Savage River, Tasmania

Savage River is a small Australian mining village located on the west coast of Tasmania.

Savage River
Tasmania
Savage River is located in Tasmania
Savage River
Savage River
Coordinates41°30′45″S 145°12′55″E / 41.51250°S 145.21528°E / -41.51250; 145.21528
Population31(2016 census)
Established1965
Postcode(s)7321
Elevation355 m (1,165 ft)
Location
LGA(s)Waratah-Wynyard Council
State electorate(s)Braddon
Federal division(s)Braddon

History

edit

Government surveyor Charles Sprent discovered Savage River's iron ore deposits in 1877, however the minerals were left untouched for nearly a century due to the difficulty in extracting iron from the low-quality ore. Several surveys were conducted in the interim including one in 1926 by Australian Iron & Steel. The township at Savage River was constructed from 1965 to 1967 when Roy Hudson's Industrial and Mining Investigations Pty Ltd received backing to construct a mining project in the area.[1]

Savage River Post Office opened on 23 November 1967.[2]

Mining operations

edit

The Savage River Mine is an open-cut iron ore mine operated by Grange Resources. Production at the mine in 2006–07 was 1.423 million cubic metres of ore with 4.851 million cubic metres of waste. At June 2007, 50.9% of the 323.8 million tonnes of resources from the mine was recoverable magnetite.[3] The iron ore is piped as slurry north to the coast at Port Latta for on-shipment.

Climate

edit
Climate data for Savage River Mine (1966-2017)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 34.1
(93.4)
34.4
(93.9)
31.2
(88.2)
25.2
(77.4)
21.3
(70.3)
18.3
(64.9)
18.6
(65.5)
17.9
(64.2)
23.9
(75.0)
26.0
(78.8)
30.8
(87.4)
32.4
(90.3)
34.4
(93.9)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 19.1
(66.4)
20.1
(68.2)
17.7
(63.9)
15.1
(59.2)
12.3
(54.1)
10.2
(50.4)
9.4
(48.9)
10.1
(50.2)
11.2
(52.2)
13.5
(56.3)
15.5
(59.9)
17.3
(63.1)
14.3
(57.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 9.2
(48.6)
9.9
(49.8)
8.5
(47.3)
7.3
(45.1)
5.8
(42.4)
4.1
(39.4)
3.3
(37.9)
3.5
(38.3)
4.1
(39.4)
5.3
(41.5)
6.7
(44.1)
7.8
(46.0)
6.3
(43.3)
Record low °C (°F) −2.2
(28.0)
2.3
(36.1)
−0.1
(31.8)
−2.9
(26.8)
−3.9
(25.0)
−3.3
(26.1)
−3.5
(25.7)
−5.0
(23.0)
−3.4
(25.9)
−1.1
(30.0)
−4.0
(24.8)
−1.8
(28.8)
−5.0
(23.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 98.0
(3.86)
77.7
(3.06)
107.5
(4.23)
151.3
(5.96)
200.9
(7.91)
193.6
(7.62)
235.6
(9.28)
234.3
(9.22)
199.8
(7.87)
169.6
(6.68)
127.2
(5.01)
123.0
(4.84)
1,976.6
(77.82)
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) 14.1 12.5 15.6 19.0 21.7 20.9 23.2 24.3 22.2 20.6 17.1 17.1 228.3
Mean daily sunshine hours 7.2 7.6 5.3 4.2 3.1 2.6 2.8 3.8 3.9 5.0 6.1 6.4 4.8
Source: Bureau of Meteorology[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ Travel: Savage River, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 January 2008.
  2. ^ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  3. ^ Savage River Mine, IRIS Tasmania, 21 April 2009. Retrieved on 13 September 2009.
  4. ^ "Climate statistics for Savage River Mine". bom.gov.au. Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 16 July 2017.