Visitors experience conditions at the underground mine

Tennant Creek (including Warrego)
Although a modest outback town, Tennant Creek is the Territory's most important settlement after Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine.
Located 377 m above sea level and enjoying an annual rainfall of 470 mm, Tennant Creek is the most important township on the Barkly Tablelands. With a population of over 3500, Tennant Creek is the administrative centre for an area larger than the state of Victoria. It is situated at the meeting of the Stuart and Barkly Highways and is 504 km north of Alice Springs and 978 km south of Darwin.

The first European to pass through Tennant Creek was the explorer John McDouall Stuart. During his expedition in 1860 he named the creek after his friend and sponsor John Tennant, the father of the South Australian pastoralist and politician, Andrew Tennant (1835-1913). Between 1860 and 1862, McDouall Stuart made three expeditions before finally reaching the north shore. His purpose was to map a path for the overland telegraph which was being extended from England to Australia.

It wasn't until 1872, when the telegraph line was completed and a permanent repeater station was built, that people moved into the area in small numbers. This station, which lies 11 km to the north of town, was closed down in 1979 and currently operates as a museum (see entry in Things to See).

Opposite the Telegraph Station are two lonely graves - one is of notorious cattle duffer Tom Nugent, the owner of Banka Banka Station, who died in 1911, and the other is of Archibald Cameron, an employee of the telegraph station who died in 1918.

The search for gold in the Northern Territory in the late 1870s led to the discovery of small traces in the creeks and gullies south of the telegraph station in 1879. However the source of the gold remained a mystery and returns were insufficient to sustain prolonged interest and endeavour.

In 1926 a miner named Charlie Windley made a claim on the site of the Great Northern Mine. He was working in weathered rock and made enough to justify his efforts but the original source of the gold still lay undiscovered.

One of the telegraph operators, 'Woody' Woodforde, had enlisted local Aborigines in the search for gold and, in 1932, an Aboriginal man brought Woodforde a lump of black ironstone containing visible specks of gold. At the time this was a revelation as gold was usually found in, and associated with, quartz and had no prior associations with ironstone. This discovery led prospectors to cast their eyes upon previously overlooked geological formations in the area, particularly the hills to the south of the telegraph station which had caps of ironstone. There gold was found with ironstone deposits returning as much as 1.2 kg per tonne. This led to Australia's last great goldrush.

Despite warnings placed in major newspapers by the federal government, concerning the harsh conditions and the lack of facilities, supplies, food and water, 600 men soon flecked the hills of the district. By 1934 the numbers prompted the government to gazette a new township, to be called Tennant Creek.

One of the most famous gold finds was made by Joe Kaczinski and Bill Bohning who named their claim after Kaczinski's dog, Peko. Peko Mines was established in 1949 and, during its forty-year history, it made a major contribution to the development of Tennant Creek.

Another successful (and earlier) venture was the Eldorado Mine, which opened in 1932 and closed in 1958, producing nearly 175 000 grams of gold. As a significant producer of copper, it was the only mine in the field to continue production throughout World War II.

The discovery of the copper reserves proved very profitable with new mines established on that basis. The Nobles Nob Mine, which started as a shaft mine, was founded by Jack Noble who, with his one good eye, formed a team with his friend and financier William Weaber, who was totally blind. It became an open-cut operation in 1967 after the main shaft collapsed. Nobles Nob produced assays which regularly exceeded 100 oz (3.2 kg) of gold per metric ton. One particularly rich area within the ore body produced over 300 oz per ton. During its existence, Nobles Nob produced over a million ounces (32 tons) of gold.

After the visible surface gold was removed attention shifted, in the 1950s and 1960s, to the portion of those same lodes which extended underground. Recent surveys indicate that there are still over 200 mines operating in the Tennant Creek region and modern technology has located further deposits with no visible outcrop on the surface. New mines are being developed in 2003 by Giants Reef mining.

50 km west of Tennant Creek is the mining settlement of Warrego which began production in 1971. Established by Peko Wallsend the town had a short but spectacular existence. In 1971 a concentrator was built and in 1973 a smelter was established. By 1975 the town was producing 95% of Australia's bismuth but later that year 550 men were retrenched and the town was closed down. It has since reopened as a working mine but is closed to visitors.

Things to see:  

Battery Hill Mining Centre
Located 1.5 km east of the town centre, via Peko Road, is Battery Hill. Here visitors will find a large collection of mining machinery, plus two museum buildings. Guided tours take in an underground mine and the enormous No. 3 Government Stamp Battery which was established in the 1940s for prospectors to crush their ore. Although it no longer operates for miners - being considered inefficient by today's standards - it is still in working order and can be seen in operation on the guided tour which explains in detail the process by which ore is crushed and passed over mercury-coated plates to trap the gold. One of the largest ten-head stamp batteries still working in Australia, its unusual scale refelcts the fact that the gold found around Tennant Creek has been predominantly embedded in ironstone rather than quartz. As this is an extremely hard and heavy material conventional crushing devices proved inadequate. For further information about the tours ring (08) 8962 1281 or email them at tennantmining@swtch.com.au

Visitor Information Centre
Also located at Battery Hill is a visitor information centre which can furnish all brochures, pamphlets and advice requisite to a well-informed and thorough investigation of the local attractions. There are also video presentations, interactive computer displays and a free booklet designed to accompany a self-guided walk around the town centre, tel: (08) 8962 3388 or fax: (08) 8962 2509. The email address is info@tennantcreektourism.com.au and the website is www.tennantcreektourism.com.au

The corrugated iron Roman Catholic Church in Tennant Creek

Church of Christ the King
There are few buildings of historical importance in Tennant Creek. Most of the early buildings were constructed out of corrugated iron and have simply disappeared. One of the most notable buildings is the Roman Catholic Church of Christ the King (turn left off Paterson Street at Windley Street) which was originally built at Pine Creek in 1904. As Pine Creek declined and Tennant Creek grew, the decision was made in 1936 to dismantle the building and transport it to the new settlement.

Unfortunately, the trip commenced at the start of the wet season and, while the first truck made it, the second got bogged in a creek and overturned. The third returned to Pine Creek to await improved weather. This left the front door in Tennant Creek, the back door 700 km north at Pine Creek and the side walls scattered along a creek at Daly Waters. Thus the locals started referring to the building as 'The Longest Church in Australia'. It was the first church to be built between Alice Springs and Katherine and its unique use of corrugated iron, caneite, masonite and recycled telegraph poles for support stumps, make it a rare, if eccentric and somewhat makeshift, example of original Australian vernacular architecture.

Mary Ann Dam
The Mary Ann Dam lies just 5 km to the north of the town, and is a well-established park and recreational area for locals and visitors alike. Offering expansive lawned areas, shaded tables, barbecues and shady trees, it is a good spot for picnics, barbecues, swimming and fishing. The dam is named after the daughters of the two miners who owned the mining lease here.

Phillip Creek Settlement
Travelling north on the Stuart Highway the traveller comes to the remnants of the Phillip Creek Settlement. This protected area offers a rare opportunity to see the attitudes which informed the treatment of Aborigines in the Northern Territory in the 1950s. In September 1945 nearly 200 Aborigines living around Tennant Creek were relocated to Phillip Creek to keep them away from the mining sites and to ease the demands they might make on the very limited water supplies in the area. For the first six years the settlement was run by the Aborigines Inland Mission which built simple dwellings from corrugated iron and timber with cement and dirt floors. Children had to live in dormitories and the Aborigines were forced to depend upon the supplies at the mission for their livelihood. From 1951 until its closure in 1956, when the Aborigines were moved on to Warrabri, the settlement was controlled by the Northern Territory Administration who encouraged the building of adobe huts. The abrupt departure of the Aborigines from the settlement allows the visitor to see the harsh conditions which passed for benevolence in the 1950s.

Attack Creek Memorial
Further north is the Attack Creek Memorial which recalls that 'On 25 June 1860 John McDouall Stuart and his two companions, William Kekwick and Benjamin Head, reached Attack Creek, the most northernly point of that expedition. Hostile Natives and illness forced the party to return.' Whatever incident occurred between the party and the local Aborigines, it is now claimed that it arose out of fear and misunderstanding across the language barrier. According to some accounts the indigenous people were helpfully trying to indicate the direction of a water source but, as they were afraid to come too close, they shouted and gestured in the appropriate direction with their spears and boomerangs - signs misunderstood by the European party. At any rate, there is little of interest about the monument itself. If visitors go down to the creek, they can see where the old Stuart Highway used to run to the east of the current road.

Churchills Head

Churchill's Head
300 metres beyond the Memorial is the road to Churchill's Head which, at the very least, gives the driver an opportunity to traverse a portion of the Old Stuart Highway. This roadside rock formation was named by soldiers traveling to Darwin during World War II. Perhaps it was they who first stuck a piece of piping in the rock to provide some comic relief to an otherwise long and dull trip. Certainly it provides greater verisimilitude to a likeness some find strained.

Overland Telegraph Station
Between 1860 and 1862, McDouall Stuart made three expeditions through the area with the intent of mapping a path for the overland telegraph which was being extended from England to Australia. The telegraph line was completed in 1872 and a permanent repeater station was built that year, utilising local stone for the walls and corrugated iron for the roofing. It replaced an earlier timber structure, built in 1870 but rapidly destroyed by termites. This station, which lies 11 km to the north of Tennant Creek, was the first point of European settlement in the region and was, for many years, the only European structure within hundreds of kilometres. Nonetheless it was regularly visited by drovers, prospectors and others traversing the track between Adelaide and Darwin. It closed down in 1979 and currently operates as a museum. It is generally unattended but guided tours are usually conducted during the dry season by rangers of the Parks and Wildlife Commission. For details ring Parks & Wildlife on (08) 8962 2793 or the Visitor Information Centre on (08) 8962 3388.

The Pebbles
'The Pebbles' are huge granite boulders located in an area that is rich in wildlife. In truth they are no match for the wonderful Devils Marbles,which lie further south, but the area does have significant cultural links for the women of the local Warumungu people. To access 'The Pebbles' head north for 11 km along the Stuart Highway and then turn west onto a dirt road for another 6 km.

	Tourist Information
	Tennant Creek Regional Tourist Association Battery Hill Regional Centre Peko Rd Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 3388 Facsimile: (08) 8962 2509 Email: info@tennantcreektourism.com.au
	Motels
	Bluestone Motel 1 Paterson St Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 2617 Facsimile: (08) 8962 2883 Email: bluestone@swtch.com.au Rating: ***
	Eldorado Motor Lodge Paterson St Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 2402 Facsimile: (08) 8962 3034 Email: eldorado65@austarnet.com.au Rating: **
	Safari Lodge Motel Davidson St Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 2207 Facsimile: (08) 8962 3188 Email: safari@swtch.com.au Rating: **
	Hotels
	Goldfields Hotel/Motel 113 Paterson St Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 2030 Rating: **
	Threeways Hotel Cnr Stuart & Barkly Hwy Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 2744
	Caravan Parks
	Tennant Creek Caravan Park Paterson St Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 2325 Facsimile: (08) 8962 2352 Email: tennantvanpark@bigpond.com.au Rating: **
	Threeways Roadhouse Caravan Park Cnr Stuart & Barkly Hwys Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 2744
	Outback Caravan Park Peko Rd Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 2459 Facsimile: (08) 8962 1278 Email: outback@swtch.com.au Rating: ****
	Restaurants
	Anna's Restaurant Paterson St Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 2617
	Bootleggers (Goldfields Hotel/Motel) 113 Paterson St Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 2030
	Eldorado Restaurant Paterson St Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 2402
	Margo Miles Restaurant 146 Paterson St Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 2227
	Memories Restaurant (Tennant Creek Memorial Club) Memorial Dve Tennant Creek NT 0860 Telephone: (08) 8962 2474