Memories of Hawks Nest and rare minerals mining

WITH our Prime Minister visiting the United States to do deals with rare earths, it took me back to a time when some of our local sand minerals were in demand.

The Mineral Deposits Company, 80 percent American owned, began operations here in 1967.

My American husband and I were having a working visit to Australia at that time, and, since my parents lived in Tea Gardens, we rented a house in Hawks Nest and both worked for the mining company.

Roger was the Purchasing Officer and I worked in the lab checking to see how effectively the separation plant was working. Officially I was the First Aid person – fortunately I was not required for that very often – but my position there was cut short by an unexpected pregnancy.

This all came at a time when there was a slump in the employment rate and local unemployment was up, so a projected population increase of 500 would greatly accelerate the development of the area.
Urgent priority was given to the construction of a bridge across the Myall River and the company contributed to its cost.

In preparation for mining to start, over $1,000,000 (a fortune then) was spent on roads, electricity supply, plant and housing. Production was expected to be 40,000 tons each of rutile and zircon per year once the mining was established.

The proposed mining area was also planned to be included in a National Park.

This happened in 1972 and its area has been extended since.

Conservationists wanted to make sure the area was maintained and that only three percent would be affected by mining.  After the dredging was completed along each section of beach the vegetation was replaced by native shrubs.

However, when walking along some of our tracks in the park we still come across an occasional dam where a dredge would have worked.

The Mineral Deposits administration buildings were on the left hand side of the Mungo Brush road, just before the National Park entrance sign.

Rutile is the ore of titanium, and because of its corrosion resistance and ability to withstand extremes of temperature it was needed to sheath the first lunar landing craft.

As well as in the space program, it is also used in submarines, jets and supersonic aircraft.

Zircon is also used extensively in the paint and paper industries and as a welding flux.

Even in the Press Club telecast last week, the speaker, Dr Timms, was congratulated on the production of the first artificial heart – titanium was part of making this medical advance possible.

Mineral Deposits closed its production in Hawks Nest in 2003, but the need for these minerals and for rare earths continues.

By Anne JOHNSON, Tea Gardens Family Research and Local History