And because it was already so busy, prospectors began to look for other minerals, and by the end of the nineteenth century, lead, copper, manganese and arsenic were added to the cargos leaving Manham.
In the early days, the ores had been smelted — or processed — in the same area they were mined.
But, as demand grew, the smelting process required huge factory furnaces or fires to melt the metal from the rock and there was not enough coal in the local area so the rocks containing minerals had to be shipped long distances.
Sadly, in the twentieth century the great port of Manham declined and thousands of workers were forced to emigrate out of the area.
The building at the port fell into disrepair, and the place became almost forgotten.
But then, the Manham Trust was formed to conserve the historical resources of the area.
It organised scores of local volunteers to remove undergrowth to find the original outlines of the installations.
It then brought in paid professionals to match installations with maps of the ori ginal port complex and to set about reconstructing it.
Today you can see the results of this ambitious program of restoration.
The intention, and we believe this will be realised before the end of the year, is to return Manham Port to the condition it reached at its peak as 'the greatest copper port in the country'.
Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 16 to 20.