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Whyalla jetty
Title : Whyalla jetty Whyalla jetty
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Creator : Grant, R.; photographer
Source : B 53995, Whyalla Collection
Date of creation : 1915
Format : Photograph
Catalogue record
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Copyright : Reproduction rights are owned by State Library of South Australia. This image may be printed or saved for research or study. Use for any other purpose requires permission from the State Library of South Australia. To request approval, complete the Permission to publish form.
Description :

Loading from the jetty is in progress. This jetty had been built in 1901, but was extended in 1915 when BHP decided to expand its operations. It was lengthened and conveyor belts were fitted for carrying the ore directly to the ships. The first shipment of 2800 tons of iron ore for Newcastle was loaded in three and a half hours on 8 January 1915.

Whyalla came into being in 1901 when Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd decided to use the iron ore deposits in the nearby Middleback Ranges as flux for its smelters across Spencer Gulf in Port Pirie. After initially transporting the ore overland through Port Augusta, in 1900 BHP approached the South Australian government for a railway and jetty facilities. The Act to enable this was passed in December 1900 and the railway and jetty were operating 8 months later. Whyalla was officially proclaimed a town in 1914 and was built around the export of the iron ore to Port Pirie, later also to Newcastle. Late BHP would build smelters at Whyalla and shipbuilding yards.
Subjects
Coverage year : 1915
Place : Whyalla
Region : Eyre Peninsula and Far West Coast
Further reading :
Scheiffers, Sue A ribbon of steel; edited by Don Winton; photography by Willis Harrison Whyalla: Whyalla Jubilee 150 Committee, 1985
Internet links :
Exhibitions and events :

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing exhibitions. Wooden Walls and Iron Sides August 2004-


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