The town is located 113 kilometres south of Burnie, and was established primarily to accommodate workers and their families who were part of the Savage River iron ore project.

In the 1800s, mining companies were only interested in gold and silver extraction, until the Rio Tinto Company spent 13,000 pounds exploring the iron ore belt, which was so prolific in the area in 1896. Again in 1926 an English mining company assessed the viability of extracting the ore and exporting it via the Pieman River. The ore had a low iron content and a high level of titanium, which is an impurity - this coupled with the dense bushlands in the area made mining a very expensive and arduous task.

Only recently an economically viable method was developed to extract the rich ore deposits. Using the open cut method of extraction, the ore is crushed in three stages, with the ore reduced to a fine powder. This powder is concentrated to about 65% iron, and mixed with water to form a slurry.

This is then pumped through a 53 mile long, 9 inch diameter pipe to Port Latta. This scheme was financed by American, Australian and Japanese companies, and cost $62 million. This project is one of the biggest investments made by a Japanese Company in the mining area anywhere in the world. Visitors to the area can tour the Savage River Mines complex on stopovers to Corinna.


Tours of the mines complex can be embarked on from the Security Gate at the mine at 9am and 2pm each Tuesday and Thursday. Visitors wishing to view the mill section of the mines must wear correct footwear and slacks. Children under 12 years will not be granted entry to the mill sections of the mine.

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