- location Gormanston - elevation 164 m (538 ft) Mouth King River Cities Queenstown | - location Queenstown - elevation 60 m (197 ft) Country Australia | |
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Sources Mount Lyell, West Coast Range | ||
The Queen River, part of the King River catchment, is a minor perennial river located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
Contents
Map of Queen River, Queenstown TAS, Australia
Course and features
The Queen River rises below Gormanston, sourced by runoff from the West Coast Range and in particular the peaks of Mount Lyell and Mount Owen. The two branches of the river, West Queen River and East Queen River, merge north of Queenstown and flow through the city and continue south, joined by one minor tributary before reaching its confluence with the King River, to the west of .
The river valley is low-lying and narrow, and the subsequent fogs are notable in their effect, some created by smelter fumes in earlier years
In April 1906, a significant flooding occurred in Queenstown and the southern part of the town due to the river overflowing Subsequent recorded floods include in 1922, 1937 and 1954
Tailings
For over 80 years the main carrier of Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company mining residue, and the local sewage. It is estimated that 100 million tonnes (98,000,000 long tons) of tailings were disposed of into the Queen River. This in turn flowed into the lower part of the King River, and then into a delta at the mouth of the river where it met Macquarie Harbour. Following the Mount Lyell Remediation and Research and Demonstration Program construction of tailings dams, and general reduction of waste into this river, the river flow is now rusty in colour rather than silvery grey as it was previously.
The river passes under and adjacent to the revitalised railway now known as the West Coast Wilderness Railway. South of Queenstown on the edge of the river is the early settlement of Lynchford where a gold mine and other mining activity supported a small community in the early days of the railway.