Daydream Mine Silverton New South Wales

History of the mine

Daydream Mine lies between Broken Hill and Silverton, in the far-west of New South Wales and was one of the earliest silver-lead discoveries in the district. The deposit was found in 1882 by men prospecting in the Barrier Ranges, two years before the famous Broken Hill lode was pegged. A small settlement quickly grew up around the mine, and at its peak in the mid-1880s the township had over 400 residents, including miners, their families, storekeepers and others supporting the operations. There were hotels, shops, a post office, and even a public school.

The mine itself extracted galena (lead sulphide) carrying silver. Underground development was rapid, but the ore body proved limited in size compared to Broken Hill. With many of the workings exhausted by the late 1880s the town declined almost as quickly as it had sprung up. The school closed in 1889, and by the early 1890s the settlement was largely abandoned. For the miners who stayed on, the site became a “tributer” operation with small groups extracting what ore remained under lease from larger companies. Eventually, the mine was closed and left derelict, with only the mullock heaps and a handful of stone ruins marking the settlement.

Daydream Mine Today

In the late 20th century, the site was revived as a heritage tourism venture, preserving both the underground workings and the ruins of the township. Today, Daydream Mine is privately operated as a guided-tour attraction. Visitors are taken through parts of the original underground tunnels, where the cramped, hand-hewn stopes illustrate the tough working conditions faced by 19th-century miners. Tours explain how ore was broken out by pick and hammer, hauled out by hand and barrow, and later treated in surface facilities.

Above ground, remnants of the settlement and the mullock dumps can be explored, giving a sense of the small mining camp’s scale. A tearoom provides refreshments, including Devonshire Teas, which can be ordered before the tour and waiting for you when you return. The combination of surviving underground passages, surface relics and interpretive commentary make Daydream Mine one of the few places in the Broken Hill–Silverton district where visitors can physically experience a 19th-century silver mine.

It remains an important reminder that before Broken Hill became the “Silver City,” smaller but pioneering ventures like Daydream Mine helped open up the Barrier Ranges and laid the groundwork for the district’s mining history.

Taking around 90 minutes, the underground tour is very popular, and it is suggested that tickets be purchased in advance.

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.