The population of Rosebery declined by 22% in the years between 1996-2001.[4]
Its newer western area on the shore of Lake Pieman is known as Primrose.
History
Like most of the other settlements on the west coast of Tasmania, Rosebery is a mining town. In 1893, prospector Tom McDonald discovered gold in alluvial wash, along with boulders of zinc-lead sulphide in dense rainforest on the slopes of Mount Black. McDonald pegged several claims in the name of the Rosebery Prospecting Association (named after Lord Rosebery[5]), which later became the Rosebery Gold Mining Company. The South Rosebery Mining Company was formed soon after to mine the southern continuation of the orebody.
In 1896, the Rosebery Gold Mining Company was reconstructed as the Tasmanian Copper Company, and the South Rosebery Mining Company became the Primrose Mining Company. Rosebery Post Office opened on 1 November 1897.[6]
The main mineral found in the orebody was sphalerite, but due to the lack of a technique to successfully extract the zinc from the ore, little could be done to exploit the orebody. One company formed to experiment in the processing of zinc ores was the Tasmanian Metals Extraction Company (TME) who built a large plant next to the track to Williamsford, completed in 1912. The experiment was unsuccessful and the plant closed in 1914.
The Rosebery mines passed into the hands of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway company in 1916, and the mines were eventually merged with the Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australasia (EZ), who had discovered an effective method for the extraction of zinc. In 1926, construction of a processing mill at Rosebery began, and in 1931, an aerial ropeway to transport ore from the Hercules Mine near Williamsford was completed. Due to the Great Depression, the Rosebery Mill was not completed until 1936. The Rosebery Mine has operated continuously since then, with 75 year celebrations held during February, 2011. The mine is currently operated by Minerals and Metals Group (MMG), producing zinc, lead, copper, silver and gold.[7] Previous mine owners included Pasminco and Zinifex.
Rosebery has a damp oceanic climate (Cfb) with cool to mild, damp, unstable summers and cool to cold, very wet winters. Sunshine is low; the city only receives 16.5 clear days annually, and as much as 168.1 cloudy days per annum. February is the driest month and September the wettest, as the westerly wind belt (i.e. Roaring Forties) prevails in the region. Snow falls on an average of 2.8 days a year.[8]
Climate data for Rosebery (HEC Substation, 1979–1993); 165 m AMSL; 41.78° S, 145.54° E
