When there’s a mountain between you and where you want to go, why go around it when you can just dig your way through. It’s not as if miners aren’t used to making holes. But what if you then realise it wasn’t wide enough?

The Silver Lode

In the mid 1800’s the town of Zeehan was just a small mining town near the west coast of Tasmania but it was about to become one of the richest sources of high grade silver of its time and become known as ‘Silver City’. Named after the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman’s ship – the Zeehaen, the town’s fortunes changed after the discovery of silver-lead ore near Mount Zeehan in 1882.

Mining prospector E. J. Freeman developed the mine sites under the Silver Spray Mining Company in 1889. Just a few years later the mine was taken over by the British company Mount Zeehan Silver-Lead Mines but access to and from the mine was slow and expensive. A search for a cheaper form of transport was required. This lead to the construction of a network of narrow tram lines and the tunnel known as Spray Tunnel.

Close to the tunnel’s entrance a 100-metre shaft was sunk (later extended to a depth of 140-metres). To extract the silver-ore from the mine, steam-powered winding gear and the headframe needed to be constructed but this lead to a problem – the tunnel was too narrow for the steam boiler to be transported from Zeehan. The solution was to increase the height at the top and width of the upper sides of the tunnel giving it its classic keyhole shape.

Rich Pickings

With the right equipment in place the mine became hugely successful producing 50,000-grams of silver per tonne of ore. By comparison to today’s modern silver mines a high yield of 30-150-grams per tonne is considered rich pickings.

Now all that remains of the site is the concrete plinths/pads from the shaft winding gear, a 140-metre deep water filled hole, a 100-metre tunnel and a bronze plaque describing the mine’s short but highly successful history.

As you leave the mine, keep a lookout on the left for few of the original steam boilers that have been mounted beside the Zeehan golf course.

A faint Glow

The Tunnel is located right beside the parking area and has a well constructed timber pathway. The only illumination comes from the daylight entering either end of the tunnel but at night you may see the faint blue-white light of glowworms dangling sticky threads from the roof of the tunnel trying to attract and catch passing insects.

Drive with Care

The drive to the mine is via a narrow, single-lane road and care is needed to avoid meeting another vehicle on any of the blind bends. It is not suitable for caravans and we would not recommend motorhomes – you may be required to reverse if you meet an oncoming vehicle.

Lookout for Bikes

Zeehan has become a hub for mountain bikers with a number of intermediate to advanced trails around the Silver City with several taking the name of the mines they pass. If you happen to be walking on one of the trails – be aware of fast approaching bikes.