Charters Towers Venus Gold Battery

Explore the incredible Venus Gold Battery in Charters Towers and be amazed at how gold was processed during the colourful North Queensland goldrush in the 1800s.

On the outskirts of Charters Towers sits the oldest and largest surviving Battery in Queensland – The Venus Gold Battery. Built in 1872, this mill provided gold extraction facilities to miners for over a century. The huge stampers pounded away through the day and night extracting the precious gold from quartz up until 1973.

Throughout the 1 hour 15 minutes guided tour you will also see two short film presentations that explain the process of milling ore and introduce you to some of the ghosts of the Battery and opportunities for question and answers throughout tour.

Charters Towers began with the discovery of gold over 150 years ago – one of the biggest gold rushes in Australian history. Hear the fascinating story behind the town’s name, the colourful characters, streets and grand buildings including the Royal Hotel and Stock Exchange Arcade on this guided tour.

When gold was found by an Aboriginal boy in 1871, Charters Towers became the richest city in Queensland and second largest after Brisbane, boasting a stock exchange, grand buildings and houses, fine shops, wide streets, electricity, gaslights, telegraph and the telephone – it had everything. Residents nicknamed their town “The World.”