ROSEBERY

town, western Tasmania, Australia, on the Pieman River. Named after British prime minister Lord Rosebery, it was founded around 1900 after the discovery in 1893 of gold in Rosebery Creek and lead ore at nearby Mt. Read. Lead smelters were in operation there until 1913, but the high zinc content of the ore made commercial exploitation unprofitable. The mines were reopened in 1936 with the introduction of new processing methods. In the 1970s reserves were estimated at 9,000,000 tons. Much of this ore, which also contains silver, gold, and cadmium, is transported by aerial buckets from a pit, 5 mi (8 km) northeast, to a refinery in town. Zinc ore and lead are railed to Burnie, the former for shipment to Risdon, near Hobart, and the latter for export to the U.S. Montezuma Falls and Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park are nearby. Pop. (1981) 2,675.