Copperfield Store And Chimney

A single brick chimney, standing sentinel in the scrub, is now the only one remaining of the fourteen chimneys which once represented the Peak Downs Copper Mines Unlimited. The mine was the first to be worked commercially outside South Australia and also the first rich mine in Queensland. In 1862, a 10 feet high wall of solid copper ore was discovered at Copperfield. Queensland's first copper mine opened and continued until the 1880's when the best quality ore was mined out. The site of Copperfield township, six kilometres south of Clermont and Peak Downs Copper Mine is testimony to the changing fortunes of the mining history. The last of 22 chimney stacks still stands. The bricks were made in Clermont by Welsh Tradesmen. The glossy finish was achieved by powdering glass and sprinkling on the surface. North Copperfield was located on the northern side of the chimney and South Copperfield was about one kilometre down from the chimney on the left side of Rubyvale Road. Copperfield Cemetery is a little further down Rubyvale Road on the right hand side. The old Copperfield Store owned and operated by the Duncan Family, was restored by the inmates of the Western Outreach Camp based in Clermont and opened as a small museum displaying photographs, history and memorabilia from Copperfield.