|
Northern Smelters was established in 1966 by Dal Hayes, whose experience with metal started with his father in the 1920’s, reclaiming lead from used motor car batteries at a time when the general method of disposal was the town dump.
Dal Hayes was an avid reader at places such as the State Library in Sydney, of all available publications on the subject of smelting and refining of tin and lead, and as a young man found employment where he could further educate himself on these topics. Though he had no formal education, his knowledge of metallurgy became highly-regarded by those in the industry, and his opinion was sought by well-qualified people in Australia and overseas.
During the 1950’s and 60’s Dal Hayes established at the present location, where he made typemetal and provided a recycling service, reclaiming and refining metal for the newspaper industry. His representative travelled from North Queensland to South Australia, picking up used metal for refining, and delivering re-standardised refined metal. Waste was packed and returned by rail and new metal sent on to be picked up for delivery as the driver progressed around the country, supplying every regional newspaper on the East Coast.
This was the foundation of Northern Smelters. It was very successful until hot metal printing ceased. Solder became the focus again. Because the business was paying $4000 extra per tonne to a government-aided monopoly for tin, Dal decided to build a smelter and produce tin ingot.
In 1985 the tin market collapsed. Tin prices dropped to less than half in value, and most mines closed. The big smelter in Sydney closed, and for the next eighteen years Northern Smelters continued as Australia’s only producer of pure tin, accepting raw material from the remaining mines, and providing a market for their product.
Dal Hayes was an astute and enthusiastic manager of the business until his death at 82 in 1996. Now in the hands of his family, the company has continued to adapt to the market.
Lead-free alloys, electronics solder, pewter, casting alloys and tin anodes for electroplating have taken the place of the solders which were once the mainstay of the business, and our market has widened to include all of Australia, with exports to Asia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the Pacific. |