The battery at the Wild Irish Girl was a 3 head stamper powered by a vertical boiler made by Smellie & Co. and powered by a single cylinder Tangye engine. Water for the steam engine was pumped from a well next to the mill. First recorded crushing was on the 8^th October 1894. The Wild Irish Reef was found on the surface and a tunnel was dug to follow its course. Eventually another richer reef was intersected which was called the Native Girl. As the workings were not far above the machinery site, the ore was skidded down to the mill site on wooden sledges. The mine entrance has collapsed and can be seen today not far up the gully. The first crushing yielded over 19 Oz for 13 tons of stone. Average returns were 1 Oz per ton. The mill also crushed stone for other nearby mines (public stone), Baal Gammon etc.

                                      
        Cast Iron Bed Head                                                        "The Lone Wolf"

Sam Wannacott owned the mill after the WW1 and changed the name of the machine to Wild Irish Girl. He had a house built nearby on a flat and had not far to walk to go to work! Today the only remains are a couple of cast iron beds.

The Wild Irish Girl was purchased by Bill Lane in 1930. Sam Elliott purchased it in 1940 for £50. Sam Elliot, a legend in his own time, worked stone from the surrounding areas for many years. He packed the stone on horses and carried it back to his mill for crushing. Because of his lonely existence he was named the Lone Wolf.

The Wild Irish Girl was the last working machinery on the Palmer River and probably had its last crushing sometime in the 1970’s

The Wild Irish Girl is at a magnificent remote location. It is tucked in a little side gully off Cradle Creek against the spectacular sandstone conglomerate ranges. The building is made of rough bush timbers and corrugated iron. It houses the 3 head stamper, the living section (last occupied by Sam Elliott), workshop and kitchen area. Sam's bed frame, saddle bag and saddle with an assortment of kitchen and cooking paraphernalia are still there. The well next to the cooking area has collapsed. A visitors book sits on an ancient table noting interesting comments from adventurous pilgrims to this site.

The significance of this site is that it represents a time capsule of mining technology and lifestyle of the nineteenth century. There is no other site in Australia so intact and lonely. The Wild Irish Girl is a protected site by legislation but because of its remote location and difficult access, it is even more secure. National Parks come in once a year to cut the long grass to minimize fire risk but the white ants can’t be stopped.