The locality is bounded to the east by Lake Dalrymple, which is the impoundment of a number of rivers, including the Burdekin River (which bounds the locality to the north-east) and its tributary the Broughton River (which bounds the locality to the north), and by the Suttor River (which bounds the locality to the south-east).[3]
The terrain is mountainous with numerous named peaks:[3]
In addition, there were previously two other mountains in the north-west of the locality which no longer exist as they were excavated as part of the Mount Leyshon gold mine:[4]
The land use is predominantly grazing on native vegetation.[3]
History
The gold mine at Mount Leyshon was developed in 1888.[27]
Mount Leyshon Provisional School opened circa 1890 and became Mount Leyshon State School on 1 January 1909. It closed in 1927 due to low attendances. It reopened in 1930 before finally closing circa 1931.[28]
The Mount Leyshon mine reopened as an open pit mine in 1987 and operated until 2002. During that time, it produced 2.5 million ounces of gold and 2.3 million ounces of silver.[29][30]
Demographics
In the 2016 census, Seventy Mile had a population of 231 people.[31]
In the 2021 census, Seventy Mile had a population of 204 people.[1]
For students living in the north of the locality, the nearest government primary schools are Millchester State School in Millchester in Charters Towers and Charters Towers Central State School in Charters Towers CBD, while the nearest government secondary school is Charters Towers State High School, also in Charters Towers CBD. There are also non-government schools in Charters Towers.[32]
For students living in the north-east of the locality, the nearest government primary school is Ravenswood State School in Ravenswood to the north-east, but the nearest secondary schools are in Charters Towers and probably too distant for these students with the options being distance education and boarding school.[32]
For students in other parts of the locality, there are no nearby schools and the options are distance education and boarding school.[32]
^"MOUNT LEYSHON". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XLV, no. 9, 534. Queensland, Australia. 4 August 1888. p. 9. Retrieved 4 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.