Iron Knob: Ron visits this mining town on the Eyre Peninsula in the West Coast region of South Australia
Iron Knob about 55 kilometres west of Whyalla in the Middleback Ranges is a town that time forgot. There's little sentimentality in mining, after all, a town which was once the birthplace of the Australian steel industry has slowly declined from a population of 3,000 in the late 1960s to about 200 permanent residents today. But take the drive into this part of the South Australian outback and you come across locals determined to put this place back on the map.
Dave Evans, Iron Knob Visitor Centre guide: "The iron ore dug from here was used to make steel. It was shipped off to Newcastle."
Dave Evans and Bryan Lock are two locals who've made Iron Knob their home. Come here and they'll take you to the pit known as the C Quarry.
Dave Evans, Iron Knob Visitor Centre guide: "This pit was worked for about fifteen years… but bear in mind most was dug by hand although they did use steam shovels at the very end to get some more."
C Quarry looks big but it's merely scratching the surface, compared to the hole dug at nearby Iron Monarch.
Bryan Lock, Iron Knob Visitor Centre: "150 million tonnes of high grade ore came out of the Monarch over 100 years."
Dangerous rock slides and soft embankments have meant the viewing platform overlooking Iron Monarch is no longer open to the public. But a pit like C Quarry gives the visitor a quick insight into just how big this operation was until it came to a slow grinding halt in 1999.
Bryan Lock: "many people that come here don't have any idea about just how pivotal this is to the story of the industrialization of Australia. Without the ore that was found here, I don't know when the steel industry would have started. For the period right up to the mid 50s this was one of the richest ore bodies in the world. It remains the birthplace of the steel industry of Australia."
The iron ore here, prompted Broken Hill Proprietary Limited to establish its steel works in Newcastle and with that a new Australia - built on steel - began to take shape. It also led to the construction of the Whyalla Steelworks and the Whyalla Shipyards. But Iron Knob and Iron Monarch were extremely remote mine sites and soon the BHP Tramway was built to send ore to the coast. What followed was unprecedented growth, with the occasional hiccup.
For many years the miners walked all the way from town to the mine to begin their back breaking shift. It led to a 100 day strike, as the miners pressed their claim for a bus service to bring them to the mine site. It was an industrial dispute that would bring the Australian steel industry to its knees. But given the importance of such a site to the nation, compromise and a return to work were inevitable.
Hard work was the order of the day and in the early days the miners and their families must have been as tough as they come. As the years wore on and the mine neared a century of operation, the technology improved dramatically. Signs of that progress dot the landscape - like abandoned toys in a giant kiddie's sand pit.
To make sense of Iron Knob's contribution to our nation's wealth and its transformation - head inside to what was once the miners' mess hall. The Tourist Centre and Museum take you back to a very different time when every month was "movember" and a bloke's kero tin shack was his castle. By the turn of this century other deposits like the one at Iron Duke were easier to get at, using ever more sophisticated means of ripping at the iron heart of this ancient land
Iron Knob is 55 kilometres from Whyalla on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. The visitor Centre is open daily and tours run regularly. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
Iron Knob
55 kilometres west of Whyalla Visitor Centre & Mine Museum
Open daily
Ph 8646 2129Published 14th March 2010
