Agent TypeOrganisationActivities & OccupationsMetals extractorsMining companiesHistoryFounded in 1907, ER&S operated as a copper and fine metals smelter and refinery at Port Kembla from 1908 to 1994.It was established to exploit an electrolytic refining process developed in the USA, and initially two thirds of its shares were held by Mount Morgan Ltd and the balance by the German firm Aron Hirsch und Sohn. War time 'enemy trading' provisions forced a severance of the company's German connections through 1915. Following the post war boom, trading conditions forced a progressive reduction in the plant's operations exacerbated by the onset of the 1930s depression. The company came further into the Collins House group's control during the period from 1918 with board meetings alternating between Sydney and Melbourne, thereafter transferring to BHAS rooms in Melbourne in 1928. For periods the smelter and complex was considered the largest copper smelter in the world. Following take over of BHS and North's interests by CRA in 1980 the company changed its name to Southern Copper Limited. The smelter's operations were curtailed in 1994.
Electrolytic Refining And Smelting Co. University of Melbourne Archives, accessed 14/05/2026, https://archives.library.unimelb.edu.au/nodes/view/60626
