Newman

Newman, Western Australia

Newman, mining town, northwestern Western Australia. It lies in the East Pilbara region near Mount Newman, the highest peak (3,455 feet [1,053 metres]) in the Ophthalmia Range, about 735 miles (1,180 km) northeast of Perth.

Newman, Western Australia

The area was inhabited by the Martu Aboriginal people for some 26,000 years. It was little explored by Europeans until the late 19th century. Both the town and the mountain were named for Aubrey Woodward Newman, who died while planning an expedition in the region in 1896. The first settler family there established a livestock station in 1901, where they raised sheep and cattle. For much of the 20th century, it remained a little-developed pastoral area.

The town of Newman was constructed during 1967–69 by the Mount Newman Mining Company Proprietary Ltd. as the residential and service centre for the iron-ore-mining development at nearby Mount Whaleback, one of the largest such projects in the world. In 1975 about 60,000 shrubs and trees were planted at Newman in an attempt to soften its harsh environment. In 1979 an iron-ore-processing plant was completed there, and large quantities of ore began to be exported annually by rail through Port Hedland to the northwest. Mining operations were taken over by the BHP Billiton conglomerate in the early 1990s. Pop. (2006) urban centre, 4,245; (2011) urban centre, 5,478.