Mount Garnet is situated on the traditional lands of the Mbarbaram peoples.
Warungu (also known as
Warrungu,
Warrongo, and
Waroongoo) is an Australian Aboriginal language in
North Queensland. The language region includes areas from the
Upper Herbert River to Mount Garnet. Mount Garnet was built as a mining community in the 19th century and several
minerals can be found in the area, including
tin, copper, zinc and
garnet. Garnet Hill is situated a few hundred metres from the state school, was a main vein of tin and garnet in the late 19th century. Open mine shafts still litter the hill only covered with sheets of tin. In 1882, Albert Vollenweider discovered copper (and garnet) in the area formerly known as Mullaburra Station. He mined the copper in a small-scale operation but he later sold his lease to John Moffat in 1898. By 1899 Mt Garnet Freehold Copper and Silver Mining Company was producing high grade copper oxide. The township was surveyed and buildings sprang up making the township the second-largest inland town (Charters Towers being the largest). By 1906 the company was in financial difficulty and closed. People were moving away for work, buildings were being moved to other mining towns until the mining of the rich veins of tin, which was first discovered in 1901, started to take off. The town began to flourish again. Mount Garnet Post Office opened on 25 July 1899 (a
receiving office had been open from 1897). Mount Garnett Provisional School opened on 22 January 1901. Around 1901–1902, it became Mount Garnett State School. Mount Garnet Methodist Church was built in 1902. It was built from timber at a cost of £100. It could seat 90 people. In 1977, it became Mount Garnet Uniting Church. It is now closed. It was at 3 Silver Street (). Nymbool Provisional School opened in 1905 and closed in 1930. St David's Anglican Church was built in 1938 from timber. Bishop Feetham returned in November 1938 to officially open and dedicate the church. In 1938, land was donated to the people of Mount Garnet to use as a sports reserve. A grand racecourse was built. It and rodeo grounds were used by the troops for R & R during training in WW2. Soldiers volunteered their help with any construction needed. In return cattle station owners provided horses and bulls for their entertainment with races and rodeo. Passby parades of the troops were held there when
General Blamey came to inspect the troops. This reserve now boasts a first class rodeo ground, racecourse and golf club, the greens being inside the racetrack, and permanent camps. These camps are controlled by trustees (Trustees of the LD Lucy Memorial Park). 2013 is the 75th year that the races have been run. In June 1939, tenders were called to relocate the Catholic church at Mungana to Mount Garnet. It was a timber structure with an exposed stud frame. The church began to be pulled down in July 1939 and was then transported to Mount Garnet by train. On Sunday 1 October 1939, the Holy Rosary Catholic Church was officially opened and dedicated by
Bishop John Heavey as part of a weekend of celebrations. The new church was built in the Gothic style with a high-pitched red gable roof. The walls were painted a rich brown with Gothic windows and fascias picked out in white. There were white crosses on the roof and the high point of the porch. There was a church bell. The builder in Mount Garnet was Moss Collins. In 2000 the original copper mine was reopened with copper, zinc, lead, and silver being processed by Kagara Limited. In 2012 Kagara Limited went into administration and was bought out in 2013 by Snow Peak Mining Pty Ltd, an Australian company with strong Chinese shareholding, with the mine being operated by Consolidated Tin Mines. They will eventually process tin. Another tin mining company, Mount Garnet Tin Resources (MGT), has a tin processing plant, Mount Veteran. This plant was built in 1980 and had been used intermittently until the recent resurgence in the tin price. MGT purchased it and are processing high grade tin. == Demographics ==