In 1883 three gold diggers, Mick and Bill McDonough and Steve Karlson pegged out 50 acres of land in the Chamouni Valley, later know as the Linda Valley. This included the large Ironstone outcrop which is known as the Iron Blow. In 1888 F Henry, J Crotty and W Dixon, Mick and Bill McDonough and Steve Karlson formed the Mount Lyell Gold Mining Company (a Launceston company) which developed the Iron Blow. An 8-head stamp battery was erected, but recoveries were poor. In 1892 two Adelaide financiers, Kelly and Orr, realising that a fortune in copper was being washed down the sluice boxes, bought the mine and formed the Mount Lyell Mining Company. Following internal fighting James Crotty left the company and formed the North Lyell Copper Company. ;;In 1893 with a view to building a railway to Strahan the Mt Lyell Company was liquidated and the Mt Lyell Mining and Railway Company (MLMRC) was formed and incorporated on 29 Mar 1893. In 1895 Robert Sticht arrived as chief metallurgist and perfected pyritic smelting. By 1901 the new township of Queenstown was flourishing, and Sticht had 11 blast furnaces working in the smelting. ;;In 1903 due to the failure of the furnaces and the death of James Crotty the North Lyell Copper Company amalgamated with the Mt Lyell Mining and Railway Company. In 1914 the Company built its own hydro-electric power scheme. In 1922 the Iron Blow, now a vast open cut, was phased out, leaving underground workings to supply the ore. Its copper contained many impurities, and from 1928 further refining by electrolysis produced copper 99.8 percent pure. From 1934 to 1972 the West Lyell mine produced 47 million tons of copper ore. ;;Economic problems saw the closure of the refinery in 1964, and the smelters in 1969. By mid 1981 Mount Lyell shares were not trading under the company name, there was no board representing the company and it was wholly owned by the Renison Goldfields Consolidated. In 1994 the mine closed for twelve months, until taken over by West Australian Mining Company, Gold Mines of Australia and the mine was renamed Copper Mines of Tasmania. After several years of low copper prices making the operation no longer viable the mine was sold to an Indian Company, Twin Star Holdings, a family company of Stirlite Industries.