Its last change of ownership and name occurred in 1948 when the pit had only a small area left to be worked and production ceased in the early 1950s.

[1] The discovery of coal in Queensland dates from 1825 when outcrops were observed by Major Edmund Lockyer on the banks of the upper Brisbane River.

The following year, explorer Allan Cunningham also marked several outcrops on the Bremer River on his survey map for Governor Ralph Darling.

However, as coal was required for transport and industrial use, there was a remarkable growth of mining to the north and east of the town from the mid-1870s onwards.

Unlike coal mining, it was not regulated by legislation and as such no systematic records were kept of the early coke production industry in Queensland.

Coke is used as both a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore and is produced from baking bituminous coal in ovens at temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The coke ovens erected on the West Moreton Coalfield were exclusively of the beehive type, so called because of their domed appearance.

The space between ovens was usually filled with rubble and earth to provide insulation and the whole battery surrounded by a stone retaining wall to resist the outward thrust of the brick domes.

The door was bricked up or closed with an iron plate and plastered with a small hole left for the temporary admission of air.

The upper layer of the coal burnt and initiated the distillation of volatile material from the ovens as they met the air supply drawn in through the top of the charging door.

The coke was then cooled by inserting a water sprinkler through the air hole in the door and was withdrawn manually with rakes.

Despite this, beehive coke ovens continued to be built in the Ipswich coal fields well into the mid twentieth century.

It is possible that the simpler and more economical technology of the beehive style oven was sufficient for production needs on the Ipswich fields.

The battery was built on the hillside above Mihi Creek and remained in use until 1891 when attention was diverted a new coal development.

In 1923 Francis sold the site to a partnership of miners and a barrister who created and floated the company, Klondyke Collieries Limited.

In 1948 the site changed hands again and was renamed Moreton colliery and worked until the early 1950s which was when the pit's supply was exhausted.

Since production at Klondyke ceased in the early 1950s, the ovens have fallen into a state of disrepair, becoming overgrown with vegetation and subject to vandalism.

They exhibit the principal characteristics of beehive coke ovens being dome shaped with individual flues and built in a row in a back-to-back pattern.