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Built in 1858 by Francis W Pearson for the Gerldine Mining Company, the smelter was used until late 1859. The Warribanno Smelter Complex Ruin is the oldest identified European mining site in Western Australia and the smelter is the oldest surviving smelter in WA and one of the earliest in Australia. It consisted of one roasting and two large smelting (reverbatory) furnaces with a large chimney 105 feet above the works. Close by were cottages for workmen, blacksmith shop, a quarry and a convenient supply of wood. The Warribanno smelter is one of a complex of sites associated with the Geraldine Mining Company, and with Port Gregory and the Lynton Convict Hiring Depot for the shipping and transport of lead, which caused the construction of wells along an overland route through Trevenson. The name Warribanno was first recorded by surveyor William Phelps in the 1860s. It is believed to be derived from 2 aboriginal (Nanda dialect) words - Warri (fire) and Bunna (hill).
The Geraldine Lead Mine, located approx 5kms North-East, is the earliest European settlement in the Mid-west of Western Australia.
(This text was on a info sign outsite the smelter complex)
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There are no kangaroos in Austria. We're talking about Australia, the world's smallest continent. That being cleared up, let's dive right in! Australia is a sovereign state under the Commonwealth of Nations, which is in turn overseen by Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth. The continent was first sighted and charted by the Dutch in 1606. Captain James Cook of Britain came along in the next century to claim it for Britain and name it "New South Wales." Shortly thereafter it was declared to be a penal colony full of nothing but criminals and convicts, giving it the crap reputation you may have heard at your last cocktail party. This rumor ignores 40,000 years of pre-European human history, especially the Aboriginal concept of Dreamtime, an interesting explanation of physical and spiritual reality. The two biggest cities in Australia are Sydney and Melbourne. Sydney is more for business, Melbourne for arts. But that's painting in very broad strokes. Take a whirl around the panoramas to see for yourself! Text by Steve Smith.
