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I The Story of Our Secondary i
: Industries. ;
VIII -IRON AND STEEL— PRODUCTION.
; development of iron ore deposits.
: Early Failures and Ultimate Triumph.
IN the whole history of Australia's industrial development there is no achievement to
compare, in magnitude and splendor, with the establishment of the great industry
devoted to the production of iron and steel. Australia possesses some of the world's
richest deposits of iron ore, which provide a firm foundation for steel production in all
its phases, but it is only within the past quarter of a century that the exploitation of these
deposits has been undertaken on the grand scale necessary to make the Commonwealth
independent of outside countries for supplies of iron and steel. . The history of this
important branch of industry in Australia is a story of early failure on the part of
courageous pioneers; of undaunted but equally futi(e efforts by their successors to carry
on the struggle against overwhelming odds; and, finally, of splendid success when
a great company, engaged in the mining of silver-dead, turned its attention to the
production of steel. Within a few years it converted a swamp area at Newcastle,
N.S.W., into the greatest metal manufacturing works in the British Empire. F
BEFORE the war Australia imported
almost the whole of the raw ma
terial required for her foundries and
engineering workshops — about £6,000,000
worth annurlly. Now these imports are
negligible. From her own resources,
through her own Industry, she provides
almost the whole of her requirements in
iron and steel products, large and small,
and exports a surplus to New Zealand
and neighboring countries. ,
Only within the past quarter of a
century has the production of iron
and steel become a permanent and pro
fitable Australian industry, but a century
or so back efforts were being made to
produce iron in New South Wales. De-
i posits of brown iron ore were found
Lit Mlttagong, and a .syndicate set about
exploiting the Held. In 1848 the first
blast furnace for the production of pig
(iron in Australia was erected at Mitta-
Long, and skilled workmen were brought
jfrom England to treat the ore, which was
jot excellent quality. The syndicate, how-
fever, had to labor under many difficulties,
The Mlttagong works were closed and
reopened several times, but under differ
ent ownership efforts were made to carry
on the industry. One company manu
factured iron cylinders for the bridge
over the Murray at Gundagal and gir-
Sdcrs for Vickcry's Building, Pitt-strcct,
'Sydney. In 1805 about 4000 tons of
fore, valued at £1500, was raised at
jMittagong, but the works were closed
in the next year, and in 1B70 were sold
ijby auction to Mr. John Ffs.ser for
£10,000. Up to that time they were
!said to have produced more than 3000
?tons of iron, some of which was exported
to America. The works, however, con
tinued to be a losing venture for succes
sive owners, and were closed finally in
1880.
Works at Lithgow.
in the meantime efforts were being
made to exploit another field further to
Ihc north In New South Wales. In 1875
a syndicate, headed by James RuLhor-
iord, an American mining man, who had
come to Australia in quest of gold more
ih3n twenty years previously, established
the Eskbank Iron Works at Lithgow. A
primitive type of blast furnace was
erected, and iron was produced in fairly
substantial quantities. For a time the
outlook seemed hopeful, but importers
set out to crush the new industry by
boycotting its products, and refused to
buy Lithgow bar iron at £10 a ton when
the retail price was £14. A duty had
been imposed on galvanised iron, and
Rutherford made arrangements to erect
a galvanising plant at Lithgow, but the
free-traders succeeded in having the duty
removed, and Rutherford closed down the
Eskbank works, which in a little over
six years had produced 9000 tons of pig
iron.
About three years later the Eskbank
works were purchased for £70,000 by
William Sandford, who extended the mills
for re-rolling old rails and rolling scrap.
Additional plant was installed also for
galvanising, and when the first sheet-
rolling mill was opened on 15th January,
1894, it was announced that £150.000
had been sunk in Ihc Eskdale Iron
Works, apart from the amount of £15,000
spent on the new sheet mill and gal
vanising plant. The difficulties placed
in the way of the industry were not
diminished, but Sandford courageously
carried on. In 1900 a lour-lon steel fur
nace was installed, and the first steel
made in Australia issued Irom the Esk
dale works. In 1907, however. Sandford
became embarrassed, and had to close
the works again, after twenty-one years
of courageous endeavor to establish a
great industry.
Enterprise of C. H. and G. J.
Hoskins.
Next on the scene came Charles H. and
G. J. Hcukins, of Sydney, who had suc
cessfully undertaken many large cnginccr-
ing contracts in Australia, including the
construction of the longest individual
water pipe line in the world — 350 miles
of rivetless steel pipes, laid from Forth
to Coolgardie and Kalgoorlic, at a cast
of £2,500.000. Tiro Messrs. Hoskins
were approached by the Government with
a view to their taking over the Eskdale
works at Lithgow. Their firm, C. and
G. Hoskins Ltd., entered into possession
the next year, and in 1909 the Common
wealth Government introduced a system
of bounties to encourage the production
of iron and steel in Australia. Soon
afterwards the enterprise was operating
on a profitable basis. Further encourage
ment was given by the Commonwealth
Government In the form of large orders,
and the mills at Lithgow turned out the
first rails made in Australia for the trans
continental railway. The works con
tinued to expand, producing pig iron in
all grades for foundry work and for con
version into steel, and manufacturing
various grades of , steel, including rail
way rails, bridge rails, structural steel,
spring steel, and many other varieties.
By 1925 there were about 3000 employes
at the works.
With a view to greater extensions in a
more suitable locality near the southern
ore deposits and coal fields, the late Mr.
C. H. Hoskins bought 400 acres of land
at Port Kembla for the erection of mod
ern iron and steel works, and induced
the State Government to build a rail
way to link Port Kembla with the main
Sydney-Melbourne line. In 1928 the com
pany entered into a merger for the for
mation of the new company, known as
Australian Iron and Steel Ltd., with a
capital of £5,000,000, for the establish
ment of tile industry at Port Kembla.
There was erected the largest form of
blasL furnace in the British Empire,
j capable of producing 800 tons of pig iron
la day, together with other large and
modern plant. The old plant at Lithgow
was abandoned. By thLs time, however,
the new company had a great and power
ful rival to contend with, the Broken Hill
'Pty. Co. having entered the field of iron
rand steel production and established its
iimmen.se works at Newcastle.
| B.H.P.'s Great Venture.
j It was in 1911 that the Broken Hill
Ply. Co. Ltd., which since the middle
eighties had been exploiting the rich
silver-lead mines of Broken Hill, de-
cided to engage in the great venture ol
making steel from the ironstone de-
! posits of the Iron Knob and Iron
Monarch, from which it obtained iron
stone flux for its smoltcrs at Port Pirle
I'bc Knob and Monarch arc the ex
treme crests of a line of hills, over p.
mile long, about 35 miles west of the port
of Hummock Hill, on Spencer's Gulf,
South Australia. Immense deposits of
red and black manganiforous ore have
an outcrop 6300 lcet long, and on a
conservative basis arc estimated to re
present at least 21,000,000 tons. The
metallic content of the ironstone Is ex
ceptionally high — 68 to 60 per cent.,
compared with 30 per cent, metallic con
tent of ore from the Lower Cleveland
deposit, Yorkshire; 30 per cent, of the
Minctto deposits of Luxembourg and
Lorraine, and 50 to 55 per cent, of the
red hematite deposits near Lake Supe
rior. The Broken Hill Co. had secured
a lease of this rich area In 1900, in
order to ensure a regular supply of
Ironstone flux of good quality, supplies
previously having been irregular in both
quality and quantity.
The company sent its general
manager. Mr. D. G. Delprat, to
confer with the highest experts in
Europe and America on the practica
bility of establishing steel works in Aus
tralia to exploit the rich ironstone de
posits of the Monarch and Knob. Mr.
Delprat's report was favorable, and in
America he secured as manager for the
new works Mr. David Baker, of Phila
delphia, a man of high qualifications and
wide experience in the steel industry.
Mr. Baker reported that as it took more
tons of coal than tons of ore to make
a ton of steel, the new works should
be nearer to coal Holds than to the ore
deposits, and recommended Newcastle as
a site for the works. He found that
It was possible for the Broken Hill Com
pany to assemble the ironstone and
other raw materials at either Newcastle
or Port Kembla, N.S.W., at a lower cost
per unit than was posslblo for the great
i Large electric furnace (10 tons capacity), at Brooklyn works of Melbourne Iron and Stee? Mills Pty. Ltd., used for melting ' iron and scrap mcta,l for the manufacture of all classes of alloyed steel. Help
i
Large electric furnace (10 tons capacity), at Brooklyn works
of Melbourne Iron and Stee? Mills Pty. Ltd., used for melting
' iron and scrap mcta,l for the manufacture of all classes of
alloyed steel.
American Steel Corporation. The com
pany already ownod 240 acres of land at
Port Waralah, across the harbor irom
Newenstie, having acquired It in 1896
for tlie purpose of erecting smelters. It,
was low. swampy land, but the New
South Wales Government undertook to
dredge and maintain a channel 500 feet
wide and 25 feet deep from the works
to the Pacific Ocean, and it was agreed
that the money necessary for buildings,
plant and equipment should be raised
by shares offered for subscription.
Beginning of Newcastle Works.
The first pile for the blast furnace
foundations was driven on 24th January.
1013, and first shipment of plant and
machinery arrived In September the
same year. The swampy nature of the
ground was such that all foundations
had to be on piles, of which no fewer
than 25,000, equivalent to 9.000,000 cubic
feet of timber, had to be driven. The
works were officially opened on 15th
June, 1915.
Prior to the outbreak of the World
War Australia was importing about
£6,000,000 worth of steel annually, fine
intervention of the war in 1914, and the
consequent restriction on imports of iron
and steel products from Britain, had
the effect of making the whole of the
home market for iron and steel products
available to the Australian manufac
turers, and in order to supply the de
mand the Broken Hill Co.'s works at
Newcastle hud to be extended con
tinuously. Yet, not only was the local
demand supplied, but so efficient were
the works that the company was able
to sell its products at prices below those
at which the British imports could be
obtained oil a duty-free basis, and to
ship 5000 tons of rails and 17,000 tons
Aerial view of Broken Hull Company's huge iron and steel works at Newc®3tlc, New South Wales. Twenty-five years ago this sue was a swamp. Now u is one of the greatest industrial areas in the world. Help
Aerial view of Broken Hull Company's huge iron and steel works at Newc®3tlc, New
South Wales. Twenty-five years ago this sue was a swamp. Now u is one of the
greatest industrial areas in the world.
of munitions steel of ty Quality which
won high commendation from English
experts.
In addition to its ore deposits from
the Iron Knob and Iron Monarch, the
company obtains other raw materials
Irom various parts of the Commonwealth.
Coke for the smelting of iron ore
in the blast furnace is manufac
tured in the company's coke ovens,
and in the process many valuable by
products are obtained, including benzol
(a highly efficient motor spirit) and sul
phate of ammonia for fertilising. More
than £10,000,000 has been expended by
the company on its steel works, iron ore
mines, collieries, quarries, ships and
equipment, and its works are considered
to he the most comprehensive in the
British Empire, and as efficient as simi
lar works in any part of the world.
Magnitude of Enterprise,
The Newcacstle works of Broken Hill
Proprietary Co. Ltd. now occupy 325
acres, and are served by 40 miles of
standard-gauge, railway and 3'A miles of
narrow gauge. There are subsidiary
works for the manufacture of wire net
ting, galvanised iron, wire rope, railway
tyres and axles, and other items. In
npnnal times the company employs more
than 6000 men, while Indirectly it
affords employment for a similar
number In the supply of coal and
other materials for its enormous
works. The company's annual wages
bill is about £1,700,000. A little
over a year ago Broken Hill Pty, ob
tained the controlling interest in the
Port Kembla and branch works of Aus
tralian Iron and Steel Ltd. This was
done in a deal whereby the whole of
the ordinary shares in the smaller com
pany wore taken in exchange for 750,000
£1 shares in Broken Hill Pty. Ltd., pre
ference shares not being included in the
arrangement.
In 1917 the old-established English
firm, John Lysaght Ltd.. of Bristol and
Newport, arranged to establish sheet roll
ing mills and galvanised iron works in
Australia, in response to an invitation by
the Commonwealth Government, which
gave an assurance of adequate protection
for the industry. The site chosen for
the works was at Newcastle, near the
works of the Broken Hill Pty. Co., with
which arrangements were made for the
supply of steel sheet bars. Building ope
rations were begun in the following year,
and by 1921 four sheet mills, with cor
responding plant lor galvanising the
sheets, were in operation, and by the end
of 1930 the plant had been increased to
sixteen mills and ten galvanising pots,
sufficient for an annual output of 80,000
tons of galvanised sheets. Nearly 1200
men are now employed nt these large
works. Another Important section of
the Industry is the manufacture of iron
and steel wire. This was commenced In
Australia by the Austral Nail Co. Pty.
Ltd., which was established in Melbourne
in 1891 for the manufacture of nails and i
barbed wire, and which, in 1911, erected
the first wire-drawing plant in Australia. 1
In 1918 the works were transferred to
Newcastle, and three years later the firm ,
was amalgamated with Rylands Bros.
Ltd., of Warrington, England. The en
terprise, now carried on in the name of
Rylaqd Bros. (Aust.) Ltd., has been
merged with the Broken Hill Pty. Co.
Works in Victoria.
Although the actual manufacture of
iron and steel from the ore deposits is
not carried on In Victoria, the important
branch of the industry devoted to the
manufacture of bars and other commer
cial sections in iron and steel is estab
lished irvjthls State. This work, the roll
ing of iron and steel from its raw state
into the finished products, is carried on
at the works of Melbourno Iron and Steel
Mills Pty. Ltd., South Melbourne and
Brooklyn. ThLs company is an amalga
mation of two pioneering firms — the Vic
torian Iron Rolling Co„ and the Lion
Rolling Mills.
The Victorian Iron Rolling Mills were
established by Mr. James Edgerton in
1860. They were situated in West Mel
bourne, and carried on without opposi
tion, mainly rolling scrap metal, until
1878, when Mr. John Bligh set up a
plant for rolling iron at works which lie
named the Albion Rolling Mills, in
Grant-street, South Melbourne. In 1886
the controlling interest in the .Albion
Mills was purchased by Mr. Joseph
Vaughan, who had come from Stafford
shire the previous year under engage
ment as - iron roller at the Eastbank
works, Lithgow. Not being satisfied with
conditions at Lithgow, Mr. Vaughan
came to Melbourne, took over the old
Albion plant, and the name of the
works was changed to the Lion
Rolling Mills. The plant was increased,
and a contract was secured for supply
ing the Victorian railways with bar iron,
railway sashes for Newport workshops,
and iron for bridge work. Mr. J. H. Lan
caster, accountant, and other members
of the staff later became shareholders in
the Lion Mills, and the Victorian Iron
Rolling Mills were taken over by a com-
, pany in which the principal shareholders
were the Messrs. Edgerton (sons of the
1 founder!, Mr. John Danks and Mr. J. 8.
Walker. In 1929 an amalgamation of
1 the two enterprises took place. Messrs.
I Fink and Timmins purchased the Lion
i Rolling Mills and Joined with the Vic
torian Iron Rolling Co. in forming a new
' company known as Melbourne Iron and
1 Steel Mills Pty. Ltd.. with Mr. A. G.
I Timmins chairman of directors. The
West Melbourne works were transferred
to Geelong-road, Brooklyn, but the plant
of the Lion Mills was retained on ' Its
original site at South Melbourne.
Both works were laid down originally
to roll wrought iron merchant bars.
Scrap iron was the only raw material
at first, but later they began to roll mild
steel from imported billets, and eventu
ally obtained all their raw material from .
Broken Hill Pty. and the Port
Kembla works of Australian Iron and
Steel Ltd. Recently the company instal
led an electric furnace, and now rolls all
kinds of alloy steel, as well as mild steel .
and iron. It is the only roller of wrought' i
Iron in Australia, and also makes forg- !
ings in a 500 ton press, sections for I
steel windows, and nuts, bolts and rivets, i
Apart from the mills of Broken Hill Pty. l
Co., at Newcastle, and those of Austra
lian Iron and Steel Ltd., at Port Kembla, .
these Melbourne works are the only iron
and steel rolling mills in the Common
wealth. Mr. Joseph Vaughan. founder of '
the old Lion Rolling Mills, retired from .
the business many years ago, but Is still
living— as a grazier, at Gilgandra, ..
N.S.W.
Shortage of Scrap Iron. I
One of the main problems of the
industry at present is the shortage
of scrap metal in Australia, con
sequent upon the activity of Japan
ese buyers. ' In recent years quite a
considerable number of old steamers in
the Australian coastal service have been
bought by Japanese traders and towed
away to Japan. What may not be generally ;
known is that they are filled with scrap
metal before being taken from Australia,
and when they reach their destination
the old vessels themselves are broken
up for scrap for use, together with /
their contents, as raw material for
Japan's steel industry. It is said that
thousands of tons of scrap iron and steel
are being taken from the Australian
market in this way every year. The
Australian industry is secure, however,
in respect of iron ore deposits. Tlie
South Australian fields have sufficient to
supply the industry for generations to
come, and enormous deposits are avail
able for future use at Yampl Sound,,
West Australia.
Figures published by the Common
wealth Statistician show that in the
year 1934-35 there were 15,871 hands
employed in t.he 'section of industry
devoted to the smelting, converting, re-,
fining and rolling of iron and steel,
while 16,787 were employed in the engi
neering section of tlie industry. An
amount of £3,173,775 was paid hi wages
in the former section, and £3,184,174
in the latter. About £2.150,000 worth
of iron was produced last year, com
pared with £186,211 worth in 1911— 1
the year in which the Broken Hill Pty.
i Co. embarked upon its great enterprise
, into the realms of steel production — and
i the total output of the industry was
valued at £5.614.380.
$