The Middleback Range is a mountain range on the eastern side of

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 ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, 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 o ...

. The Middleback Range has been a source of

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 ...

for over a century, particularly to feed the Whyalla Steelworks. Mines in the region were first developed by BHP from the 1890s and are now owned and operated by Liberty House Group.

Geography

The Middleback Range extends from Iron Knob at the northern end near 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 ...

to the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 191 ...

, halfway between

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 ...

and Cowell at its southern extent. The Ironstone Hill Conservation Park is immediately west of the southern part of the ranges.

Geology

The Middleback Range is part of the Cleve Subdomain of the Gawler Craton. The iron ore deposits are primarily of Early

Proterozoic The Proterozoic () is a geological eon spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8million years ago. It is the most recent part of the Precambrian "supereon". It is also the longest eon of the Earth's geologic time scale, and it is subdivided i ...

metasediments of the Hutchison Group.

Mining

All of the mines in the Middleback Range are operated as open pit mines, producing

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula Fe2+Fe3+2O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. With ...

and

hematite Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of . ...

ores. Magnetite is processed at Whyalla, and hematite is exported. The mines are serviced by the BHP Whyalla Tramway, a railway which convey the ore to

's port and steelworks. , the operating mines of the Middleback Range are: Iron Duchess, Iron Knight, Iron Duke, Iron Magnet, Iron Baron and Iron Chieftain. Iron ore mines in the Middleback Range include: * Iron Knob * Iron Monarch * Iron Prince * Iron Princess * Iron Baron * Iron Queen * Iron Cavalier * Iron Chieftain * Iron Duke * Iron Duchess * Iron Magnet

References

{{reflist Mountain ranges of South Australia Geology of South Australia Eyre Peninsula Far North (South Australia) Mining in South Australia

Geography

Geology

Mining

See also

References