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Events/Discovery · 1952

Lang Hancock spots iron ore in the Hamersley Range

Discovery, 1952, Australia.

What happened

Hancock spotted a black outcrop of iron ore while flying over the Hamersley Range above the Turner River and Boolgeeda Creek.1,2,3

Why it matters

It led to the Pilbara iron ore industry once the embargo ended.1,2,3

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Bayan Obo iron deposit found

    Bayan Obo is the source of much of China's rare earth supply.4,5

  2. Commonwealth bans iron ore exports

    The ban held back the Pilbara until 1960.2,6

  3. Sweden sends 10.1 Mt of iron ore to Germany

    Germany took 10,085,817 t, and Narvik shipments were up about 70 per cent on 1942.7,8

  4. Lang Hancock spots iron ore in the Hamersley Range

    It led to the Pilbara iron ore industry once the embargo ended.1,2,3

  5. Iron ore export embargo lifted

    It opened the way for Mount Tom Price, Mount Newman and later Pilbara mines.1,2,6

  6. Tom Price gazetted

    Town gazetted for the Mount Tom Price iron ore mine.9

  7. Mount Newman railway is built in 21 months

    The 426 km line used 870,000 sleepers and 25 bridges.10,11

  8. Mount Newman railway opens

    Mount Newman railway opens.12

Open the full timeline

Where next

People

Discovered byLang HancockLang Hancock is part of this story: Lang Hancock spots iron ore in the Hamersley Range.1

Mines

Located inHamersley Mines - Mount Tom PriceHancock spotted a black outcrop of iron ore over the Hamersley Range.1

Events

Led toIron ore export embargo liftedHancock's 1952 find had to wait for the embargo to end in 1960.1Came out ofCommonwealth bans iron ore exportsHancock spotted the outcrop in 1952, during the embargo.1

Sources

  1. Lang Hancock (Mining and Energy Western Australia exhibition) State Library of Western Australia
  2. Iron Ore (Mining and Energy Western Australia exhibition) State Library of Western Australia
  3. Hamersley Range (item Q1573394), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. Bulletin 2143, Bayan Obo: Introduction US Geological Survey
  5. Bayan Obo Mining District (item Q8895769), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  6. Canberra (item Q3114), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  7. Foreign Relations of the United States 1944 vol. IV, document 443 (Swedish iron ore exports) US Department of State, Office of the Historian
  8. Wikidata item Q2602547 (Kiruna Mine)
  9. Local History Strategy 2025-2029 Shire of Ashburton
  10. Railway Line from Port Hedland to Newman (place record) Heritage Council of Western Australia (inHerit)
  11. Wikidata item Q610345 (Mount Whaleback mine)
  12. Wikidata item Q6922402 (Mount Newman railway opens)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Autonomous trucks by RobSimmons223311, CC BY-SA 4.0; Conveyors, rail and ports by Kabelleger / David Gubler, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Kirunavaara gruva, Kiruna., Fotograf okänd, / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).