Howell, New South Wales
Howell is a locality, on the western slopes of the Northern Tablelands, within the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. There was once a mining village of the same name, now a ghost town. Much of the effective western boundary of the locality is part of the shoreline of Lake Copeton, as a portion of the locality is now inundated. Howell is mainly forested, with some land cleared for agriculture.
The area now known as Howell lies on the traditional lands of Kamilaroi people.
The name Howell also is applied to an endangered ecological community, Howell Shrublands in the New England Tableland and Nandewar Bioregions, based on distinctive natural vegetation. It is characterised by low shrubs, in particular Babingtonia densifolia and Homoranthus prolixus. However, the mix of species at sites varies considerably over time, including when all shrub species may be absent, resulting in a natural grassland, or when some eucalypts and cypress pines may be present, forming a low open shrubby woodland.
History
Name
The modern-day locality of Howell takes its name from the former mining village, which was named after John Howell. He was a Canadian-born naturalized-American mining engineer and mining industry figure. Howell came to Broken Hill to be the general manager of the British Broken Hill mine, in 1889. From 1890 to 1895, Howell was the general manager of the Broken Hill Proprietary and Block 10 mines. Howell was also a director of various mining companies, including gold mines in Western Australia and the Overflow Mine at Bobadah.After he left Broken Hill, Howell was the first managing director of Smelting Company of Australia, which built, Dapto Smelting Works, a smelter near Dapto, until May 1898.
He then established and managed the Conrad mine, on a mining claim that he bought in 1897. The mining village that grew up near that mine was named Howell, after him. It is probable that the Conrad mine was named after one of Howell's grandsons, Conrad George Howell Blakemore.
Prior to the proclamation of the village, the area was known as Bora Creek, after the name of a watercourse, now spelled Borah Creek. Apparently, the name Bora Creek continued in use, alongside Howell for a period.
Mining
Silver and base metals
The presence of silver in the area had first been noticed in 1888. Small scale mining took place, but expectations of a silver boom were dashed when it was found that much of the complex ores could not be smelted, even after being taken at great expense to the smelter at Newcastle. Initially, miners extracted only the purest ores from shallow workings.The first deposit that would be exploited commercially at scale was found, in 1890, and its mining lease was bought by John Howell in 1897. Howell was intrigued by the problem of processing the valuable but complex ores, stating that, "probably no similar combination of valuable metals on a large scale has ever been worked before". When Howell had a 100 foot deep shaft sunk, in 1898, the feasibility of mining the ore body was proven, but it would take until 1912 to completely solve the problem of recovering an optimal amount of the valuable content of the ore.By mid-1899 there were two large mines operating in the area. The first was Howell's mine, which became known as the Conrad mine, and the other was Alwell's claim, which became the King Conrad mine.
By August 1899, there was a third mine, the Bora Creek Extended, in an area known as 'The South blocks', which reportedly was located around two miles southward from the Conrad lease.
The three mines were all on the same line of lode and each become owned by a separate listed company.
Alluvial diamonds and tin
At the headwaters of Bora Creek, which are in the modern-day locality of Howell, there were mining leases for alluvial diamonds, where alluvial tin was also obtained. In August 1899, the area was already being explored for diamonds, when a rich find of diamonds and tin was made on Bora Creek, and extensive operations began in the area.Conrad mine
The mineral deposit that was exploited by the Conrad mine was a complex ore body, containing silver, lead, zinc, tin, arsenic, and copper ores, with some gold as well. The ore body, primarily, was worked for its silver content. It was operated, between 1898 and 1913, with two interruptions and changes in ownership structure, and from 1949 to 1957. It produced over 3,500,000 ounces of silver. However, other metals and minerals were produced; lead in the form of galena and later as silver-lead and lead-tin bullion, copper in the form of copper matte, and arsenic first as arsenopyrite and later as white arsenic.Although tin is valuable, in 1900, when mining encountered significant amounts of stannite—a hitherto rare complex sulphide ore of copper and tin, Cu2FeSnS4—treating it and other base metal ores that contained some stannite became a serious issue for the mine. Initially, the stannite was stockpiled, awaiting the implementation of a suitable process. The problem was partially solved by John Howell, around 1903—the mine began producing lead-tin bullion—but only completely solved, in 1912, not long before the mine's first lengthy closure.
From around 1904, a drive had connected the Conrad mine to other workings at a winze under the Moore shaft, which lay to the south-east along the same line of lode.
By 1906, the operations of the Conrad mine and the neighbouring King Conrad mine had been consolidated, under the ownership of Conrad Stannite Mines Limited. The two mine's workings were connected by drives at the 200 and 400 foot levels. Thereafter the two mines were worked as a single operation.
From 1908, the mine produced white arsenic, which was used in those times to poison prickly pear infestations, with only partial success, before the Cactoblastis cactorum moth was introduced from South America. Prior to capturing the white arsenic from furnace exhaust gases, the poisonous compound had been released to the environment, and it had killed some of the vegetation in the area near the mine smelter.
In March 1913, the mine was closed, after a dispute over how mine workers should be paid—by day labour or contract—at a time when the silver price had already begun to fall. During 1913, the plant was dismantled and sold off. After its closure, the mine was worked by locals on a small scale, during and after the First World War, but eventually it filled with groundwater and became inaccessible.
Exploration and development at the old mine recommenced around 1949. The first lead concentrates were shipped in December 1955. The Conrad mine was impacted by a fall in metal prices in 1957, poor ore grades, and high production costs. Mining ceased on 27 December 1957. Its plant was dismantled during 1958–1959, but some remnants were left at the site, such as the headframe.
The mine was well known as a source of rare mineral specimens. The area remains of interest for mineral exploration.
Mining village
Foundation and population growth
The village of Howell was proclaimed in April 1901, although the mining settlement, using the name Bora Creek, already existed by then. It dated from around the time that mining work commenced in 1898, and, by 1901, already had 176 dwellings and a population of 570.In August, 1903, the population of the village was reported to be around 800. By late 1903, there was also a separate 'calico town' of tents, at the diamond mining area near the headwaters of Bora Creek. By 1912, the population was around 1,000.
Heyday
Although most of its miners' dwellings were made from impermanent makeshift materials, such as timber slabs, bark, corrugated iron, and white-washed hessian fabric, the village's other buildings gave it an appearance of permanence.Conrad Street, the 100 foot wide, partially cobbled main street of the village was the beginning of a road that led to the Conrad mine, which lay beside Bora Creek. In the other direction, Conrad Street became the road to Inverell, and branching from it was another road to Inverell, which is now blocked by the waters of Lake Copeton.
At opposite ends of the long main street, stood the village's two hotels; Goodyer's 'Bora Creek Hotel' and what was known as 'the top hotel'—officially the Conrad Hotel—a two storied brick structure, including a billiard hall, barber's shop, and 23 bedrooms. There was a large public hall for dancing and other events, and a school of arts building with a library. The village had three stores, two bakers, two butchers, boxing hall and gym, newsagent, and blacksmith. In 1911, the village had a doctor.
Allwell Street was the beginning of the road to the King Conrad mine, which was to the north-west of the Conrad mine and slightly downstream on Bora Creek. Church Street was the site of the village's three churches; a Church of England, Wesleyan Church, and Catholic church. Near where Church Street joined Conrad Street, stood the public school, which opened in March 1900. Until July 1901, the school was called Conrad, then became known as Howell. The school already had 147 children attending in 1901, and a new school building was erected in 1902.
In 1901, a brick police station, lock up, and residence were built in Argent Street, followed by a courthouse in 1902. The post office, which had been known as Bora Creek, also became called Howell, in July 1901.
The village had a sportsground—used for cricket, football, and athletic competitions—and a jockey club that hosted regular race meetings, at the village's racecourse. The village had a brass band that participated in 'B-grade' competitions. It even had a short-lived newspaper, The Bora Creek Digger. The paper had relocated from nearby Boggy Camp, where it had been known, during 1899, as the Boggy Camp Tingha and Bora Creek miner. Published every second day, in 1900–1901, the newspaper apparently even survived for a while after its proprietor received a six-year prison sentence for "forging and uttering", while awaiting yet another trial for perjury.