Kevin Kakoschke presents...
for the Historical Society of South Australia,
"A Centenary of Radium Hill - Australia's First Uranium Mine"
Kevin Kakoschke was raised in a tent and dugout on the Wadnaminga goldfields near Manna Hill in South Australia, in the late 1930s. As a young man he worked in the Radium Hill mines for 9 years. He is the author of the news bulletin Radio Activity and co-author of the book We Were Radium Hill. At our May meeting he will share with us his reflections on the birth, death, and legacies of the town.
Radium was the most costly and sought after mineral in the world at the beginning of the 20th century and uranium the most sought after in the 1950's for military and energy purposes.
In 1906 Arthur Smith discovered radium/uranium ore 460 km northeast of Adelaide and 110kIn southwest from Broken Hill. The ore was identified and named Davidite by Sir Douglas Mawson who also proposed the name Radium Hill for the site
Intermittent mining occurred between 1906 and 1931. The main uranium mining activity commenced in 1952. In the early 1950's conditions were harsh in that desert environment and the initial exploration and construction work force was housed in tents. The town of Radium Hill was planned as a model mining town contrasting with ancient landscape.
Migrants formed a large proportion of the work force. Local services included shopping, schools, churches and an A.I.M. hospital. Many sporting clubs and other organizations were formed to cater for the varied interests of the local community and surrounding pastoral areas and the unique Radium Hill Social Club played a major role in developing a close knit community spirit for this isolated town of up to 1,200 people. Resident June Thomson, a ten year old lass from Scotland, commented that "mum was more than thrilled with her new home, the best and biggest she had ever had, and free electricity and firewood too." Frank Pignitter, a migrant from Austria, commented that "we were strangers when we arrived but became friends; from being individuals we built a community spirit. That was Radium Hill".
The mine closed on the 21st December 1961. The mine and town died, but historic legacies remain as an important part of our heritage. In the ghost town today there are gum tree lined bitumen streets, beer bottle and boulder bordered garden beds, front doorsteps but no houses, a camping ground and the rehabilitated Radium Hill Pioneers Cemetery.
Memorabilia and artifacts of the people who were Radium Hill are housed in The Radium Hill Heritage Museum located 25 km. away at Tikalina Station.
A re-union will be held at Radium Hill during Easter 2006 to mark the centenary of Radium Hill, with its legacies and memories.