Cockatoo Island is an island in the

Buccaneer Archipelago The Buccaneer Archipelago is a group of islands off the coast of Western Australia near the town of Derby in the Kimberley region. The closest inhabited place is Bardi located about from the western end of the island group. , a new marine ...

off the coast of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

near the town of

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

. It was mined for iron ore by the

Broken Hill Proprietary Company BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

from 1951 until 1984. Koolan Island is a neighbouring island that was also mined by BHP for high grade iron ore. It was most recently mined by Perth-based mining company, Pluton Resources until the company was placed under administration in September 2015.

History

The ironstone of Cockatoo Island was known to pearl luggers in the 1880s, who used it as ballast on their voyages.

Australian Iron & Steel Australian Iron & Steel was an Australian iron and steel manufacturer. History Public company (1928-1935) Australian Iron & Steel (AI&S) was established in 1928 to take over the business of Hoskins Iron & Steel. That company had already comme ...

acquired leases to the island's mineral deposits in 1928. That company became a subsidiary of

, in 1935, bringing with it the leases. The island was first surveyed in 1930, then again more comprehensively in 1936. The island was evacuated with the outbreak of World War II and work on the deposit did not resume until 1944. By October 1945 over 100 men were employed on Cockatoo Island and work was underway laying a foundation for the processing plant, building a jetty and layout the township. Iron ore mining began in 1951. The first shipment of iron ore from the island was made in the vessel Iron Yampi, which was purpose-built at the Whyalla shipyard. It was one of a fleet of four bulk-carriers built to transport the ore for smelting at Australian steelworks. The Iron Kimberley was another of them. In 1952, the island's population numbered 150. By 1954, the mine was capable of shipping up to 2 million tonnes of iron ore annually. The townsite established by BHP contained a school, movie theatre, and even a lockup prison. BHP continued to operate the mine and manage the township until 1984 when the ore body had been mined down to sea level. During the 1980s businessman Alan Bond and wife, Eileen Bond, opened a tourist resort using the old mining village's infrastructure. The resort was closed and sold to HWE Mining who provided the chalets for their workers to use. HWE Mining and Portman Mining Ltd re-opened operations in the 1990s by first retreating waste-rock from old BHP dumps, then forming a seawall and commencing mining below sea level. In the 21st century, Perth-based company Pluton Resources mined there, until the company entered administration in September 2015. In 2020, Cockatoo Island Mining Pty Ltd whose directors reside in Australia,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, and mainland China, was granted a lease for the island until 2032, after consideration by the

Foreign Investment Review Board The Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), "examines proposals by foreign persons to invest in Australia and makes recommendations to the Treasurer on those subject to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 and Australia's f ...

. Concern was expressed by Senator

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells Concetta Anna Fierravanti-Wells (born 20 May 1960) is an Australian politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 2005 to 2022, representing the Liberal Party. She served as Minister for International Development and the Pacific in th ...

among others that this lease was near the mainland Yampi Sound Training Area used by the Australian Defence Force.Chinese takeover of island near Australian military training area causes unease inside defence and government
Andrew Greene,

ABC News Online ABC News, or ABC News and Current Affairs, is a public news service produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Broadcasting within Australia and the rest of the world, the service covers both local and world affairs. The division of ...

, 2021-03-12

References

{{Towns Kimberley WA Buccaneer Archipelago