| Port Pirie South Australia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The lead smelter and grain silos at the wharf of Port Pirie | |||||||||
  Port Pirie | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°11′9″S 138°1′1″E / 33.18583°S 138.01694°E | ||||||||
| Population | 13,896[1] (2021 census) | ||||||||
| Established | 1845 | ||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 5540 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 4 m (13 ft) | ||||||||
| Time zone | ACST (UTC+9:30) | ||||||||
| • Summer (DST) | ACDT (UTC+10:30) | ||||||||
| Location | 223 km (139 mi) from Adelaide | ||||||||
| LGA(s) | Port Pirie Regional Council | ||||||||
| Region | Mid North | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Stuart[2] | ||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Grey[3] | ||||||||
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Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, 223 km (139 mi)[4] north of the state capital, Adelaide. Port Pirie is the largest city and the main retail centre of the Mid North region of South Australia. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South Australia, and is currently the second most important and second busiest port in SA.[5]
At the 2021 Census, Port Pirie had a population of 13,896.[1] Port Pirie is the eighth most populous city in South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, Gawler, Mount Barker, Whyalla, Murray Bridge and Port Lincoln.
The city's economy is dominated by one of the world's largest lead smelters,[6] operated by Nyrstar.[7] It also produces refined silver, copper, acid, gold and various other by-products.
In 2014, the smelter underwent a $650 million upgrade, of which $291 million was underwritten by the state government to replace some of the old existing plant and to reduce airborne lead emissions drastically.[8] Regardless of these upgrades, blood lead levels in young children continue to rise. In 2021 a report from the South Australian Health Department found an average blood level of 7.3 mg/dL in young children, compared to a finding of 5.3 mg/dL in 2014, and an upward trend of airborne lead levels.[9]
- ^ a b "2021 Port Pirie (Significant Urban Area), Census All persons QuickStats". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
- ^ "District of Stuart Background Profile". Electoral Commission SA. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ "Profile of the electoral division of Grey (SA)". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ UBD South Australia and Northern Territory Country Road Atlas, 6th Edition, 2005. Universal Publishers Pty Ltd. ISBN 0 7319 1606 9
- ^ https://www.stateprosperity.sa.gov.au/upper-spencer-gulf
- ^ Port Pirie's lead smelter at risk of breaching licence to operate due to spike in lead levels ABC News, 8 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
- ^ "Port Pirie Overview". Nyrstar Limited. Archived from the original on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2006.
- ^ Port Pirie smelter could reopen old high-polluting sinter plant after new infrastructure damaged ABC News, 13 August 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
- ^ Port Pirie lead levels in two-year-olds hit 10-year high after Nyrstar's EPA licence breach ABC News, 22 February 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.