Ravensthorpe | |||||||||||||
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 Ravensthorpe Community Centre, formerly the Freemasons Hotel, built 1906 | |||||||||||||
  Ravensthorpe | |||||||||||||
 Interactive map of Ravensthorpe | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates:33°34′54″S120°2′49″E / 33.58167°S 120.04694°E /-33.58167; 120.04694 | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Western Australia | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 2,542.7 km2 (981.7 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Elevation | 232 m (761 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 350 (UCL2021)[2] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 6346 | ||||||||||||
| Mean max temp | 22.7 °C (72.9 °F) | ||||||||||||
| Mean min temp | 10.4 °C (50.7 °F) | ||||||||||||
| Annual rainfall | 425.3 mm (16.74 in) | ||||||||||||
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Ravensthorpe is a town 541 km south-east ofPerth and 40 km inland from the south coast ofWestern Australia. It is the seat of government of theShire of Ravensthorpe. At the2021 census, Ravensthorpe had a population of 2,085.[3]
In 1848, the area was surveyed by Surveyor GeneralJohn Septimus Roe who named many of the geographical features nearby, including the Ravensthorpe Range that the town was named after.[4]
There was one of theWestern Australian Government Railways isolated branch lines betweenHopetoun and Ravensthorpe. This line, theHopetoun to Ravensthorpe railway line, opened in 1909.[5][6]
Alluvial gold was discovered at thePhillips River in 1892. At the goldfield ade facto town emerged, known asPhillips River. The government completed construction of acopper andgoldsmelter about 2 km south east of the town in 1906, used to cast copper and goldingots.
A temporary pastoral lease ("Free Run") was registered by James Dunn senior in 1868. His five sons and daughter started sheep farming at the property, Cocanarup (20 km west of the present town), in 1871, after George and John Dunn drove a herd fromAlbany. In 1873 the family was granted a permanent lease of 4,049 hectares (10,010 acres).[7][4]
The region is infamous for the Ravensthorpe Massacre, also called theCocanarup Massacre, where many Noongar people were massacred in revenge for the fatal spearing of John Dunn in 1880. Dunn had allegedly raped a 13 year old Noongar girl.[8][9][10]
By 1901, the population had climbed to over 1,000 and the government gazetted the town, renaming it Ravensthorpe.[11][12] The area continued to prosper and the population grew accordingly, by 1909 the population was over 3000. The prosperity was short-lived;World War I took its toll on the town and by 1918 the local copper smelter had closed and many of the copper and gold mines had closed.[13] The population of the town in 1968 was approximately 800 people.[14]Ravensthorpe Airport opened in 2004.[15]
After the war Ravensthorpe survived servicing the farming in the district. Agriculture in the area began to grow following the GreatDepression and pastoral land releases occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. The surrounding areas producewheat and othercereal crops. The town is areceival site forCooperative Bulk Handling.[16] A bulk wheat bin was constructed in the town in 1947capable of holding over 30,000bushels.[17]
BHP Billiton commenced a feasibility study in 2002 into opening anickel andcobalt mine and processing plant[18] 35 km east of the town.[19]The project was approved in 2004 and construction commenced shortly afterward. The plant known as the Ravensthorpe Nickel Project was commissioned in late 2007 with first production occurring in October and the first 5000 tonnes being produced by December 2007.[20] The plant was officially opened in 2008.[21]
In January 2009, BHP Billiton announced that it was suspending production at the Ravensthorpe nickel mine indefinitely, due to the reduction in world nickel prices caused by theglobal economic crisis. The decision cut 1,800 jobs and had a major impact on the local economy.[22]
On 9 December 2009, BHP sold the Ravensthorpe mine, on which it had spent A$2.4 billion to build, toToronto-basedFirst Quantum Minerals for US$340 million. First Quantum was one of three bidders for the mine and actually produced the lowest offer. The Canadian company planned to have the mine back in production in mid-2011.[23] In 2017 the mine was put into care and maintenance due to low nickel prices.[24] Production resumed in January 2020 with First Quantum Minerals selling a 30% shareholding in the mine toPOSCO in May 2021.[25][26][27] In April 2024, it was announced the mine would once again be placed into care and maintenance, due to falling nickel prices.[28]
TheMt Cattlin mine is aspodumene-tantalite mine 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) north of the town. It was operated byGalaxy Resources between 2009 and 2012 before being placed on care-and-maintenance in 2013. Mine production restarted on 31 March 2016. In January 2017 the first shipment of 10,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate was consigned fromEsperance toLianyungang, China.[29][30][31] Mt Cattlin mine was placed into care and maintenance in July, 2025.[32]
The Ravensthorpe Copper Mine operated in the area in the 1960s. In 1967 the mine produced 3,276 tonnes (3,224 long tons) of copper concentrate averaging about 23% Copper. The concentrate was trucked to the port ofEsperance for shipment toJapan.[14]
Ravensthorpe has asemi-arid climate (BSk) with aMediterranean rainfall pattern.
| Climate data for Ravensthorpe | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 45.4 (113.7) | 46.0 (114.8) | 41.6 (106.9) | 38.2 (100.8) | 33.9 (93.0) | 27.0 (80.6) | 26.1 (79.0) | 31.0 (87.8) | 33.0 (91.4) | 38.1 (100.6) | 42.1 (107.8) | 43.3 (109.9) | 46.0 (114.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 28.9 (84.0) | 28.4 (83.1) | 26.6 (79.9) | 23.7 (74.7) | 20.1 (68.2) | 17.3 (63.1) | 16.4 (61.5) | 17.4 (63.3) | 19.7 (67.5) | 22.5 (72.5) | 24.9 (76.8) | 27.4 (81.3) | 22.8 (73.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 14.2 (57.6) | 14.7 (58.5) | 13.7 (56.7) | 11.9 (53.4) | 9.6 (49.3) | 7.9 (46.2) | 6.8 (44.2) | 6.7 (44.1) | 7.5 (45.5) | 9.1 (48.4) | 11.0 (51.8) | 12.8 (55.0) | 10.5 (50.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 5.9 (42.6) | 5.6 (42.1) | 3.3 (37.9) | 3.3 (37.9) | 1.3 (34.3) | −0.5 (31.1) | −1.0 (30.2) | −0.1 (31.8) | 0.0 (32.0) | 1.2 (34.2) | 2.1 (35.8) | 4.3 (39.7) | −1.0 (30.2) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 23.9 (0.94) | 26.1 (1.03) | 32.5 (1.28) | 32.1 (1.26) | 43.3 (1.70) | 43.2 (1.70) | 46.4 (1.83) | 45.6 (1.80) | 41.3 (1.63) | 38.0 (1.50) | 30.4 (1.20) | 23.3 (0.92) | 425.7 (16.76) |
| Average precipitation days | 5.8 | 6.0 | 7.8 | 8.3 | 10.8 | 12.3 | 13.2 | 13.0 | 11.4 | 9.9 | 7.7 | 6.0 | 112.2 |
| Average afternoonrelative humidity (%) | 47 | 48 | 49 | 51 | 56 | 60 | 58 | 56 | 51 | 48 | 47 | 45 | 51 |
| Source:[33] | |||||||||||||
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