1882, and has over time produced gold, silver and copper. Among those making a fortune from this mine was William Knox D'Arcy. D'Arcy used his fortune to finance oil exploration in Iran, which led to the formation of British Petroleum.
The mine finally closed in 1981, having produced vast quantities of gold during its lifetime. During the mining operation, most of the mountain was mined away, and the town now lies adjacent to a 300m deep acid-water filled pit. Mining companies still prospect today in the area, and plans to extract further gold from tailings at the mine site are always under development.
Tourism plays a large part in the economy of the town today. A number of historic buildings still exist in the town, and tourists can take excursions to the remains of the mine. The historic railway station conducts rail trips on a restored section of track. The original rack railway from Rockhampton is long gone, and the town itself is no longer connected to the rail grid.