• Moving a sandmining dredge along Main Beach c.1960's

  • Moving a sandmining dredge along Main Beach on North Stradbroke Island, 1960s. Bulldozers are pulling the dredge, which is sliding on a constructed base.

    Donor: Consolidated Rutile Ltd 

    Reference number: P863-0

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  • Theme
    Views
    Time
    1960s
    Place
    North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah)
    Tags
    sandmining Main Beach

  • Contributor

    North Stradbroke Museum Island Museum on Minjerribah logo
Moving a sandmining dredge along Main Beach on North Stradbroke Island, 1960s. Bulldozers are pulling the dredge, which is sliding on a constructed base. Desc: Six bulldozers towing a mining dredge along a beach just above high tide mark. Beyond the sand dune is vegetation and an area of fresh water. The dunes are criss-crossed with tyre marks.
Background

The North Stradbroke Island sandmining industry started soon after World War 2 (1939-1945). It began on the east-facing Main Beach where wave action exposed seams of the black, mineral-bearing sand. The early miners were individuals who shovelled the sand by hand onto trucks, which then drove to Dunwich on the Island’s west coast. The trucks were loaded onto barges and taken to the mainland.

In the early 1950s Titanium and Zirconium Industries Pty Ltd began a small dredging operation on Main Beach, transporting the mineral sands across the Island to Dunwich by an aerial ropeway. Since then, dry mining has been replaced by wet mining operations behind the beaches. Mining on North Stradbroke Island is due to end in 2019.

 

 

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