Stannum is a small tin mining village on the Northern Tablelands

Northern Tablelands, New South Wales

The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England region, stretching from the Moonbi Range in the south to...

, in the New England

New England (Australia)

New England or New England North West is the name given to a generally undefined region about 60 kilometres inland, that includes the Northern Tablelands and the North West Slopes regions in the north of the state of New South Wales, Australia.-History:The region has been occupied by Indigenous...

 region of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The region is in Tenterfield Shire. It is 14  kilometres north north-west of Deepwater

Deepwater, New South Wales

Deepwater is a parish and village 40 kilometres north of Glen Innes on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Deepwater had a population of 323, with 489 people in the area....

 and south-west of Tenterfield

Tenterfield, New South Wales

Tenterfield is a town in New South Wales, Australia. It is located in the New England region at the intersection of the New England and Bruxner Highways. Tenterfield is a three-hour drive from Brisbane, 2.5 hours from Byron Bay, two hours from Armidale, New South Wales and 10 hours from Sydney....

 and 48 kilometres from Glen Innes

Glen Innes, New South Wales

Glen Innes is a parish and town on the Northern Tablelands, in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the centre of the Glen Innes Severn Shire Council. The town is located at the intersection of the New England Highway and the Gwydir Highway...

. It is situated on a plateau known as the Mole Tableland in close proximity to the Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 border on the Northern Tablelands. Another tin mining village, Torrington

Torrington, New South Wales

Torrington is a small village in northern New South Wales in Tenterfield Shire. It is 29 kilometres north west of Deepwater and south west of Tenterfield and 61 kilometres from Glen Innes . It is situated on a plateau known as the Mole Tableland in close proximity to the Queensland...

 lies 13 kilometres to the west.

The region covers an area of approximately 60,597 hectares or around 606 square kilometres (km²) (149,737 acres).

History

Stannum was formerly known as Nine Mile. Nine Mile Post Office opened on 1 May 1890, was renamed Stannum in 1905 and closed in 1983.

Demographics

In the 2006 census Stannum had a population of approximately 197 (51.3% male, 48.7% female), of which 9 were indigenous persons (comprising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders). Around 54 families live in the area and of those 38.9% have one or more children under the age of 15. Eight percent of families have only a single parent while 46.6% of couples have no children.

The 88 private dwellings in Stannum are owned outright by 45% of their occupiers, 13.6% are being purchased (e.g. by mortgage) and 14% are being rented. On average there are around 2.3 people per private dwelling in the area. The composition of occupied private dwellings in Stannum is as follows: 96.6% separate houses, 0.0% semi-detached houses (eg. townhouses, row or terrace houses), 0.0% flats (including units and apartments) and 3 other dwellings.

In terms of people aged 15 years or more living in Stannum 50% are married, 18.4% are divorced or separated, 13% are widowed and 26.6% have never married.

Compared to the rest of Australia, Stannum has a below average migrant population, with around 78.2% of residents being born in Australia. The top 5 countries of birth for migrants in the area are: United Kingdom (6.6%), New Zealand (3.0%), Italy (2%), Netherlands (2%) and France (2%).

Industry

The Stannum deep lead tin mine is thought to extend to over 5 kilometres in length. Battery Mountain to the immediate north-west of Stannum has high concentrations of tin bearing veins in this region. Further exploration of the Stannum region is planned to evaluate the possibility of further mining here.

The median weekly family income for people living in Stannum was $616 per week. The main industry of employment for employed persons aged 15 years and over was sheep, beef cattle and grain farming in which 56.9% of the population was employed.

Fauna

The Stannum region is a popular site for bird-watching. Birds that may be seen here include the: Apostlebird

Apostlebird

The Apostlebird , also known as the Grey Jumper, is a quick-moving, gray or black bird about 13 inches long. It is a native to Australia where it roams woodlands, eating insects and seeds at, or near, ground level...

 (Struthidea cinerea), Channel-billed Cuckoo

Channel-billed Cuckoo

The Channel-billed Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Scythrops. The species is the largest brood parasite in the world, and the largest cuckoo....

 (Scythrops novaehollandiae), dollarbird

Dollarbird

The Oriental Dollarbird , also known as the Dollar Roller, is a bird of the roller family, so named because of the distinctive blue coin-shaped spots on its wings....

 (Eurystomus orientalis), hooded and Eastern Yellow Robin

Eastern Yellow Robin

The Eastern Yellow Robin is an Australasian robin of coastal and sub-coastal eastern Australia. The extent of the Eastern Yellow Robin's residence is from the extreme southeast corner of South Australia through most of Victoria and the western half of New South Wales and north as far as Cooktown...

s, Pacific Baza

Pacific Baza

The Pacific Baza, Aviceda subcristata, also known as the Crested Hawk, is a slender, medium-sized hawk with a distinctive crest. Its upperside is mainly dark brown, with a grey head and yellow eyes. It is conspicuously barred white and dark brown on the breast and on the underside of the tail and...

  (Aviceda subcristata), yellow-tailed black and Glossy Black Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus lathami) , rainbow, musk and little lorikeet

Lorikeet

Lories and lorikeets are small to medium-sized arboreal parrots characterized by their specialized brush-tipped tongues for feeding on nectar of various blossoms and soft fruits, preferably berries. The species form a monophyletic group within the parrot family Psittacidae...

s, king and turquoise parrot

Parrot

Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...

s, Rainbow Bee-eater

Rainbow Bee-eater

The Rainbow Bee-eater, Merops ornatus, is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It is the only species of Meropidae found in Australia.-Description:...

 (Merops ornatus), restless flycatcher (Myiagra inquieta), white-throated and Brown Treecreeper

Brown Treecreeper

The Brown Treecreeper is the largest Australasian treecreeper. The bird is endemic to eastern Australia, found in eucalypt forests and woodlands of the Great Dividing Range. The Brown Treecreeper is pale brown to grey-brown, with black streaking on the underparts and black bars on the undertail....

s (Climacteris picumnus), honeyeater

Honeyeater

The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...

s (including scarlet), diamond, plum-headed and redbrowed finch

Finch

The true finches are passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. They are predominantly seed-eating songbirds. Most are native to the Northern Hemisphere, but one subfamily is endemic to the Neotropics, one to the Hawaiian Islands, and one subfamily – monotypic at genus level – is found...

es, tawny frogmouth

Tawny Frogmouth

The Tawny Frogmouth is an Australian species of frogmouth, a type of bird found throughout the Australian mainland, Tasmania and southern New Guinea. The Tawny Frogmouth is often mistaken to be an owl...

 (Podargus strigoides) and Wedge-tailed eagle

Wedge-tailed Eagle

The Wedge-tailed Eagle , sometimes known as the Eaglehawk in its native range, is the largest bird of prey in Australia, but it is also found in southern New Guinea. It has long, fairly broad wings, fully feathered legs, and an unmistakable wedge-shaped tail...

.