Mount Zeehan

Mountain in Tasmania, Australia

Mount Zeehan

Location in Tasmania

Mount Zeehan is a mountain in Western Tasmania, west of the West Coast Range. It has an elevation of 701 metres (2,300 ft) above sea level.^[2] The closest town is Zeehan, about 4.93 kilometres (3 mi) away.^[3]

History

The indigenous Peerapper name for the mountain is recorded as Weiawenena.^[4]

European naming

On 24 November 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European explorer to sight and document the Heemskirk and West Coast Ranges. Tasman sailed his ships close to the coastal area which today encompasses the Southwest Conservation Area, south of Macquarie Harbour, but was unable to send a landing party ashore due to poor weather and did not make contact with any South West Tasmanian groups. In their circumnavigation of Tasmania between 1798 and 1799, George Bass and Matthew Flinders named the Heemskirk Ranges mountains Mount Heemskirk and Mount Zeehan after Tasman's ships, the warship Heemskerck (itself named after Jacob van Heemskerck, whose surname means "from Heemskerk") and the 200-tonne (200-long-ton; 220-short-ton) fluyt Zeehaen (Old Dutch for "Sea Rooster") in honour of Tasman's voyage of exploration.^[5][6] Although Dutch in origin, Bass and Flinder's Anglicised naming of Mount Heemskirk and Mount Zeehan created some of the oldest British place names in Tasmania.^{[note 1]}

Mining

Silver-lead deposits were discovered at Mount Zeehan by Frank Long in 1882.^[8] The Zeehan mineral field contains more than 100 legacy mine sites, many of which are affected by acid mine drainage, costing an estimated A$100,000 per hectare to purify.^[9]

Township of Zeehan

Mount Zeehan Post Office opened on 1 August 1888. The township was named Zeehan in 1890.^[10]

Tourism

Constructed as part of silver-mining operations in 1904, a 100 metre long railway tunnel leading to the former Spray Silver Mine has become a popular walking destination with tourists. The Spray Tunnel was closed in January 2022 after cracks were discovered in the ceiling.^[11]

A three-hour return walk to the summit of Mount Zeehan is accessible via a four-wheel drive track.^[12]

1. ^ Only a few Dutch place names in Tasmania originate from Tasman's 1642 voyage. Although some place names originate from Bruni d'Entrecasteaux's French expedition in 1792,^[7] most place names were not assigned in Van Diemen's Land until after the settlement of Hobart Town at Risdon Cove in 1803. It was not until after the 1815 discovery of Macquarie Harbour by explorer and mariner James Kelly that many place names on the West Coast were assigned.

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Mount Zeehan, Tasmania". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
2. ^ "Frequently asked questions about Mount Heemskirk in Tasmania - Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia".
3. ^ "Frequently asked questions about Mount Zeehan in Tasmania - Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia".
4. ^ Milligan, Joseph (1858). "On the dialects and languages of the Aboriginal Tribes of Tasmania, and on their manners and customs" (PDF). Papers of the Royal Society of Tasmania: 270.
5. ^ F. Adama van Scheltema & Anton Mensing, 1898. "Tasman's ships Zeehaen and Heemskerck". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 2 June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
6. ^ "Ship model Dutch fluyt ZEEHAEN of 1639". modelships.de. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
7. ^ "French came, sowed and left Tasmania in 1792". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 20 February 2003. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
8. ^ Dickens, Greg. "ZEEHAN'S SILVER-LEAD OREBODY". University of Tasmania. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
9. ^ Parbhakar-Fox, Anita (29 June 2016). "Treasure from trash: how mining waste can be mined a second time". The Conversation. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
10. ^ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
11. ^ Woods, Rodney (17 January 2022). "Zeehan's Spray Tunnel closed after cracks found in roof". The Advocate. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
12. ^ "Mt Zeehan". Nature Lover Walks. Retrieved 5 June 2022.

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