Abandoned Ghost Town - Mary Kathleen Town & Mine QLD | + Kids Having Driving Lessons!
Between Mount Isa and Cloncurry is an old abandoned uranium mine and township. Mary Kathleen is located in north-west Queensland.
Once upon a time, this land was filled with houses, shops, swimming pool and more. The towns people used to work next door at the now ceased uranium mine.
For the full article with 'Then & Now' photo gallery.
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The Trip 6 | Mt Isa to Normanton via Mary Kathleen and Cloncurry , QLD
Part 6 of a 12 part series. In 2008 A good friend and I embarked on an epic 4wd journey starting in Adelaide then Travelling up through the center of Australia via the Oodnadatta track, and across to Ayres Rock, Kings Canyon, Devils Marbles and then going right up into the Gulf of Carpentaria then across the tablelands to Cairns before following the east coast of Queensland down into New South Whales before heading inland again and travelling through the outback along the Darling river and then returning to Adelaide. The Adventure took approximately 6 weeks and was a truly awesome experience.
Mary Kathleen 03 -02 2014
From Mt Isa Towards Cloncurry, Ghost Mining Town
Mary Kathleen Story
An old documentary at the Mount Isa Experience.
Mary Kathleen Competitive Cash Tender Briefing Session.
Mary Kathleen Competitive Cash Tender Briefing Session.
The Queensland Government has released a competitive cash tender for mineral exploration rights to a site in the resource-rich North West Queensland Minerals Province, which encompasses the abandoned Mary Kathleen mine near Mount Isa.
For more information visit
Mary Kathleen - Drones Australia
Located in the Selwyn Range between Mount Isa and Cloncurry, Queensland. Mary Kathleen was first settled during the 1860s. Uranium was discovered in 1954 and mining commenced within 2 years. In 1958 work commenced constructing the township, dam and open-cut mine all to be processed on site. In 1961 around 1000 people lived in the township. However with boom comes bust, by late 1982 the township, mine and mill were dismantled. The area now a ghost town with only the open-cut mine, roads and concrete pads remaining.
Mary Kathleen Mine - Outback Queensland
Follow Phil Newton as he adventures into the abandoned uranium mine in outback Queensland. Located just outside Mount Isa, a once busy town of ~1200 now lays deserted, abandoned.
Music & SFX from: epidemicsound.com
Mary Kathleen 1960
Life in 1960 at Mary Katkleen
Metal Detecting Mary Kathleen, Qld Ghost Town
This video is about Metal Detecting Mary Kathleen, Qld Ghost Town
GHOST TOWN OPENED - MARY KATHLEEN - SOUND
Uranium mining industry. Various shots of housing and various buildings of the Mary Kathleen mining town - now abandoned. Shots of the open air movie theatre, swimming pool, school playground, deserted streets. Machinery for mining uranium. CU of plaque commemorating opening of project in 1958. Library footage of Robert Menzies at project. Various shots of the processing plant. Mine is to be reopened.
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Mary Kathleen
Mary Kathleen. Our first stop was Mary Kathleen, but this was very different to what we had researched, especially in regards to vehicle access. We read that there was a good sealed road all the way into the town and mine, so we went in with the caravan attached.Mary Kathleen was a mining settlement in the northwestern part of Queensland, Australia. It was first settled during the 1860s. Uranium was first discovered at Mary Kathleen by Clem Walton and Norm McConachy in 1954. The deposit and the township was named after the late wife of McConachy. A sales contract with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority was signed in 1956. Mining commenced at the end of 1956 and the treatment plant was commissioned in June 1958. The project was developed by Mary Kathleen Uranium Limited (MKU) at a cost of A$24 million. By 1963 the major supply contract had been satisfied ahead of schedule, and large reserves of ore lay at grass. Consequently, the works were closed down. The mine then lay idle until 1974, when it was reopened. New supply contracts with Japanese, German and American power utilities prompted this re-opening, with Mary Kathleen's second life extended to 1982 when reserves were finally exhausted.The town is 6km away from the mine, and had a post office, cinema, sports ovals, a school, banks and a community store. The state school was opened in July 1956, followed by a temporary hospital facilities and a community store. In 1961, about 1000 people lived here in this new town. It was well designed and the same model was used at other locations. When the mine re-opened in mid-1974, the population at Mary Kathleen subsequently grew from 80 in August 1974 to 700 in August 1975 and peaked at approximately 1200 in 1981.Taken today from the same location as the above photo looking towards the general storeIt was a fascinating place and we all enjoyed looking around. No buildings stood there anymore, but their floors remained. There were maps and some pictures there, so we enjoyed finding the bank, the general store and the post office and looking around them. Some still had their floor tiles still there. You could see where all the homes were, as only concrete pads remained, making them ideal for caravan's. It actually looked like a caravan park at one point.The road to the town was a little rough, but it was nothing on the current road condition from the town to the mine.As no one lives here anymore, it is now a labeled as a Ghost Town.MineAgain, taking the caravan along with us (as we were told it was easy access), Jacinda did some major 4x4ing, the most she has ever done with a non-4x4 caravan attached. She did very well. As we were a long way off the main road now, it was hard to know how much further we had to go, was it worth going in and seeing it, and should we have disconnected the caravan and driven the rest.The further we went in, the more reluctant we were to stop. We wanted to keep going. Eventually someone stopped on the way out and advised us of the road up ahead. They thought it was odd we were taking a caravan in, and I think some other 4x4ers thought they were doing some great skilful driving, until they saw us driving along the same track with a caravan connected.But it was so worth doing. The water was a deeper blue than the blue lake in Mount Gambier. It was fantastic to see it on a cloudy day there was no doubt it was blue all on its own, no reflecting the blue sky here today. The place echo-ed for ages. You could tell a lot of work had been done here, and it was so worth seeing. The only problem we then had, we trying to get back out again.
A total of 31 million tonnes of ore were extracted from the mine until it was exhausted. Processing occurred on-site.
Mary Kathleen Anderson story of a life
My First Vlog Cloncurry Show
Taking time to my self and my partner
ANOTHER BIG BARRA IN MOUNT ISA
another barra in the Isa
Normanton, Corella Dam and Mary Kathleen - Episode 16
We depart from Karumba and head south down to Normanton were we stayed for 2 nights and caught a Barramundi.
After Normanton we continued south to Corella Dam which is just outside of Cloncurry. Corella Dam was so beautiful we didn’t want to leave and clocked up 6 nights of free camping! There was an abundance of Redclaw to be caught and cooked (Delicious) and our neighbours were amazing people to catch up with every day.
Our next stop was Mary Kathleen, which is an old ghost mine town that still has a lot of its foundations still in place. Whilst here we visited the iconic Uranium mine and did some sweet Drone aerials!
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Ruby-Ann digs up new Lorena Mine
Riding a CAT 777 in new Lorena Mine, 15km out of Cloncurry in North West Queensland.
Poison Waterhole Mt Isa
Poison waterhole is an abandoned mine about thirty Km out of Mt Isa. It is one of my favorite places in Mt Isa. When I lived in Mt Isa the water lever was about thirty foot shallower, I could not even guess how deep the water is. If you get a chance to be out that way its well worth the look, it is approx 30km west of Mt Isa. Heading toward Cloncurry, there is a gate and a dirt track that takes you up there, its about three km from the highway to the waterhole, 4WD is recommended but you could make it using a sedan (Dad and I made it in a Nissan Bluebird well before the road was fixed, but Dad is crazy) It is an amazing place with lots of abandoned mining equipment left to rust..
When Mt Isa hits the 40+ degree temp, it is an oasis.
Adventures in Mary Kathleen ghost town
Video about my experience in the remote ghost town. It's more populated then you think.
Read about the town:
Mary Kathleen Ghost Town Uranium Mine
This video is about Mary Kathleen Ghost Town Uranium Mine
tricky section for a prado
On a random track heading out toward Wee Macgregor