On the edge of town, alongside the charged waters of the Queen River, sits one of Queenstown’s most recognisable landmarks: the slag heap. Neither mountain nor monument, it is a living elegy, born of fire and ore, now draped with a fragile community of trees in early stages of regrowth.

This year, our festival turns to this landmark as a site of inspiration. A reminder that here on the West Coast, coexistence isn’t optional – it’s the defining rhythm. Boom and bust, extraction and regrowth, tradition and experimentation – it all leaves a trace. This place has always respawned in unexpected forms, and the slag heap, stubbornly sprouting, is one such example.

This year’s image is a collaborative vision. With access provided by Sibanye Stillwater, the eye of local mine worker and photographer Andrew “Bomber” Shea guided the creative hands of Lusy Productions to capture the image. Neon Jungle and Jonny Scholes worked together to develop the image and brand across digital and print assets. Together, they’ve documented the slag heap and its regrowth project in a manner that is honest, complex, and distinct to this time and place.

The image does more than set the tone for a festival. As it travels out across our island and beyond, it speaks to what it means to live here: to confront complexity, to dance with contradictions, and to work towards coexistence.

Context and History

From the late 19th century until 1994, the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company (est. 1893) dominated mining in the region, producing staggering quantities of copper, silver, and gold: over a million tonnes of copper, 750 tonnes of silver, and 45 tonnes of gold.

Between 1916 and 1994, roughly 1.4 million tonnes of smelter slag and 95 million tonnes of tailings were discharged into the Queen–King river system. This has left deep scars in the river valleys and into Macquarie Harbour.

Even now, long after active tailings disposal ended, the Queen River still runs rust-coloured and acidic, a vivid reminder of the decades of industrial discharge.

After the mine’s closure in 1994, remediation efforts were launched under the Mount Lyell Remediation and Research and Demonstration Program. This program aimed to halt direct effluent flows and construct tailings containment facilities, but the environmental effects have remained long-lasting.

The broader West Coast region is marked by isolation, ruggedness, convict-era stories, and the legacy of relentless mining, all set within dense, rain-soaked wilderness. It’s a place where nature and industry coexist, often uneasily. This is the setting that hosts The Unconformity, an organisation dedicated to art, experimentation, and expression as a path towards renewal.

Image: Archive photo of the slag heap in its late stages before mine processing changed. Supplied by Sibanye Stillwater.