ED Miles Mining Exchange, Heritage-listed mining exchange in Charters Towers, Australia

The ED Miles Mining Exchange at 65 Mosman Street is a building with multiple connected offices, a public reception area, and a secure strong room. The structure uses Tobin Tube ventilation systems, high ceilings, and strategically placed windows to maintain comfortable temperatures in the tropical climate.

Edward David Miles established his mining business in 1883 and operated successfully until 1922, working with numerous mining companies across Queensland's goldfields. The building emerged during an era when gold prospecting shaped the region's wealth and mining investments were central to the local economy.

The building's name recalls Edward David Miles, a Welsh-born miner who became Charters Towers town clerk in 1880 and a full-time mining agent in 1883, acting as secretary to companies such as the Day Dawn Prospecting Claim. Mining exchanges like his dealt in mine shares, unlike stock exchanges, and Miles later joined the Charters Towers Stock Exchange.

The former exchange is a heritage-listed commercial building at 65 Mosman Street, not a site open for interior tours, so plan to view the 1887 facade and later 1889, 1891 and 1901 additions from the street. It stands on Mosman Street, the axis of the original 1874 town survey, a short walk from the centre of Charters Towers.

Edward David Miles, a Welsh-born former engine driver and Charters Towers town clerk, opened his mining agency in 1883 and was secretary to five of the fifteen companies he reported on that May. The business he housed here was liquidated shortly after his death in 1922.