The Newcastle Steelworks was built by

BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

. Construction commenced in January 1913, with operations commencing in March 1915. It was officially opened on 2 June 1915 by

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Ronald Munro Ferguson Ronald Craufurd Munro Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar, (6 March 1860 – 30 March 1934) was a British politician who served as the List of Governors-General of Australia, sixth Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1914 to 1920. Munro F ...

. Newcastle was selected due to its proximity to the

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its ...

coalfields with the

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

shipped from

Whyalla Whyalla is a city in South Australia. It was founded as Hummock's Hill, and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, and Gawler, and along ...

. Having become one of the largest employers in Australia with a workforce that peaked at 11,000 in 1981, it closed on 30 September 1999. Demolition commenced in 2000. In 2022, the

Department of Planning & Environment The New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) was a department of the New South Wales Government, responsible for effective and sustainable planning to support the growth in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It made pl ...

called for expressions of interest to redevelop the site. The steelworks had a rail network. Initially operated by steam locomotives, 32 and 37 class diesel locomotives were later introduced.Steelworks Sign-Off ''

Railway Digest ''Railway Digest'' is a monthly magazine, published in Sydney, covering contemporary railways in Australia. Overview The magazine is published by the Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS), NSW Division. The first issue was in March 1 ...

'' October 1999 pages 22-24

References

{{Coord, 32.895, S, 151.760, E, format=dms, display=title BHP Industrial buildings in New South Wales Ironworks and steelworks in Australia Manufacturing plants in Australia 1915 establishments in Australia 1999 disestablishments in Australia