Iron Knob is a town in the

Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

on the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named af ...

immediately south of the

Eyre Highway Eyre Highway is a highway linking Western Australia and South Australia via the Nullarbor Plain. Signed as National Highways 1 and A1, it forms part of Highway 1 and the Australian National Highway network linking Perth and Adelaide. It ...

. At the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, Iron Knob and the surrounding area had a population of 199. The town obtained its name from its proximity to large deposits of iron ore, most notably Iron Monarch which outcropped prominently from the relatively flat, surrounding landscape.

Iron ore mining

The name Iron Knob first appeared on pastoral lease maps of 1854. The first mineral claim in the area was pegged by the

Broken Hill Proprietary Company BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

in 1897. Mining commenced in 1900. Iron ore was first transported by

bullock wagon An ox-wagon or bullock wagon is a four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen (draught cattle). It was a traditional form of transport, especially in Southern Africa but also in New Zealand and Australia. Ox-wagons were also used in the United States. Th ...

to Port Augusta, where it was loaded on to 200-ton barges. From 1903, it was transported by rail to

Whyalla Whyalla was founded as "Hummocks Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Gawler and along with Port Pirie and Port Augusta i ...

and ship to

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South A ...

where it was used as a flux in the lead smelter there. In 1901 the

BHP Whyalla Tramway The BHP Whyalla Tramway is a gauge heavy-haul railway on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It runs from haematite mines at Iron Monarch, Iron Baron and Iron Duke in the Middleback Range, about west of Whyalla, to company steelworks ...

from Iron Knob to Hummock Hill (later renamed

) was completed, followed by wharves in 1903. These allowed the direct loading of ships which could transport the ore across Spencer Gulf to Port Pirie. Iron Knob's iron ore proved to be of such high quality (upwards of 60% purity) that it led to the development of the Australian steel industry. It supplied iron to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

for steel works established at Newcastle and

Port Kembla A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

in the 1910s and 1920s and Whyalla in the 1930s. The iron ore was transported by the BHP Whyalla Tramway to

where it was either

smelted Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a c ...

or dispatched by sea. 21% of the steel required for the construction of the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

was quarried at Iron Knob and smelted at

, New South Wales. The remaining 79% was imported from Britain. In the 1920s, iron ore from Iron Knob was exported to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. In the 1930s, customers included

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Prior to World War II, iron ore from Iron Knob was also exported to Japan. In the financial year 1935–36, 291,961 tonnes of ore from Iron Knob was shipped there via the seaport of Whyalla. This became a controversial matter in the late 1930s due in part to Australia's known reserves at the time being limited to Iron Knob and

Yampi Sound Yampi Sound is a part of the Indian Ocean off the coast of north-western Australia, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is located between King Sound and Collier Bay. It lies between the Yampi Peninsula and the islands of the Buc ...

in Western Australia. Japan was also considered an 'aggressor' nation following acts of war against China in 1937. Waterfront workers and seamen protested against the export of iron ore to Japan, leading to strikes and arrests. In 1937, output from the

Middleback Range The Middleback Range is a mountain range on the eastern side of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The Middleback Range has been a source of iron ore for over a century, particularly to feed the Whyalla Steelworks. Mines in the region were first ...

, mostly from Iron Monarch was estimated at 2 mtpa. In 1939, it was referred to in England as the highest grade deposit of iron ore known in the world. In 1943, the iron Knob deposit was still delivering an average ore grade of 64 percent metallic content. In 1949, 99% of Australian demand for iron ore was met by supply from Iron Knob and associated mines in South Australia, having risen from 95% in 1943. Additional deposits of iron ore were developed by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company further south along the Middleback Range. These include Iron Baron, Iron Prince and Iron Queen (discovered in 1920) and Iron Knight, Iron Duchess and Iron Duke (discovered in 1934).

Mine closure and re-opening

Quarrying for iron at Iron Knob and Iron Monarch ended in 1998. When the quarrying stopped, the town population declined to 200 and Iron Knob was under threat of becoming a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

. However, due to rising prices of housing elsewhere, the town has attracted new residents seeking low cost residences. A home could be purchased for approximately A$35,000–70,000 and vacant land could be purchased for less than A$15,000. In 2010, Onesteel (later

Arrium Arrium was an Australian mining and materials company, employing nearly 10,000 workers, that went into voluntary administration in 2016 with debts of more than $2 billion. In 2017 it was acquired by British-owned Liberty House Group. Hist ...

) announced that it would return to Iron Knob to reopen the Iron Monarch mine. The Iron Monarch mine was prepared for reopening by Arrium in 2013. As of 2015, both Iron Monarch and Iron Duke continue to produce iron ore for export and for smelting at the

Whyalla Steelworks The Whyalla Steelworks is a fully integrated steelworks and the only manufacturer of rail in Australia. Iron ore is mined in the Middleback Range to feed the steelworks, resulting in the distribution of finished steel products of over 90 different ...

Transport

In the early days of mining at Iron Knob, ironstone was carted by oxen to Hummock Hill (renamed Whyalla in 1914). Approximately was delivered in a good week. Construction of a private railway greatly increased transportation rates and by 1939, of ore were delivered daily to Whyalla by rail; trains carried loads of . Ships operated by the

BHP Shipping BHP Shipping was an Australian ship transport and shipbuilding arm of BHP. BHP Shipping traces its origins to 1915 when BHP chartered the SS ''Emerald Wings'' to transport its first load of iron ore from Whyalla to Newcastle on 19 January 1915. ...

were named with ''Iron'' as their prefix; some were built by the company at the

. Highway 1 regularly closes due to controlled explosions.

References

External links

Iron Knob Progress Association website
{{authority control Mining towns in South Australia Eyre Peninsula Iron ore mines in Australia Mining in South Australia Far North (South Australia) Places in the unincorporated areas of South Australia

Iron ore mining

Mine closure and re-opening

Transport

See also

References

External links