Hamersley Range

Hamersley Range, mountains in the Pilbara region, northwestern Western Australia, extending east-southeast for 160 miles (260 km) south of the Fortescue River. Part of an ancient tableland broken by faults and gorges, the range terminates in rocky headlands and coral islets at the Indian Ocean. It includes the highest peak in Western Australia, Mount Meharry (4,111 feet [1,253 m]), which lies southeast of Wittenoom Gorge.

The range is important for its minerals, particularly iron ore. After 1960 large iron mines were developed at Mount Tom Price, Mount Newman, Paraburdoo, Pannawonica, and other sites; by the early 1990s the range accounted for more than 90 percent of Australia’s iron ore production. Railroads carry the ore to Dampier and Port Hedland on the coast, where it is processed and shipped abroad, principally to Japan. Blue asbestos, discovered at Wittenoom in 1917, was mined intermittently during the 1930s and methodically after 1943; a plant for the extraction of the mineral fibre was built there in 1950, but asbestos mining was discontinued in 1966 because of high production costs. Gold is found in small quantities. Part of the area, other than the mining sites, forms Hamersley Range National Park, where the wildlife includes red kangaroos, wallaroos, and dingoes. The range was visited in 1861 by Francis T. Gregory, an explorer and mineral surveyor, and was named for Edward Hamersley, one of the backers of Gregory’s expedition.