Dave Tapsell
Peko Mine — Copper Concentrate Pots
The Peko Mine had two principal end products: gold and copper. Pure gold (bullion) left the mine in the form of a brick-sized ingot; copper left the mine in the form of bagged concentrate. The concentrate was partially pure (unsmelted) powder, very heavy and very dirty stuff, that was dried in the sun before being bagged up and transported by road trains down the Stuart Highway to the railhead at Alice Springs, where it was transhipped to railway wagons for the journey south to Port Augusta. From there it was shipped to Japan where it was smelted into pure copper. Due to the unavoidable heavy charges for freight (road, rail and ship) from Tennant Creek, the concentrate was ideally at least 26.5% pure copper.
This rake of pots on rail trucks were moved along a short length of railway track (5 ft. gauge) at Peko; traction was provided by an old Massey Ferguson tractor which shoved them up and down the track. The sides of the pots were dented with repeated nudging with the front bucket mounted on the tractor. The stencilled lettering on the side of each pot said, "FULL TO PORT KEMBLA. EMPTY TO TENNANT CREEK". So, before my time at the Peko Mine, the concentrate had been transported, by truck and train, all the way south while remaining in the pots. What happened to the concentrate at the docks remains unknown to me — perhaps someone else knows.
Peko Mine — Copper Concentrate Pots
The Peko Mine had two principal end products: gold and copper. Pure gold (bullion) left the mine in the form of a brick-sized ingot; copper left the mine in the form of bagged concentrate. The concentrate was partially pure (unsmelted) powder, very heavy and very dirty stuff, that was dried in the sun before being bagged up and transported by road trains down the Stuart Highway to the railhead at Alice Springs, where it was transhipped to railway wagons for the journey south to Port Augusta. From there it was shipped to Japan where it was smelted into pure copper. Due to the unavoidable heavy charges for freight (road, rail and ship) from Tennant Creek, the concentrate was ideally at least 26.5% pure copper.
This rake of pots on rail trucks were moved along a short length of railway track (5 ft. gauge) at Peko; traction was provided by an old Massey Ferguson tractor which shoved them up and down the track. The sides of the pots were dented with repeated nudging with the front bucket mounted on the tractor. The stencilled lettering on the side of each pot said, "FULL TO PORT KEMBLA. EMPTY TO TENNANT CREEK". So, before my time at the Peko Mine, the concentrate had been transported, by truck and train, all the way south while remaining in the pots. What happened to the concentrate at the docks remains unknown to me — perhaps someone else knows.