Iron Knob

Iron Knob is a small village with 201 inhabitants in South Australia on the Eyre Highway on the Eyre Peninsula, which lies 68 km south-west of Port Augusta and 90 kilometers east of Kimba.

Edward John Eyre came in 1839 as the first European in the area and discovered what he called the Ironstone hills (iron stone mountains). 1854 moved James Patten, a shaft breeder, 7 kilometers northeast of Iron Knob Hill at Corunna. A German from Minden, Serious Siekmann, who first worked in the mines of Broken Hill, in 1880 recognized the high quality of the iron deposit and settled with his family in Iron Knob. The mining of iron ore began in 1899, and the iron was smelted in Iron Knob. But the iron mining and smelting was completed in 1998, the population left the place and Iron Knob was a ghost town. Before that, the iron was transported by rail to Whyalla with the so-called Tram Iron Knob. There were 2008 reflections due to the high steel prices to operate the iron smelting again and new depots were opened in Prince Iron and Iron Duke.

In the village the Iron Knob Community Tourist center tried the information about the history of mining and mineral resources available to passengers is the place to revive. In Iron Knob, there is the Iron Knob Motel Roadhouse and between Iron Knob and Port Augusta is the Pandurra station with a motel and campground for tourists. Not far from Iron Knob they can reach the wilderness of the Gawler Ranges.