30 C O N T E X T 8 7 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 4 Heritage Branch of the Department for Environment and Heritage was asked to advise on the stability of the buildings. The site was inspected and the branch itself elected to carry out the urgent work during two trips to the site in September 1996 and October 1998. The branch has carried out similar stabilisation work on a number of heritage sites in the outback over the years. These sites relate to early pastoral activity, the Overland telegraph line, the old Ghan Railway line and, of course, mining ventures. The work teams usually comprised two or three staff, two volunteers and a stonemason. Work generally involved extensive repointing and the rebuilding of stonework, where required, to stabilise existing fabric. Nuccaleena was not very different from these earlier projects, but the height of the structures and the rugged location presented some challenges. In common with other sites in the outback the It was usually possible to locate the stones that had formed the door and window jambs, and return them to their original positions. The ruins of the Nuccaleena mine are more substantial than most other sites in the Northern Flinders Ranges due to their solid stone construction and the site’s isolated location. miners dispersed to other mines and the settlement was slowly abandoned. In 1872 the steam engine was relocated to the nearby Blinman mine. The Nuccaleena mine site is one of many abandoned mines in the Northern Flinders Ranges. Some of these mines showed promise while the copper price was high but in the end none can claim to have paid their way. Mining for copper in the area finally ceased in 1908. The ruins of the Nuccaleena Mine are more substantial than most other sites in the Northern Flinders Ranges due to their solid stone construction and the isolated location of the site. As the mine failed early in its life, the site was not subjected to the continual process of adaptation and upgrading which, at more successful mines, is particularly destructive of the earlier fabric. An important lesson learned at Nuccaleena was to not waste money on buildings that might have a short life span. Thereafter, emphasis was placed on structures that could be dismantled and reused elsewhere. Only the large establishments with proven ore deposits indulged in permanent structures. The heritage significance of the mine site is clear in that it is an early representative of attempts to mine copper in the region. The survival of most of the buildings, albeit as ruins, depicts the mining processes and, importantly, shows the relationship of the mine to the village it supported. In 1995 it was proposed that the track leading to Nuccaleena should be declared a public access route, giving the public free access to the site (albeit limited to four-wheel-drive vehicles). In the interests of safety the Lands Department erected fences around the mine site and around the individual mine shafts. The
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