Goldsworthy (named after the geographical feature Mount Goldsworthy) is a former mining town in
Western Australia, east of
Port Hedland and located in the
Shire of East Pilbara. It was the first
iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
mine in the
Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Early discoveries
The explorer
Francis Thomas Gregory reported seeing iron ore in the region during his
Pilbara explorations in late 1861
[Hardie, J 1981: Nor'westers of the Pilbara breed, Shire of Port Hedland, , p. 235] and the Government
Geologist H.P. Woodward confirmed the discovery of iron ore there in 1890. In 1919 Government Geologist Andrew Gibb Maitland confirmed these deposits but at the time mining them was not an economically viable proposition.
In 1938
Geological Survey of Western Australia geologists Kevin Finucane and Robert Telford surveyed Mount Goldsworthy and reported preliminary estimates of more than 6,000,000 tons of iron ore at 65.66% iron.
In the lead up to the
Second World War, due to the classification of iron as a
strategic material
Strategic material is any sort of raw material that is important to an individual's or organization's strategic plan and supply chain management. Lack of supply of strategic materials may leave an organization or government vulnerable to disru ...
the
Commonwealth of Australia placed an embargo on the export of ore. The export embargo was lifted in December 1960 and competition to develop the mine commenced in earnest with the government intending to issue an export licence for ore mined at the site.
Frank Thompson Jr, owner of
Pardoo Station
Pardoo Station is a pastoral lease, formerly a sheep station, and now a cattle station approximately east of Port Hedland and north of Marble Bar, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Description
The property used to be about in si ...
had established wells, windmills and paddocks in the area and also pegged mining leases there as they were on the southern end of the station, but he allowed these leases to lapse because of this embargo.
The granting of the export licence did not go without controversy. Ernie Mitchell, chairman of directors of an
indigenous corporation known as the Pindan Group, called for an iron ore export licence to be issued to his organisation. Mitchell argued in a pamphlet issued in the early 1960s that:
The granting of an export licence
or iron ore from Mount Goldsworthyto us, the only successful self-contained Aboriginal group in Australia, would go a long way towards silencing the many critics of Australia's policy towards the original Australians.
Furthermore: We do not ask for an export licence on terms different from those that would be applied to other persons or groups. We do ask that the following facts be considered:
# We are lifetime residents of the district.
# We have the mining skills, and the workforce necessary to handle the project.
# We are familiar with the problems that may arise, and have experience of solving such problems in recent years. We have been basically responsible for producing many thousands of tons of valuable minerals.
# We can make arrangements equivalent to those of any other sound business concern, and we have a pool of labour, resident in the district, and accustomed to working in the climatic and other arduous conditions of the Mount Goldsworthy area.
# We are aware, as all Australians should be, that our country’s policy in New Guinea towards the natives, and in Australia towards us, has been vigorously attacked in the councils of the United Nations Organisation ... We feel to grant us, the Aboriginal people of the Pindan Group, an iron ore export licence, would go a long way towards convincing such critics of our Government's sincerity and goodwill towards us, and would be a major contribution to the realisation of our plans to raise our standards to the level of our white fellow Australians by enterprise and hard work. We do not seek charity.
Early development of the mine
In February 1962, three international mining companies: the British-owned
Consolidated Goldfields (Aust) Pty Ltd,
Cyprus Mines Corporation
The Cyprus Mines Corporation was an early twentieth century American mining company based in Cyprus. In 1914, Charles G. Gunther began prospecting in the Skouriotissa area after reading in ancient books that the island was rich in copper and no ...
of Los Angeles and
Utah Construction & Mining Company of San Francisco, formed Mount Goldsworthy Mining Associates (GML). The consortium was granted an export licence in early 1963 to ship 4 million tonnes of iron ore per year from a port to be built at
Finucane Island at
Port Hedland, 100 km west.
The consortium signed a contract with Japanese steel mills in February 1965 with a stipulation that the first shipment of ore had to be made within 15 months.
Construction of the port and town commenced in February 1965 and the first rail-delivery of iron ore was made to Finucane Island on 1 December 1965. The first 24,900 tonnes of ore was loaded at Finucane Island onto ''Harvey S. Mudd'' on 26 June 1966.
The mine was hit by
Cyclone Amy in 1980 but it was rebuilt.
700 people lived in 200 houses at Goldsworthy at its peak. The mine at Goldsworthy was closed on 22 December 1982 and mining operations ceased at
Shay Gap
Shay Gap was an iron ore mining town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, north-northeast of Perth and east of Port Hedland. Shay Gap was formally gazetted as a town in 1972.
Shay Gap was named after a pass of the same name in the hil ...
in 1993. The town was abandoned in 1992. Upon closure, all buildings were removed, all vegetation not indigenous to the local area was burnt, and the roads torn up. This was done in accordance with the government's policy of regrowth to avoid the occurrence of
ghost towns.
Today, very little remains on the site to indicate that the town ever existed. The
pit
Pit or PIT may refer to:
Structure
* Ball pit, a recreation structure
* Casino pit, the part of a casino which holds gaming tables
* Trapping pit, pits used for hunting
* Pit (motor racing), an area of a racetrack where pit stops are conducted
* ...
that was the mine still exists, but is flooded. The
railway to other mines passes nearby, and there is a (solar powered)
radio repeater site to service the railway. The street layout can still be seen from the air.
Climate
Gallery
File:Mount Goldsworthy circa 1963.jpg, Mount Goldsworthy from the GML exploration camp – Christmas 1963
File:Mount Goldsworthy Exploration Camp.jpg, Original exploration camp. The "dongas
The Dongas Tribe was a collection of Road protest in the United Kingdom, road protesters and travellers in England, noted for their occupation of Twyford Down outside Winchester, England, Winchester, Hampshire. The name ''Dongas'' comes from the No ...
" to accommodate extra staff during the "proving of reserves stage" were added in 1964.
File:Mount Goldsworthy pit in 1978.jpg, The pit looking eastwards in 1978
File:Mount Goldsworthy Today.JPG, The abandoned pit at Mount Goldsworthy in 2008
References
External links
*
Nicolas RothwellMemory is all we have ''
The Australian'', 7 October 2006
*
Bonzle map of Goldsworthy
{{authority control
Ghost towns in Western Australia
Mining towns in Western Australia
Shire of East Pilbara
Iron ore mines in Western Australia