The Queensland mining town of Mt Isa, the western world's biggest silver and lead producer, lies south of the Gulf of Carpentaria and west of the coastal city of Townsville. It's a true Outback town in its sense of remoteness (imagine Coober Pedy in South Australia, another mining town) but a melting pot nonetheless of various ethnic groups drawn to the attraction of work at the mines.
Aside from silver and lead, Mt Isa also has rich deposits of copper and zinc.
Fossil deposits
Another Mt Isa claim to fame is the existence of fossil deposits in the region, more particularly at Riversleigh, an inscribed United Nations World Heritage area, some 250 kilometres northwest of the town. The Riversleigh Fossils Centre is in Mt Isa.
Unique services
Two outstanding Australian services are based in Mt Isa: the Royal Flying Doctors Service, which provides an aerial medical service, and the School of the Air, which brings education by radio to children in remote areas.
An underground mining museum is a town feature.
Getting to Mt Isa
By road, Mt Isa is 905 kilometres from Townsville, 1319 kilometres from Rockhampton, and 1823 kilometres from Brisbane.
Airline service is available from Brisbane and some other towns in Queensland, and from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
There are buses from Townsville and Brisbane, and Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.
Queensland Rail operates a twice-weekly passenger service from Townsville.
Ore from the mines is transported to Townsville by rail.
