Port Augusta : major industries

Large export quantities of wheat, wool and copper ore mined from sites in the northern Flinders Ranges such as Blinman, Beltana, Yudnamutana, Oratunga, Nuccaleena and Parachilna and imports of stores and material for the northern runs, sheep stations and copper mines made Port Augusta a busy port by the 1860s. 

Port Augusta's industrial history is interspersed with periods of stagnation which resulted from causes such as drought, poor cropping seasons and declining copper prices all of which cut the flow of goods through the Port. Whether railway construction was in progress to the North or not had a great bearing too, on the life and business of the town, resulting in unemployment and hardship.

Port Augusta is surrounded by land which is used for sheep and wheat growing, and various locations around Port Augusta have been mined for gold, copper, lead and precious stones.

Other industries include large ironstone quarries in the Middleback Range (Iron Knob), the Commonwealth test facility at Woomera, the Leigh Creek coal field, electricity generation and the railways.

To find out more about Woomera visit  http://www.woomera.com.au/

The main industries which feature through Port Augusta's history are:

Railways

Shipping

Electricity generation