The harsh desert area around Iron Knob is Banggarla Aboriginal country.
The first European known to pass through the area was Edward John Eyre in 1839. He noted large deposit of iron ore protruding from an otherwise flat landscape and climbed one of these many hills, probably Iron Baron, which is around 30 Km south of Iron Knob. A 1848 report recorded that copper, lead, zinc and manganese had been discovered in the area (Aussie Towns).
As reported in the previous blog entry, on Romualdas Zeronas, the name Iron Knob first appeared on South Australian pastoral lease maps in 1854. The town of that name developed close to an ironstone hill of the same name, near an even larger hill called Iron Monarch.
The first mineral claim in the area was pegged by Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd (later BHP) in 1897. Mining commenced in 1900.
 |
| Iron Knob, Middleback Range, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia -- the original iron ore deposit mined by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) in 1900. Behind it is the larger Iron Monarch |
In 1939, a South Australian newspaper reported that in England, Iron Knob had been described as the largest known deposit of high-grade ore in the world (Recorder, 1939). A 1943 newspaper report said that the ore from Iron Monarch averaged about 64 per cent iron, with more than 60 per cent being regarded as high grade. The Iron Monarch ore was about 35 per cent better than English ores and 10 to 15 per cent better than the Lake Superior deposits in the United States (Advertiser, 1943).
Mining ceased in 1998 but the Iron Monarch mine was prepared for re-opening in 2013 (Wikipedia). Mining lasted for 5 years but started again in March 2022 after a three year break (Mindat.org).
Mining was in full swing in after World War II, when the General Stuart Heintzelman brought its refugees for the first time from Germany to Australia. Altogether 29 men were sent from Bonegilla to Iron Knob, in four groups.
19 February 1948
| Name | Nationality |
|---|---|
| Cholmogorocovas, Jurgis | Lithuanian |
| Juotka, Petras | Lithuanian |
| Laurinavicius, Povilas | Lithuanian |
| Liaudinskas, Antanas | Lithuanian |
| Malickas, Stasys | Lithuanian |
| Maziliauskas, Romuldas | Lithuanian |
| Meskelis, Vilgelmas | Lithuanian |
| Miliauskas, Jeronimas | Lithuanian |
| Norkunas, Vytautas | Lithuanian |
| Samulis, Vincas | Lithuanian |
16 March 1948
| Bazys, Juozas | Lithuanian |
| Kucina, Nikolaus | Latvian |
| Kutka, Albinas | Lithuanian |
| Mesters, Peteris | Latvian |
15 April 1948
| Bergtals, Nikolajs | Latvian |
| Bergtals, Sergejs | Latvian |
| Ivanauskas, Adomas | Lithuanian |
| Järvekulg, Johannes | Estonian |
| Kiil, Rudolf | Estonian |
| Luekki/Lükki, Leonhard | Estonian |
| Muiznieks, Elmars | Latvian |
| Opincans, Peteris | Latvian |
| Smugajs, Edvards | Latvian |
| Valancius, Domas | Lithuanian |
| Zeronas, Romualdas | Lithuanian |
29 April 1948
| Kesa, Aleksander | Estonian |
| Kesa, Ernst | Estonian |
| Sprivuls, Rudolfs | Latvian |
| Stuknys, Vaclovas | Lithuanian |
We have biographies on this blog already for three of the men, whose names are linked to these biographies in the different colour to the rest of the text. We will link more names as the biographies are added to the blog.
Sources
Advertiser, The (1943) 'South Australia's Most Important Production Centre ... Whyalla, the Iron Town, at War' Adelaide, South Australia, 31 July, p 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48762099 accessed 22 December 2024.
Aussie Towns ‘Iron Knob, SA’ https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/iron-knob-sa accessed 21 December 2024.
Mindat.org ‘Iron Monarch Main Pit’ https://www.mindat.org/loc-158.html accessed 21 December 2024.
National Archives of Australia: Department of Labour and National Service, Central Office; MT29/1, Employment Service Schedules, 1948-1950; Schedule of displaced persons who left the Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla Victoria for employment in the State of South Australia - [Schedule no SA1 to SA31], 1948-1950 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=23150376 accessed 14 December 2024 [pages 40, 49, 55, 92].
Recorder, The (1939) ‘South Australian Manufacturers Hope for Steelworks at Whyalla’ Port Pirie, South Australia, 16 August, p 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/96363414 accessed 22 December 2024.
Wikipedia 'BHP' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BHP accessed 22 December 2024.
Wikipedia 'Iron Knob' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Knob accessed 22 December 2024.
No comments:
Post a Comment