Editing Cobar (section)

===Copper ore===

In September 1870 three contract well-sinkers, Charles Campbell, Thomas Hartman and George Gibb, were traveling south from Bourke to the Lachlan River. They had engaged two Aboriginal men, Frank and Boney, to guide them via the permanent watering places in the dry country between the rivers. Along the way they camped beside the Kubbur waterhole. The men noted the green and blue staining at the waterhole and collected some rock samples.  On their journey further south the well-sinkers stopped at a shanty operated by Henry Kruge (near to the future site of [[Gilgunnia]]). Kruge’s wife, Sidwell, was from Cornwall and her family had emigrated to South Australia in the late-1840s and mined copper ore at Burra. She was able to identify the rock as containing copper. Sidwell Kruge's assessment was confirmed when her husband smelted some of the ore samples in his blacksmith's forge. The three men then returned to Bourke, intending to secure the ground around the Kubbur waterhole.<ref>{{cite book |last=Burgess |first=Neville |date=2006 |title=The Great Cobar |publisher= The Great Cobar Heritage Centre|location=Cobar |isbn=0646457969}}</ref><ref name="CFF"/> 
[[File:Great Cobar Copper Mining Syndicate's Refinery, Lithgow.jpg|thumb|Great Cobar Copper Mining Syndicate's Refinery, Lithgow]]
In partnership with Bourke businessman Joseph Becker, Campbell, Hartman and Gibb took up a mineral conditional purchase of 40 acres at the locality. Shortly afterwards the [[Great Cobar mine#Cobar Copper Mining Company (1871-1875)|Cobar Copper Mining Company]] was formed, and the lease of the mine was transferred to the company.<ref name="impact"/><ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/70615038 The Late Mr. Joseph Becker], ''Australian Town and Country Journal'' (Sydney), 27 April 1878, page 13.</ref> In May 1871 it was reported that there had been “a call for tenders for drawing in copper ore from Cobar”.<ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18754313 Bourke], ''Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser'', 25 May 1871, page 3.</ref> In July 1871 a meeting was held in Bourke “of gentlemen interested in the Cobar copper mine” and shares were “eagerly bought at £15 per share”.<ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18755609 Bourke], ''Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser'', 13 July 1871, page 4.</ref> By the following November it was reported that “the affairs of the Cobar Copper Mine Company are in a flourishing condition, shares having rushed up from £15 to £70 and £80 per share”.<ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/245695545 Notes from Fort Bourke], ''The Herald'' (Melbourne), 30 November 1871, page 3.</ref>

In December 1871 a correspondent visited “the new Cobar copper mine” in company with Captain Lean, the newly-appointed mining manager. The mine had been in operation for the previous four months. It was situated “on a Pine ridge, and throughout the whole length of the ridge (about half-a-mile) indications of ore are apparent”. The ore was varied, “consisting of blue and red carbonate, red and black oxide, and is of very high quality”. The writer was of the opinion the Cobar mine “promises to be one of the richest copper mines Australia has yet produced”.<ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28415354 New Copper Mine], ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 13 December 1871, page 6.</ref>

The South Cobar Mining Company built a furnace at Cobar and in May 1875 commenced smelting operations. Soon afterwards two additional furnaces and a refinery were built.  In December 1875 the Cobar Copper Mining Company amalgamated with the South Cobar Mining Company to form the [[Great Cobar mine#Great Cobar Copper-Mining Company (1876 - 1889)|Great Cobar Copper Mining Company Ltd]].<ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/43002311 Mining Intelligence], ''South Australian Register'' (Adelaide), 18 May 1876, page 7.</ref> It and subsequent companies operated a number of light railways<ref>Shoebridge, J.W. ''The Railways of The Great Cobar'', [[Australian Railway History|Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin]], September 1969 pp. 189-218</ref> carrying ore and similar material, as well as timber for mine supports. Cobar and many mining outskirts accommodated the miners who travelled to the area in the late 1880s. The overwhelming majority of these were of [[Cornish Australian]] stock at the time.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgoFxfSTfYAC&q=australia+first+fleet+cornwall&pg=PA227|title=The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins|first1=James|last1=Jupp|first2=Director Centre for Immigration and Multicultural Studies James|last2=Jupp|date=1 October 2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521807890|access-date=15 September 2018|via=Google Books|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028123143/https://books.google.com/books?id=wgoFxfSTfYAC&pg=PA227&lpg=PA227&dq=australia+first+fleet+cornwall&source=bl&ots=pQ8ZsDZmGb&sig=TfiFNvZO2PtZBgpAQUgjeTEuoqw&hl=en&ei=-YAHTYaRHsKYhQfXyLnuBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=australia+first+fleet+cornwall&f=false|archive-date=28 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>