Qualla: Cockatoo Island (Western Australia)

Cockatoo Island (Western Australia): Introduction

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit W.G.Hiley, Public domain. Pearl luggers working these waters in the 1880s noticed something useful about Cockatoo Island: its ironstone was heavy and dense, perfect as ballast for the voyage back from these remote Kimberley anchorages. The iron ore that made a good counterweight was also, it turned out, extraordinarily rich — high-grade haematite in enormous quantities. It would take another sixty years, a world war, and one of Australia's largest mining companies to extract it. By the time BHP was finished, they had dug the island down to sea level.

Image: W.G.Hiley | Public domain

Cockatoo Island (Western Australia): From Ballast to Boom

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit W.G.Hiley, Public domain. Australian Iron and Steel acquired the island's mineral leases in 1928 and was absorbed into BHP by 1935, bringing the leases with it. Surveys in 1930 and 1936 confirmed what the pearl luggers had suspected. When World War II broke out, the island was evacuated and work halted; i...

Image: W.G.Hiley | Public domain

Cockatoo Island (Western Australia): The Mine Runs Dry

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit W.G.Hiley, Public domain. BHP operated the mine and managed the township until 1984, when the ore body had been excavated down to sea level. The company ceased operations and the town emptied. Then, in a move that demonstrated either optimism or eccentricity, businessman Alan Bond and his wife Eileen open...

Image: W.G.Hiley | Public domain

Cockatoo Island (Western Australia): Below Sea Level, and Who Owns It

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit W.G.Hiley, Public domain. Pluton Resources mined Cockatoo Island into the twenty-first century, until the company entered administration in September 2015. The island then entered an unusual chapter. In 2020, Cockatoo Island Mining Pty Ltd — a company whose directors reside in Australia, India, Hong Kong,...

Image: W.G.Hiley | Public domain