Silica Department for Energy and Mining
BHP Ltd commenced mining of lump silica from this massive quartz reef 37 km northwest of Whyalla in 1949 The quarry was opened to supply a ferroalloy plant at Newcastle which closed in 1976 and the Bell Bay ferroalloy plant in Tasmania from 1976 until 1991 It also supplies silica for use as an additive in blast furnace flux at the Whyalla Steelworks Production for this purpose in 1999