A pamphlet put together by the mayors of Port Augusta, Port Augusta West and Davenport claiming the superiority of Port Augusta as a port for the Barrier trade.

During 1884 rich silver and lead finds were made in the Barrier Range at Silverton and Broken Hill (located in NSW close to the NSW and South Australian border). In spite of the Barrier mines located in the north east, residents of Port Augusta expected their dominating geographical position and good harbour to see them through, however, Port Augusta lost and the Barrier trade increasingly and finally went to Port Pirie.

RJ Anderson (1988, p 135) suggests that if the people of Port Augusta had not been so sure of their superiority they might have fought harder for this trade, and that in so accepting defeat lost other important opportunities such as smelters, port and channel improvement and associated business.

Port Augusta closed as a working port in 1974.

Port Pirie is today one of the largest ports in South Australia and is operated by Flinders Ports. In 2005/06 0.767 million tonnes of cargo was handled at the port - as well as lead and zinc concentrates, grain and seeds were exported with the principal imports being coal and ores

Port Augusta (S. Aust.)

Mines and mineral resources -- New South Wales -- Barrier Range

Anderson, R.J. Solid town: a history of Port Augusta. [Port Augusta, S. Aust.] : R.J. Anderson, 1988

Flannery, Nancy. Reluctant harbour: the romance of Pirie Jamestown, S.A.: Nadjuri Australia, 1976