Qualla: McArthur River zinc mine https://qualla.com/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:04 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/r/j/0/f/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: McArthur River zinc mine https://qualla.com/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine McArthur River zinc mine: Introduction https://qualla.com/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine/ Photo credit Carole Mackinney, FAL. To open the pit, they moved the river. In the country southwest of Borroloola, near the Gulf of Carpentaria, the McArthur River once ran its ancient course until the mine that bears its name diverted it through a five-and-a-half-kilometre artificial channel and dug an open-cut pit into the old riverbed. The ground beneath holds one of the largest zinc, lead, and silver deposits on Earth. It is also, for the Gudanji, Garrwa, Marra, and Yanyuwa peoples, the resting place of the Rainbow Serpent - and that collision, between a world-class orebody and a living sacred landscape, is the whole story of this place.

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Image: Carole Mackinney | FAL

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/j/0/f/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine-wp/rj0f-mcarthur-river-zinc-mine-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full McArthur River zinc mine: Here's Your Chance https://qualla.com/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine/ Photo credit Carole Mackinney, FAL. The deposit's official name was born of an offhand joke. A station manager had noted valuable metals in the area as far back as 1887, but it took a Mount Isa Mines survey party to prove the find in 1955. As the geologists tallied prospects, chief geologist Syd Carter asked his co...

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Image: Carole Mackinney | FAL

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/j/0/f/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine-wp/rj0f-mcarthur-river-zinc-mine-heres-your-chance.mp3 0:06 2 full McArthur River zinc mine: The Problem of the Ore https://qualla.com/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine/ Photo credit Carole Mackinney, FAL. What finally unlocked McArthur River was an engineering breakthrough. The HYC orebody is a dust-fine dissemination of valuable minerals laced through worthless rock, and its high lead content made the lead and zinc nearly inseparable before smelting - with few smelters anywhere a...

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Image: Carole Mackinney | FAL

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/j/0/f/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine-wp/rj0f-mcarthur-river-zinc-mine-the-problem-of-the-ore.mp3 0:06 3 full McArthur River zinc mine: A River and a Dreaming Disturbed https://qualla.com/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine/ Photo credit Carole Mackinney, FAL. Borroloola is home to the Gudanji, Garrwa, Marra, and Yanyuwa peoples, and the mine sits in the heart of country woven through with their law and stories. The orebody lies at what they understand as the resting place of the Rainbow Serpent; nearby run the Barramundi Dreaming and ...

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Image: Carole Mackinney | FAL

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/j/0/f/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine-wp/rj0f-mcarthur-river-zinc-mine-a-river-and-a-dreaming-disturbed.mp3 0:06 4 full McArthur River zinc mine: The Ground Itself Turns https://qualla.com/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine/ Photo credit Carole Mackinney, FAL. The mine's troubles have not been only legal. In 2013, a waste dump caught fire from within: pyrite stacked in the heap overheated and ignited, after the rock was wrongly classified in the mine's own environmental statement - only 12 percent labelled as acid-forming when far more...

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Image: Carole Mackinney | FAL

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/j/0/f/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine-wp/rj0f-mcarthur-river-zinc-mine-the-ground-itself-turns.mp3 0:06 5 full McArthur River zinc mine: A Reckoning Still Unfinished https://qualla.com/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine/ Photo credit Carole Mackinney, FAL. Rehabilitating the site may cost up to a billion dollars. The mine, now owned by the Swiss commodities giant Glencore, has been approved to operate until 2038, and it pours billions into the Northern Territory and national economies. But Indigenous people and environmental groups...

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Image: Carole Mackinney | FAL

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/j/0/f/mcarthur-river-zinc-mine-wp/rj0f-mcarthur-river-zinc-mine-a-reckoning-still-unfinished.mp3 0:06 6 full