Koolyanobbing, Western Australia

Koolyanobbing is located 54 km (34 mi) north-northeast of the town of Southern Cross, Western Australia. Iron ore has been mined here since 1948 by a series of companies, with a break between 1983 and 1993. The ore is currently railed to the port at Esperance for export. The current owner and operator of the lease is Mineral Resources Limited.

Koolyanobbing
Western Australia
Koolyanobbing is located in Western Australia
Koolyanobbing
Koolyanobbing
Coordinates30.82°S 119.52°E / -30.82; 119.52
Population93 (SAL 2021)[1]
Established1965
Postcode(s)6427
Elevation343 m (1,125 ft)
Area527.6 km2 (203.7 sq mi)
Location
LGA(s)Shire of Yilgarn
State electorate(s)Central Wheatbelt
Federal division(s)O'Connor

The place name is of local Aboriginal origin, meaning "place of large rocks."[2]

History

The first European to visit the area was Charles Cooke Hunt in 1864 who explored the Koolyanobbing range that is situated nearby.

The next European to visit the area, in 1887 and later in 1891, was a gold prospector named Henry Dowd, who thought that the rocks in the area were of no value. He recorded his findings and stored them in a bottle that was buried next to a survey peg and which was found again in 1963 at what is now known as Dowd Hill.[3]

Iron ore was first mined at Koolyanobbing from 1948.[4] It was sent by truck to Southern Cross from where it was shipped by rail to Wundowie, where there was a state-owned blast furnace.[5]

The town was established to service a new iron ore mine in the 1960s at Dowd Hill. The town was gazetted in 1965.[6] The former Eastern Goldfields Railway between Southern Cross and Kalgoorlie was realigned for change to standard gauge, and to service the Koolyanobbing mine.[7]

Dampier Mining Co Ltd, a subsidiary of BHP, mined iron ore between 1967 and 1983. Ore was shipped by rail to Kwinana, near Perth, to supply Australian Iron & Steel's (also a BHP subsidiary ) blast furnace. The closure of the Kwinana blast furnace in 1982 resulted in suspension of iron ore mining at Koolyanobbing until 1993. Mining of iron ore was resumed at Koolyanobbing from 1993 by Portman Mining, the operation then being taken over by Cliffs Natural Resources in 2008.[4] In July 2018, Cliffs subsidiary Cliffs Asia Pacific Iron Ore sold the operation to Western Australian company Mineral Resources Limited, and a short break in production occurred until November 2018 as the new owners took control.[8]

WA Salt Supply produces salt at Lake Deborah, 20 km (12 mi) to the north, which is railed from Koolyanobbing to Kwinana.[9]

The Koolyanobbing Range supports many endemic, priority and one declared rare flora species.

Rail services

The Prospector service, which runs each way between East Perth and Kalgoorlie once or twice each day, stops at Koolyanobbing.[10]

Preceding station Transwa Transwa Following station
Southern Cross
towards East Perth
 Prospector Bonnie Vale
towards Kalgoorlie

See also

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Koolyanobbing (Suburb and Locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. 
  2. Boyle, Bronwyn, "Do or die for Koolyanobbing", The Wheatbelt Mercury, 27 November 1991, p. 12-13
  3. "Shire of Yilgarn - Tourism - Koolyanobbing". 2007. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  4. "Koolyanobbing, Yilgarn Shire, Western Australia, Australia". mindat.org. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  5. Relix & Fiona Bush Heritage and Archaeology. "WUNDOWIE CONSERVATION PLAN" (PDF). p. 15.
  6. "History of country town names – K". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  7. Western Australian Government Railways Commission. Railway Standardisation Agreement (Western Australia) no. 67 of 1961. Matters involving variation of the Agreement and requiring Commonwealth approval as at 10 August 1963. This variation to contract resulted in a route change that took the Standard gauge railway from Kalgoorlie to Perth via Koolyanobbing then Southern Cross. http://henrietta.liswa.wa.gov.au/record=b2269846~S2
  8. "Koolyanobbing Iron Ore Mine". MiningTechnology. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  9. "WA Salt Supply". Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  10. "Prospector Timetable" (PDF). Transwa. Public Transport Authority. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
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