An iconic iron ore mining town in the heart of a semi-desert area, which today struggles not to become a ghost town.

Where is it?: Eyre Peninsula. 68 km west of Port Augusta, 52 km northwest of Whyalla. 152 m above sea level




It is not a particularly attractive town but what it lacks in savoir faire it makes up for in genuine interest. In recent years, as BHP have run their mining operations down in the area (there are now only 70 men working the mines at Iron Knob and Iron Monarch), the town (which was once administered by BHP) has been handed back to the local residents and they have had to deal with the complexities of local government and the establishment of revenue raising activities so that local services can be maintained.


Iron Knob tourist centre and Mining Museum is about all there is for visitors to see in the town, but it is well worth a visit. The enthusiastic locals who man the place are eager to share the story of their town and the history of iron ore mining in the local region.

Mine tours: You can take a tour of the Iron Knob Mine which sits directly behind the town. Whilst on the tour you will also learn a little of the Town's history from your guide. The views are fantastic from the top and the varying colours of the ore and over burden provide a great photo opportunity.

Natural features: Middleback Ranges - Iron Princess, Iron Monarch and Iron Knob are all one of the same in the sense that they are all connected to the town of Iron Knob but Iron Monarch is nothing more than a mine (without a community) and Iron Princess is a small mine located between Iron Knob and Corunna Station.

Built features: Iron Knob iron ore mine; Iron Knob tourist centre and Mining Museum; Corunna Station.

About Iron Knob

The first European to pass through the Iron Knob area was Edward John Eyre who, in 1839, identified the area as having substantial deposits of ironstone and climbed one of the many local ironstone mountains - probably Iron Baron.

By 1854 pastoralists were established in the area and Cooroona Hill (now Corunna) Station had been established and Iron Knob (sometimes called Iron Nob) had been named - presumably as a description of the shape of the mountain which, although it is now 150 m lower than it was in 1880, still looms over the township.

Iron Knob is widely recognised as the first commercial iron ore mine in Australia. It was first exploited by Mount Minden Mining in 1880 but they couldn't keep up production or pay the rent and it was taken over by BHP who have run it continuously since 1899. BHP took over the lease in 1896 and started mining in 1899 when their smelters at Port Pirie required ironstone as a flux to smelt the silver-lead ores from Broken Hill. At the time, and really until the discovery of the huge iron reserves in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, the Iron Knob deposit was the largest in Australia. Until the 1960s all of BHP's major steelmaking operations - at Newcastle, Port Kembla, Port Pirie and Whyalla - were supplied with iron ore from the Iron Knob area.

It is important for visitors to understand that Iron Princess, Iron Monarch and Iron Knob are all one of the same in the sense that they are all connected to the town of Iron Knob but Iron Monarch is nothing more than a mine (without a community) and Iron Princess is a small mine located between Iron Knob and Corunna Station.

Anyone wanting to know more about the area should read the charming, hand printed, Looking Back: A History of Iron Knob written by Ada Casey and Marlene Cleasby with drawings by Stephen Stanley. It is available from the Tourist Centre.