Queensland Work
Daintree, left the Geological Survey Office to become a resident partner with William Hann in pastoral properties on the Burdekin River in 1864. This enabled him to pursue his interests in prospecting and photography.
He made a number of discoveries over the next few years including several goldfields at Cape River in 1867, Gilbert in 1869 and Etheridge in 1869-70. Daintree was the first person to systematically examine the coal seams near the Bowen River at Collinsville in Queensland and discovered a copper deposit on the Einasleigh River.
During his time in Queensland, Daintree advocated a government geological survey office and his lobbying bore fruit when it was established in 1868. He was named as the geologist in charge of north Queensland between 1868 and 1870. During that time, he carried out a geological survey of North Queensland and his photographs of the Cape River goldfields are a valuable record of life on the Queensland goldfields. He was succeeded as government geologist by Robert Logan Jack.
Richard Daintree was also collecting botanical specimens in his travels. Queensland herbarium records show that he collected botanical specimens from Rockhampton, Queensland and the ranges of Central Queensland. He discovered a new species of acacia Acacia Daintreeana.
The goldfields discovered by Daintree played an important part in tiding North Queensland over the collapse of the pastoral boom in the late 1860s although only the Etheridge deposit proved viable in the longer term. However, his work proved crucial to attracting prospectors to North Queensland which led to other discoveries and the early development of the area's gold resources.
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