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clip 1Clip description
The crushed rock is carried to the milling plant by conveyor belt and weighed. The ore is crushed further before being fed into a 'classifier’ which separates the sand from the slime. To recover the lead mineral, the ore is 'jigged’ in water and the sand tailings delivered to the tube mills. Steel balls crush the ore further as the tubes rotate. The sands then pass through another classifier and onto tables for the recovery of the free lead mineral.
Curator’s notes
Frank Hurley filmed a diverse range of documentaries throughout his career both as an independent filmmaker and in his years working for Cinesound and the Commonwealth. This clip is a good example of the industrial documentary. Hurley’s camera breaks down the complex path from mining rock to the extracting and refining of minerals into simple, vivid sequences. His images and accompanying narration focus on each part of the process step-by-step, allowing the audience to follow along. His beautiful camerawork captures the symmetry, geometry and motion of the industrial process – indeed, the film presented itself as a 'romance of mining endeavour’.
