Minnipa's silo blocks tower over the scene as NJ2, an 830 and another NJ head another load of grain to Port Lincoln in the mid-1990s. Photo: Greg O'Brien
Bulk handling of grain came late to South Australia, and the first installations on Eyre Peninsula opened in 1958. Minnipa's first silos were erected in 1962. A second silos block was erected in 1968, and the original block was extended in 1969.
Block No.
Year
Configuration
Capacity (tonnes)
1
1962
4 main, 1 interspace concrete cells
8,900
1969
6 main, 2 interspace concrete cells
9,900
2
1968
6 main, 2 interspace concrete cells
13,800
Total
32,600
Blocks 2 (nearest camera) and 1 are seen in this 1974 scene at Minnipa. The then-new rotating jib crane is in the foreground. Photo: Alex Grunbach
Block 1 at Minnipa in 1998. The original cells (nearest the camera) and the later extension can be clearly differentiated. The outloader on the right is for block 2. Photo: Peter Knife