Mungana
Located in Djankun and Koko-Yalanji country, 16 kilometres west-northwest of Chillagoe, 110 kilometres west of Mareeba and 146 kilometres west of Cairns within the Mareeba Shire's boundaries, the former silver/lead, copper and limestone mining town of Mungana was the site of copper mines whose purchase by the Queensland government prompted the Mungana Affair.
The town, just over a kilometre north of the productive Girofla and Lady Jane mines, was previously known as Girofla. However, it gained prominence after John Moffat fired the first smelter in 1897 and the Chillagoe Company opened a private railway line from Mareeba to Mungana in 1901.
Although the frontier mining town was where future Queensland Premiers Ted Theodore and Bill McCormack received their political training as mine union organisers, allegations about their involvement with the mine when the Queensland Government acquired it as a State enterprise caused both men irreparable political damage. Following a change of government in Queensland, the Mungana Affair compelled Theodore, who had transitioned into federal politics, to resign from his position as Federal Treasurer.
Limestone caves in the Mungana-Chillagoe area are listed on the Australian Heritage Register, and the Mungana Archaeological Area is listed in its Queensland equivalent.
Although the township no longer exists physically, the name is still recorded as an official town name.
