Broken Hill

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Broken Hill
Sulphide St station.jpg
State : AustraliaAustralia Australia
State : Flag of New South Wales.svg New South Wales
Founded : 1883
Coordinates : 31 ° 57 ′  S , 141 ° 26 ′  E Coordinates: 31 ° 57 ′  S , 141 ° 26 ′  E
Height : 315  m
Residents : 17,589 (2016)
Time zone : ACST ( UTC + 9: 30 ) /
ACDT ( UTC + 10: 30 )
Postal code : 2880
LGA : City of Broken Hill
Broken Hill, New South Wales
Broken Hill
Broken Hill

Broken Hill is a mining settlement with almost 17,600 inhabitants in the far west of the Australian state of New South Wales, 20 kilometers as the crow flies east of the border with South Australia . The distance to the metropolis Sydney is about 1200 km to the east, Adelaide is about 500 km to the southwest. The city of Broken Hill largely coincides with the local administrative area Broken Hill City . The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Wilcannia-Forbes diocese .

In Broken Hill, as in neighboring South Australia, the Australian Central Standard Time ( UTC + 9: 30 ) applies , unlike in the rest of New South Wales, where Australian Eastern Standard Time ( UTC + 10 ) applies. In the city it is always half an hour earlier than in the rest of the state.

history

Settlement

It is believed that the first settlers in the region of the later Broken Hills were Aborigines from the Wiljakali group. Due to the lack of water in the region, temporary settlement as well as displacement by the first European settlers is likely.

The first European in the region was the '' Surveyor General of New South Wales '', the chief surveyor of New South Wales in 1841. In 1844 Charles Sturt discovered the Barrier Range (height 439 m) during his explorations . The name suggests that the mountain range was the great obstacle to the north for Sturt, which blocked his path when looking for an inland lake. It consisted of old, metamorphic sedimentary rock that was intruded by granite , diorite, etc. and interspersed with innumerable white quartz veins .

Nomads began to populate the area in the 1850s, their supply route leading along the Darling River .

Also the Burke and Wills expedition 1860-1861 led through the territory of one of their base camps was located at nearby Menindee .

Gold rush

Sturt's description of the rock formations from 1848 led to a gold rush in 1867, which came to an abrupt end due to a lack of water and the failure to find gold . At this point in time only gold and not other metals or ores were searched, the rich silver deposits were overlooked.

The first documented finds of silver-lead ore go back to P. Green in 1876: He found the ore in Thackaringa, 50 km from Broken Hill. The successful mining of these deposits led to another 'intoxication' in the area (Thackaringa and Umberumberka) in 1882. With the survey of the Silverton area in 1883, numerous richly mineralized silver ore bodies were encountered.

City foundation

The city was only founded in 1883: Charles Rasp , an inspector of pasture fences for the 'Mount Gipps Station' discovered some rock formations in the region, including a. Quarrying quartz (a sign of mineral resources) and took samples of a metal he believed was tin . An analysis showed a high concentration of silver and lead as well as traces of zinc and other heavy metals . The concentration of silver in the ore collected by Rasp was higher than in any previously known mining site.

Mining

North Mine in Broken Hill

Rasp secured with the "Syndicate of Seven" a 16 hectare claim , as well as the six around this original lying claims of each also 16 ha. The syndicate was declared insane, however, managed a shaft, the rasp bay, abzuteufen and in 1884 encountered rich silver mineralization at a depth of 30 m . Shortly thereafter, silver ore was found in other areas of the central claim. From August 10, 1885 shares in the "Broken Hill Proprietary Co." were sold. The company diversified from the second decade of the 20th century, initially as a steel producer in Newcastle , north of Sydney. In 1939 the company gave up mining in Broken Hill, which has since been operated by other companies, and over time has developed into today's Australian-British global group BHP . In 2002 the Perilya company , which has been majority owned by the Chinese Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Nonfemet since 2009 , acquired the mines in Broken Hill from Pasminco .

Broken Hill is the oldest operating lead, zinc and silver deposit in Australia. The main ore body extends over 5 km and down to several 100 m depth. Broken Hill has mined more than 200 million tons of ore since 1885.

Origin of the city name

It was Sturt who described a `` Broken Hill '' in his diary. The 'broken hill', from which Broken Hill owes its name, consisted of a multitude of mounds that looked like they were divided by a crack.

As part of the later mining work, the hills that gave the city its name were completely dismantled.

Climate, vegetation

Broken Hill, located in the semi-arid climate zone , does not have quite as high temperatures as the surrounding country due to its elevated position at over 300 m above sea level, but sandstorms are frequent.

In the early years of mining, the vegetation around Broken Hill was cleared. Except for a grassy vegetation with isolated herbs after rain showers, no permanent vegetation could form. Part of the original vegetation was only restored through a large-scale greening measure in the 1930s.

Average Monthly Temperatures and Rainfall for BROKEN HILL (PATTON STREET) - Altitude: 315m from 1891 to 2011
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 32.8 32.2 29.0 23.9 19.2 15.6 15.1 17.3 21.1 24.9 28.6 31.3 O 24.2
Min. Temperature (° C) 18.5 18.2 15.6 11.8 8.6 6.2 5.4 6.4 8.9 11.7 14.7 17.1 O 11.9
Precipitation ( mm ) 24.5 25.5 21.2 17.4 22.5 21.9 18.9 18.5 20.4 24.5 20.7 21.7 Σ 257.7
Rainy days ( d ) 2.5 2.6 2.2 2.1 3.1 3.4 3.5 3.3 3.0 3.5 2.8 2.5 Σ 34.5
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
32.8
18.5
32.2
18.2
29.0
15.6
23.9
11.8
19.2
8.6
15.6
6.2
15.1
5.4
17.3
6.4
21.1
8.9
24.9
11.7
28.6
14.7
31.3
17.1
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g 		24.5
25.5
21.2
17.4
22.5
21.9
18.9
18.5
20.4
24.5
20.7
21.7
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology : Broken Hill (Patton Street) Station. Observation period: 1891–2011. Retrieved June 6, 2009.

geology

Broken Hill is located in the south of the so-called Curnamona Province, a kratonen block in the west of New South Wales and in the east of South Australia. The Broken Hill Domain, containing the Broken Hill ore body, is the southeastern part of the Curnamona Province where the paleoproterozoic rocks of the Willyama Supergroup are exposed. The rock unit was probably deposited in an intra-continental back arc basin behind a subduction zone . The age of the supergroup is about 1.72 to 1.70 billion years. This basin was believed to be a half-ditch system with the main fault believed to be west of Broken Hill. The thickness of the Willyama Supergroup is estimated to be up to 8 miles in the Broken Hill Domain. About 1.6 billion years ago, the rock units were metamorphically overprinted and deformed during the Olarian orogeny . The Delamerican orogeny about 500 million years ago also had an impact on the rock units, albeit a much smaller one. The Broken Hill ore body is stratigraphically located roughly in the middle of the Willyama Supergroup. It is a sedimentary-exhalative deposit , although the exact genesis is still controversial. It is the largest lead-zinc ore body in the world with around 280 million tons of ore. This makes the deposit around 10 times larger than the comparable deposit in Rammelsberg near Goslar in Germany. The main ore minerals are galena and sphalerite , but the ore also contains large amounts of garnet . The average ore grades are 2.5 to 15% lead, 5 to 20% zinc and 20 to 300 g / t silver. The Broken Hill deposit is known for its richness in various minerals, including many exceptional rarities.

Today's city

Argent Street. In the background Palace Hotel and Indian Pacific Train

Today the mining boom is over, but lead-silver-zinc sulphide is still being mined industrially in large quantities. Even formerly closed mines are being put back into operation in order to extract ore deposits deeper than the city.

Broken Hills population, which peaked at around 30,000 in the early 1960s, has since declined sharply. The median age of the population in 2018 was 44.4 years (37.5 years in NSW). About 8.5% of the population are Aboriginal . 95% of the population were born in Australia. Only about 25% have attended school for 12 years. Houses with four rooms had 2020 Media price of less than 150,000 Australian dollars and are among the best in the country. In the wider area of ​​the city in the outback of Australia there are numerous desert national parks and ghost towns such as Silverton .

Architectural monuments

Palace Hotel, Broken Hill NSW
Broken Hill Trades Hall
  • 227 Argent Street: Palace Hotel
  • 258-260 Argent Street: Broken Hill Post Office
  • 404-408 Argent Street: Walter Sully Emporium (department store)
  • Broken Hill train station
  • Buck Street: mosque
  • Cobalt Street: Wesley Uniting Church
  • 160 Crystal Street: Seppelts Lager (liquor store)
  • Corner of Gaffney and Oxide Streets, Proprietary Square: first BHP office, ruins of the chimney
  • 232 Lane Street: "The Old Convent", St Joseph's Convent
  • 34 Sulphide Street: Trades Hall (union building)
  • 165 Wolfram Street: Synagogue , built in 1910
  • Day Dream Smelter (ore smelting)

Street names

What is striking about Broken Hill is that many streets bear the names of chemical elements or minerals in homage to the raw materials that made Broken Hill great. Streets and paths therefore have names such as "Kaolin Street", "Gypsum Street", "Crystal Street" and "Silver Street" (see picture).

The Silver Street sign.

Lead pollution

Increased blood lead levels in young children at Broken Hill have been measured as a sign of chronic lead exposure . These are the result of exposure to lead dust such as were and are released during the mining of lead-containing silver ore. Small children take up lead orally, i.e. by absorbing lead dust through their mouth. By carefully sealing the houses and professionally cleaning them, it was possible to control lead dust levels in closed living spaces. Outside of appropriately secured living spaces, the dusts still contain high lead concentrations. The New South Wales Department of Health has established an extensive lead control program for Broken Hill residents. Instead of a seemingly hopeless redevelopment of the entire place, efforts are being made to change the behavior of the population. The aim is for only 5% of 1-4 year olds to have a blood lead concentration of over 15 µg / dl.

Personalities

Pro Hart's self-painted Rolls-Royce in front of the "Pro Hart Gallery" in Broken Hill

Born here

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics : Broken Hill ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  2. ↑ Silverton . The Sydney Morning Herald . February 8, 2004. Retrieved December 17, 2007.
  3. ↑ a b "History." Broken Hill: Accessible Outback. 2007, Edition 15, p4.
  4. ↑ a b History , Perilya Limited (as of 2020-03-31)
  5. ^ Horace Webber: The Greening of the Hill: Re-vegetation around Broken Hill in the 1930s . Hyland House, Melbourne 1992, ISBN 0947062912 , p. 150.
  6. ^ Conor, CHH, 2006. Geology of the Olary Domain, Curnamona Province, South Australia. South Australia. Department of Primary Industries and Resources. Report Book, 2006/13
  7. ↑ http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/minerals/geological/bhei2009
  8. ↑ Properties for sale in Broken Hill, NSW, 2880 , Domain (as of 2020-03-31)
  9. ↑ a b F Boreland, Lyle DM, Wlodarczyk J, Balding WA, Reddan S: Lead dust in broken hill homes - a potential hazard for young children? . In: Public Health Association Of Australia (Ed.): Australian and New Zealand journal of public health . 26, No. 3, Australia, 2002, pp. 203-7.
  10. ↑ Brian L Gulson: Tooth analyzes of sources and intensity of lead exposure in children . In: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Ed.): Environ Health Perspect . 104, No. 3, United States, 1996, pp. 306-12. PMID 8919769 .
  11. ^ F Boreland, Lyle DM: Lead dust in Broken Hill homes: effect of remediation on indoor lead levels. . In: Academic Press (Ed.): Environmental Research . 100, No. 2, United States, 2006, pp. 276-83.
  12. ^ Hugh Burke, Bill Balding, David Lyle: Reducing lead exposure in children in Broken Hill . In: NSW Health Dept. (Ed.): New South Wales Public Health Bulletin . 14, No. 3, Australia, 2003, pp. 52-4. doi : 10.1071 / NB03016 . Retrieved on August 23, 2008.

Web links

Commons : Broken Hill, New South Wales  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files