Port Pirie Smelter and World War 1

Three blast furnaces (Lead) and nine distillation furnaces (Zinc) were in operation at Port Pirie prior to the outbreak of World War 1, treating the vast ore load from Broken Hill. A fourth blast furnace was blown in on January 1915 increasing lead output. ¹

Chimneys belching smoke at the Broken Hill Associated Smelters plant at Port Pirie 1914.

Before the war, lead and zinc concentrates excess to smelter demand were shipped to Germany and Belgium for treatment. Australia then, imported considerable quantities of manufactured lead from Germany.²

At the outbreak of war, lead and zinc shipments were considered war contraband and ceased being exported to prevent it falling into enemy hands. Only British government purchases of Australian commodities prevented a major economic collapse.

The British government purchased at high wartime prices a large proportion of Australian lead and copper production until one year after the end of the war and the entire production of zinc for at least ten years after the war.  

This freed the Australian metals industry from German domination to develop processing capacity in Australia by expanding the Port Pirie lead smelter to be the world’s largest and build a large zinc refinery in Tasmania.

In England most of the smelters had been closed up owing to Europe being more successful in their operations. Lead output from Port Pirie purchased by the British government was dispatched to Russia and Britain for conversion into munitions.

At Port Pirie the whole labour force was occupied for lead smelting, while in Broken Hill the equivalent of half time work was used in the mines as zinc concentrates were stockpiled.³

The price of zinc increased from £22 per ton before the outbreak of war to £115 in June 1915 and lead had increased from £15 10/ per ton in 1913 to £33 10/ by March 1916.ʰ

Union delegates in Port Pirie demanded better pay and conditions for smelter workers with the company ‘capitalists’ reaping big profits during the war. This was regarded in some circles as an insult to patriotism. ʰ

Union delegates in Broken Hill also demanded better pay and conditions for mine workers threatening to close down the Port Pirie Smelter. “If it kept solid and got assistance from the other unions in Australia, in six weeks, at the outside, the Pirie smelter would have to cease, not as a solid working-class organisation, but as a starved-out scab organisation”. ʷ

The Port Pirie Recorder - Accomodation article

The Broken Hill mine workers did strike while the Port Pirie smelter workers refused to cease work; considering such action would have been most detrimental to the best interests of the Empire at such a critical period of the war. The Prime Minister of Australia (Billy Hughes) was President of the Federated Waterside Workers, and had stated that he "was proud of the action of the Piriemen”. ʸ

An ‘Immunity From Strikes’ ballot was favourably passed by members of the Australian Workers Union (the largest union concerned) whether or not he favours an agreement which will give the Port Pine Smelters immunity from participation in any strike during the war. ʴ

Smelter employees who enlisted in WW1 had their soldiers pay topped up while away to that of their wage when they were working in the smelters. More than 40 were killed and the smelters also supplemented their war and the widow’s pensions.ͮ

When World War 1 hostilities ceased the smelter labour force was about 2,500 and £1,500,00 of lead was on the stacking area ready for shipping. ᶺ

Sources:

¹ The Port Pirie Recorder 1 Jun 1914.

² The Port Pirie Recorder 22 Apr 1915.

³ The Port Pirie Recorder 20 Aug 1914.

ʰ The Port Pirie Recorder 19 Jun 1915.

ʷ Port Pirie Recorder and North Western Mail 19 Jan 1916.

ʸ Port Pirie Recorder and North Western Mail 22 Jan 1916.

ʴ Port Pirie Recorder and North Western Mail 22 Sep 1917.

ͮ Ken Madigan- Former Mayor and War Historian

ᶺThe Port Pirie Recorder 16 Sep 1939.