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Chapter 1: The Discovery of Hematite at Ilfracombe & Mt Vulcan, West Tamar

In 1936 the Mercury reported:[1]

ILFRACOMBE IRON ORE DEPOSITS

Chromium Was Bar To Progress in Early Attempts at Development

Early attempts to develop the immense iron deposits at Ilfracombe near Beaconsfield are recalled by the attention being directed to those in the Blythe River district on the North-West Coast. The presence of chromium in the ore at Ilfracombe was then an effectual bar to progress. Today chrome steel takes a leading part in the industry.

The principal iron-bearing country near Beaconsfield it situated upon two arms of the Tamar known as West Arm and Middle Arm. West Arm possesses considerable historic interest, as it was here that Captain Matthew Flinders and Surgeon George Bass first landed in 1798. Soon after the first settlement of Europeans at York Town the immense deposits of iron ore on Anderson’s Creek which flows into the West Arm attracted attention, and Lieut.-Col. William Paterson, first Lieut-Governor of Tasmania, who died in 1810, forwarded a quantity of it to England, but what became of it is not known. Surveyor General Evans, writing in reference to it in 1822, said: ‘Within a few miles of Launceston there is a most surprising abundance of iron. Literally there are entire mountains of this ore, which is so remarkably rich that it has been found to yield 70 per cent of pure metal.’

However prior to this John Oxley in 1810 reported on VDL settlements and later became Surveyor General of NSW.

The value of Port Dalrymple is the immense quantity of iron found in the vicinity of the Port; the greatest quantity is found in the hills bordering upon Yorkton, which in fact are almost all iron, and of a superior quality; some of the ore was brought home in His Majesty’s Ship Buffalo in 1807 and smelted at Portsmouth Yard, and yielded from 64 to 72 per cent, and of equal fineness with the best Swedish iron.” [2]

In May 1872, the deposit were visited by James Scott and T. C. Just, M.H.A., who were so favourably impressed with appearances that they leased several sections under the Mineral Leases Act. The Tasmanian Charcoal Iron Co was formed in Melbourne with a capital of £80,000 in 49,000 shares of £2 each. The company purchased 800 acres of land at Port Lempriere, West Arm, for a township, constructed extensive labour accommodation, imported large quantities of coal from New South Wales, which they turned into coke on the ground, laid a substantial iron railway a distance of five miles to connect the mine with the port, and equipped it with a locomotive engine and necessary rolling stock.

EQUIPMENT INSTALLED.

A splendid township was built for the accommodation of the work people and an-extension plant for the manufacture of pig iron imported from the Caledonian Foundry, Kilmarnock (Scotland). This plant consisted of a large blast furnace with all modern appliances. A staff of skilled workmen accompanied it, and the conditions were so favourable that it was believed that the iron industry had been successfully established in Tasmania. The furnace and machinery worked well, and large quantities of pig iron were manufactured but it was soon evident that it was of a quality too hard for foundry purposes. This was a serious disappointment; and as the result of numerous analyses, it was discovered that all the metal was more or less impregnated with chromium, a mineral which had the effect of making cast iron hard and, to a certain extent, brittle.

In the numerous chemical analyses of the various ores found on the company's property prior to starting operations, only one referred to chromium as being present in the ore, and that report mentioned only a trace. As the mine opened out, however, it became evident that this mineral was present in small but varying quantities, and nearly all the pig iron made contained 2 to 6 per cent of it. Chromic pig iron was then regarded as an entirely new product, and was not appreciated. It was comparatively unsaleable in the market excepting for mixing purposes,

RESULTS UNSATISFACTORY

The company kept on boldly for a long period experimenting, with a view to adding some means to expel the chrome and to produce soft iron. It manufactured and exported in all between 5,000 and 10,000 tons of iron. It sent this iron to all parts of Europe and the colonies for analysis and experiment, both in the laboratory and in the furnace. It had been manufactured in all kinds of ways, and the highest opinions had been obtained respecting it, but without satisfactory results. The original company was wound up, and the mine and plant transferred to a new company, called the Purchase Co Ltd, but the difficulty could not be overcome. The presence of chromium was the great bar.

Several other companies were formed, but, after many trials and failures, collapsed. One company, formed in Victoria, under the title of the Tamar Haematite Iron Co., which shared the fate of the others, leased from the Government a considerable area of ground on which the goldfield, subsequently known as Beaconsfield, and which included the famous Tasmania mine has since been discovered.

The Ilfracombe Iron Company was established in 1872 and registered that February in Melbourne, Victoria. There were ten shareholders nine of whom were Victorians and just one Tasmanian Adye Douglas M.H.A. Each had contributed about £4,000 giving the venture some £40,000 capital to work the hematite ore deposits on land which had been rented from the Bank of Tasmania, Ilfracombe by Captain Duncan Longden and Charles Major, C.E. on behalf of the company for 21 years with the right to purchase. Longden would manage and direct the works along with Hawkins Dodds a civil engineer who had considerable experience in the iron works of Scotland.

In late 1873 very favourable reports continued to arrive of the prospects of the Ilfracombe Iron Company. Iron in small quantity had been very successfully manufactured; the smelting operations had proved a complete success, twelve pigs having been run at the mine, and were subsequently shipped for Melbourne. The furnace is not yet in perfect working order, but as soon as a few alterations and improvements which have suggested themselves, are completed, there can be little doubt of ultimate and permanent success, and we have no doubt that in a very short time we shall have the pleasure of reporting the manufacture of pig iron in quantity. However this did not come to pass. [3]

In an 1875 report in the Tasmanian it was quoted that in the early 1870s land was taken up in all directions, but as yet very little of it has been touched, and the colonial revenue alone has benefited. The second company was the Ilfracombe Iron Company, formed to work the rich deposits of ore specially referred to in the report of Mr Gould, and which are chiefly on the private property of Mr Evans, who formerly had a large saw mill in the Ilfracombe district. This iron deposit is about seven miles from the water side. The company obtained a manager from Victoria and men who professed to understand iron smelting. A small blast furnace was erected and various works undertaken, but after many trials and failures the company collapsed having expended about £10,000. Shortly afterwards another company was formed in Victoria, under the title of the Tamar Hematite Iron Company, to work some extensive deposits of ore to the south of Ilfracombe, and near the head of Middle Arm. This company erected a small blast furnace, and have succeeded in manufacturing several hundreds of tons of excellent pig iron. Their operations, however, have been conducted on far too small a scale to be profitable, and are now suspended with a view to their extension. At Hobart Town they have also caught the iron infection, and a company has been formed there under the title of the Derwent Iron Company. They have erected a blast furnace in the city of Hobart Town and intend bringing their ores from various localities on the shores of the river Derwent. They have already produced a small quantity of grey iron, but for some reason or other have for the present suspended smelting operations. In addition to these efforts to establish iron manufacture in Tasmania, several valuable properties on the North West Coast have been offered in the English market by accredited agents, but up to the present time without success. I look forward however with confidence to time when we shall see a large amount of English capital invested in the Tasmanian iron industry. Samples of the iron ores of Tasmania have been forwarded to the Philadelphia Exhibition. The more prominent are those from the West Tamar districts but there are others which will possibly attract the attention of American mineralogists, notably those from the North West-Coast. The structure of the country to the westward of the asbestos range, is similar in many respects to that of the West Tamar district, but it is richer in minerals, which are however, more disseminated, and consequently less known.[4]

In conclusion the Ilfracombe Iron Company 1872-5 near Beaconsfield failed on start-up because their blast engine (air compressor) was not up to the task, though they claimed to have produced a batch of good quality charcoal pig iron from Peaked Hill ore in their first blast. They had replaced their waterwheel with a small steam engine to provide the blast, but found it was too small and bought a larger engine from Melbourne. That was still too small and after spending nearly £10,000, they had run out of money to buy another. Their bank foreclosed. Two of the shareholders, Adye Douglas and James White bought out the assets for £805 in a rather suspect sale, but with the prevailing low iron prices decided not to reopen. If the Tasmanian government had given an incentive for iron production, similar to the other colonies, it would have paid for the new blast engine and likely ensured the survival of the company. There was no chromium in their iron load.

Hematite samples – Ilfracombe

Source: P.A.C. Richards collection 2017

References [1] Mercury 27 November 1936, p. 3 [2] John Oxley 1810. “Remarks on Settlement of Port Dalrymple”. HRA Series III Vol 1 p770 [3] Mercury 2 December 1873, p. 1 [4] Tasmanian 14 August 1875, p. 3