Location: 460 Kms. North-East of
Adelaide and 110 Kms. South-West of
Broken Hill. Mr. Arthur J Smith first pegged a claim in March 1906 and it was known as Smith’s Carnotite
Mine, later to become Radium
Hill. A township to support 1100 people was built, with water being piped from NSW, a railway spur constructed to connect Radium
Hill with the
Broken Hill –
Port Pirie line, and a power transmission line constructed from
Morgan. Between 1949 and 1952, the Housing Trust built 145 houses, many prefabricated. A
population of 867 was recorded at the township in 1961. The residential area comprised houses, a hospital, school, government retail store, canteens, swimming pool, and other support, recreational and commercial facilities. Following closure of the site in 1961, much of the
infrastructure and buildings were dismantled and/or removed, together with some remedial measures considered suitable for the day being undertaken. This largely involved the backfilling of a number of the
mine openings, and possibly (although not verified) minor armouring of the main tailings impoundment at the same time.