Port Kembla smoke stack demolished

One cheeky Port Kembla local has given a final full-moon salute to the region's iconic copper stack moments before its demolition.

The man, wearing only a white T-shirt and no pants, stood in the background of Channel Nine reporter Mike Dalton's shot, as he chatted to locals about the significance of the stack

Thousands of locals gathered to farewell the 1965 industrial giant with 100 explosives turning the 198m column to rubble just after 11am.

A 500m explosion zone was set up around the structure, with about 250 residences evacuated for the event.

As part of the demolition, 934 holes were drilled into the stack to hold the explosives, Port Kembla Copper general manager Ian Wilson explained.

"There are explosives to blow a wedge out of the base of the stack to knock out a part of the base," he said.

"The stack falls in that direction. The top part can’t fall fast enough to keep up with the bottom, so it’s likely to split into two or three pieces. It will fall broadly to the north."

The demolition had been years in the making and was met with mixed reactions.

The PKC smelter closed down in 2003 and despite the company's best efforts to keep the site as a tourist attraction, an application to have it demolished was lodged in 2010.

The discovery of asbestos in 2011 saw its last puff pushed back to 2014.

Author: Chloe Ross, Approving editor: Simon Black