SAVAGE RIVER

town, western Tasmania, Australia, between the Savage and Whyte rivers. Iron ore was discovered there in 1877, and in 1965 a Japanese, Australian, and American consortium was formed to develop the opencut iron deposits. The town of Savage River was built for the workers, and a road was built to Waratah (about 25 miles northeast). To overcome transport difficulties presented by rough terrain, a mill was constructed at the mine to concentrate the ore to 67 percent iron. The concentrate is then crushed to a fine powder and combined with water to form a slurry, which is piped 53 miles (85 km) north to Port Latta. There, the slurry is dried and pelletized for export. Pop. (1991) 540.