Kanahooka, New South Wales

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Smelting

← Previous revision​	Revision as of 19:01, 29 April 2024​
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The establishment of the Dapto Smelting Works was an important part of Kanahooka's history. The Dapto Smelting Works came about through the ill-fated "Lake Illawarra Harbour Scheme". This scheme gave a great impetus to the growth of the town of Dapto in the early 1900s.	The establishment of the Dapto Smelting Works was an important part of Kanahooka's history. The Dapto Smelting Works came about through the ill-fated "Lake Illawarra Harbour Scheme". This scheme gave a great impetus to the growth of the town of Dapto in the early 1900s.
In 1890 a Parliamentary Act was passed authorising the Illawarra Harbour and Land Corporation to begin projects near Dapto that would involve an outlay of many hundreds of thousands of pounds. The scheme involved building a channel through Lake Illawarra to allow oceangoing vessels to come up to Elizabeth Point, a short distance north of Kanahooka Point. A railway was also built at a cost of 42,000 pounds to allow coal to be brought from a local colliery to be loaded onto the ships.	In 1890 a parliamentary act was passed authorising the Illawarra Harbour and Land Corporation to begin projects near Dapto that would involve an outlay of many hundreds of thousands of pounds. The scheme involved building a channel through Lake Illawarra to allow oceangoing vessels to come up to Elizabeth Point, a short distance north of Kanahooka Point. A railway was also built at a cost of 42,000 pounds to allow coal to be brought from a local colliery to be loaded onto the ships.
With the opening of the railway the Smelting Company of Australia Ltd. had been formed and with the backing of overseas capital a large smelting works was established. "The site chosen for the works was an elevated one, contiguous to Mullet Creek and about half a mile from its mouth. The more northerly of "the Twins" - two similar hills - was decapitated, thus providing a series of levels to which the ores would gravitate, in the various processes from bins to crushing and roasting plants, then to the blast furnaces before being sent to the refinery." (O'Malley, 1950, p. 6)	With the opening of the railway the Smelting Company of Australia Ltd. had been formed and with the backing of overseas capital a large smelting works was established. "The site chosen for the works was an elevated one, contiguous to Mullet Creek and about half a mile from its mouth. The more northerly of "the Twins" - two similar hills - was decapitated, thus providing a series of levels to which the ores would gravitate, in the various processes from bins to crushing and roasting plants, then to the blast furnaces before being sent to the refinery." (O'Malley, 1950, p. 6)

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