Brukunga

{{Short description|Town in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}} {{Use Australian English|date=March 2013}} {{Infobox Australian place| type = town | name = Brukunga | state = sa | image = Brukunga entrance sign.JPG | caption = Western entrance to Brukunga | coordinates = {{coord|35|00|0|S|138|57|0|E|display=inline,title}} | pushpin_label_position = top | lga = District Council of Mount Barker | postcode = 5252 | est = 1952 | pop =  | pop_year = {{CensusAU|2016}} | pop_footnotes = <ref name=Census2016Y /> | elevation= | maxtemp = | mintemp = | rainfall = | stategov = Kavel | fedgov = Mayo | dist1 = 40 | dir1 = east | location1= Adelaide | dist2 = 4 | dir2 = north | location2= Nairne }}

'''Brukunga''' is a small town in the Adelaide Hills, located approximately {{convert|40|km}} east of Adelaide and {{convert|4|km}} north of the town of Nairne.

==History== Its name, derived from ''Barrukungga'' in the local Peramangk<ref>Welcome-to-Peramangk-Country Booklet.pdf pg.3 [https://www.mountbarker.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0030/1218819/Welcome-to-Peramangk-Country-Booklet.pdf]</ref> or Kaurna language, means "place of fire stone"<ref>[http://www.placenames.sa.gov.au/pno/index.jsf SA State Gazetteer > Placenames online] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110094620/http://www.placenames.sa.gov.au/pno/index.jsf |date=10 January 2014 }} Site is a searchable database. Accessed 17 April 2012.</ref> or the "place of hidden fire", and is associated with the creator ancestor of the Kaurna people, Tjilbruke. Tjilbruke's body was said to have been transformed into the outcrop of iron pyrite at Barrukungga.<ref name="Tjilbruke">{{cite web | title=Arts and culture | website=City of Marion | date=7 February 2018 | url=https://www.marion.sa.gov.au/services-we-offer/arts-and-culture/warriparinga?token=s7hdy9okdkxhyoxiqli63_bith5rjhpk | access-date=19 November 2020}}</ref> However the etymology is complex and uncertain. While Brukunga is on Peramangk traditional land, the word Barrukungga has both Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri language elements. Norman Tindale noted that "The natives were well aware of the use of iron pyrites along with flint for the striking of fire and the area near Nairne was one of the places from which they obtained supplies of iron pyrites".<ref name="Schultz 2018">{{cite web | last=Schultz | first=Chester | title=Place Name Summary 6/23: Brukangga and Tindale's uses of the word bruki | website=Adelaide Research & Scholarship | publisher=University of Adelaide | date=22 October 2018 | url=https://www.adelaide.edu.au/kwp/placenames/research-publ/6-23Brukangga.pdf | access-date=16 November 2020 | archive-date=10 September 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910191311/https://www.adelaide.edu.au/kwp/placenames/research-publ/6-23Brukangga.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Between 1955 and 31 May 1972, iron sulphides (mainly as pyrite) was mined at the Nairne Pyrite Mine—later renamed as the Brukunga Mine—immediately west of the town, and transported to Port Adelaide for the production of sulphuric acid, used for manufacturing superphosphate fertiliser.<ref>[http://www.imwa.info/docs/imwa_2005/IMWA2005_029_Armstrong.pdf Armstrong, D. & Cox, R. (2005): The Brukunga Pyrite Mine –South Australia A Review of Developments since Closure in 1972] 9th International Mine Water Congress Oviedo, Asturias, Spain. 5–7 September 2005, pp 201-207 Accessed 6 December 2011.</ref> Oxidation of pyrite in waste dumps and the exposed quarry face led to formation of acid mine drainage containing high levels of cadmium and other heavy metals into the adjacent creek, triggering health warnings by the Environment Protection Agency in 1998.<ref>Keane, A. (1998): Health warnings over Hills creek water. ''The Advertiser'', 1 August 1998.</ref> Since 1980, rehabilitation of the mine site has occurred, including a lime neutralisation plant to treat acid water before it enters the Dawesley Creek,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://outernode.pir.sa.gov.au/minerals/sa_mines/former_mines/brukunga_mine_site |title= Brukunga Mine Site |access-date=6 December 2011 |date= 13 November 2009 |publisher= DMITRE Minerals >...> Former Mines > Brukunga mine site }}</ref> but concerns over water quality remain.<ref>Milnes, M. (2012): [http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/mine-to-stay-toxic-for-years/story-e6frede3-1226291201004 Mine to stay toxic for years] ''The Advertiser'', 7 March 2012. Accessed 17 April 2012.</ref> Revegetation of the site has also progressively occurred since 1988.

==Description== At the 2016 Australian census, Brukunga had a population of 433.<ref name=Census2016Y>{{Census 2016 AUS|id=SSC40174|name=Brukunga (State Suburb) |accessdate=19 November 2020|quick=on}}</ref>

The town is the location of the Country Fire Service training centre and the Claremont Airbase which has been the main operating base for aerial firefighting since 2016.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-11/adelaide-hills-new-country-fire-service-base/8110202 |publisher=ABC News|location=Australia |title=Adelaide Hills gets new CFS air base at Brukunga to support firefighting |date=11 December 2016 |access-date=20 November 2020}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Mining towns in South Australia Category:Adelaide Hills