A history of the origins, formation and development of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary Limited at Port Pirie, South Australia

© 1982 Dr. Carolyn Beth JohnstoneThe establishment of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary Limited at Port Pirie, South Australia, in 1915 marked the beginning of a new stage of the lead-silver-zinc industry of Broken Hill, Australia's major non-ferrous metal field. Whereas before the outbreak of World War I, plant in Australia had the capacity to smelt only approximately half the output of lead concentrates from the Broken Hill field, within a few years of the formation of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters, the entire output of the field could be smelted to completion within Australia. The Broken Hill Associated Smelters at Port Pirie had its origins in the smelters established by the British Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited and the refinery established by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited at Port Pirie in 1889. Putting the establishment of these works in perspective necessitates the examination of the early development of the mines and smelters on the Barrier in the 1880s, and of the development of Port Pirie in the 1870s and 1880s which led to the town being, in 1889, a suitable site for industrial development. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company took over the Port Pirie smelters in 1892, and transferred all its smelting operations there in 1897. However, since the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary Limited was formed jointly in 1915 by Broken Hill South Silver Mining Company, North Broken Hill Limited and Zinc Corporation Limited as well as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, the smelting company therefore has its roots in the lead and zinc treatment history of the three first-mentioned mining companies also. Examining the smelting options open to these companies prior to 1915 has involved looking at the smelting activities of most of the Broken Hill companies, and also to several metal purchasing and treatment companies elsewhere in Australia and Europe. The cut-off point for this study, 1930, is a natural one for several reasons. By 1930 the company had effectively established its future patterns of operations with respect to technical policy, research, welfare schemes, unions, and wage negotiations; the first fifteen years of its history were marked by intense activity in the modernisation of plant and many of the company's major metallurgical developments were implemented, or undergoing trials, by 1930; also 1930 for the industry marked the onset of the Great Depression. Part One of the study concerns the origins of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary Limited. Chapter 1 deals with agricultural and railway expansion in South Australia, Port Pirie's acquisition of the infrastructure necessary for industry and trade, the growth of the Silverton and Broken Hill mines, and the development of lead smelters on the Barrier mining field. The first moves of smelters to the coast, 1889-1891, and the changing nature of the ore being mined at Broken Hill are considered. Chapter 2 concerns the influence of the sulphide ores on the Broken Hill mining industry between 1891 and 1903. Smelting at Broken Hill ended, and some companies reestablished smelters at the coast, most importantly the Broken Hill Proprietary Company at Port Pirie. Other companies, including several future partners in the Broken Hill Associated Smelters, gave up independent smelting and sent their ores to customs works either in Europe or Australia. The discovery of flotation processes to treat sulphide ores, as well as the effects of price increases and the lead depression, 1900-3, on the mining and smelting activities of the Broken Hill companies are considered. Chapter 3 covers the period 1904-1914. It deals with the new financiers who appeared on the Broken Hill field, the changes in the smelting and marketing of Broken Hill lead and zinc concentrates showing the growth of the influence of German metal companies, and the several early Australian attempts to achieve independence from European works through amalgamation. Technical changes at the Port Pirie smelters, housing facilities in Port Pirie for smelter workers, and smelter union developments are treated. In Part Two the formation and development of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters are examined. Chapter 4 deals with the impact of World War I on the Broken Hill mining and smelting industry, Australian Federal Government moves towards the independence of the base metal industry in Australia and the Empire, and the renewal of amalgamation attempts by Broken Hill South Silver Mining Company and North Broken Hill Limited with the Broken Hill Proprietary Company leading to the formation of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary Limited in 1915. Chapters 5 and 6 are concerned with the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary Limited's modernisation and expansion of the Port Pirie smelters, its development of metallurgical research, new lead marketing arrangements and industrial welfare programmes, and also with union matters at the smelters. Between 1919 and 1921 the smelters suffered difficulties as a result of a strike at Broken Hill, a serious fire, and an attempt by the British Broken Hill Proprietary Company to break its contract as one of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters' Shareholding Supplying Companies, and these matters are dealt with in Chapter 7. The final chapter discusses health matters, changes in labour and wages, metallurgical developments, and marketing and shareholding changes at the smelters between 1921 and 1930