Two small remote Western Australian islands, including one which featured an exclusive resort by colourful property tycoon Alan Bond, will be transformed into transport logistics hubs following a multi-million-dollar sale.
For 70 years, MGX (formerly Mount Gibson Iron) has operated a below-sea-level iron ore mine on Koolan Island.
But with the company shifting its focus to mining gold instead, iron ore operations on the island are winding up.
Perth-based Crestlink has bought Koolan Island for $20 million with the aim of turning it into a sea and air hub for offshore oil and gas, marine industries, security, defence and fuel storage.
Koolan Island’s high grade iron ore has been mined since the 1950s but operations will cease this year. (Supplied: MGX)
Koolan’s assets include a 300-bed camp, a 2-kilometre-long runway and deepwater port, almost 2,000 kilometres north of Perth in the Buccaneer Archipelago.
MGX chief executive Peter Kerr said it took a long time to find the right buyer.
“More importantly for us the buyer has a good engagement with traditional owners,” he said.
The deal still needs to pass the Foreign Investment Review Board but both companies are anticipating the deal will close within six months.
Playground island
Once home to an exclusive resort owned by Alan Bond, Cockatoo Island is expected to become a $300 million multi-user hub alongside its island neighbour in Koolan.
The resort on the eastern side of Cockatoo Island formerly owned by Alan Bond. (Supplied)
Crestlink gained approval for the hub on Cockatoo Island from the WA environment minister in November 2025.
It’s a far cry from the exclusive haven Alan and his wife Eileen developed there in the 1980s for wealthy holiday makers, who were able to dock their yachts in the remote archipelago and relax in an infinity pool 100 metres above sea level.
The late Alan Bond at the peak of his powers in the early 1980s. (Supplied: Grant Simmer)
The long-defunct resort, which was once famously painted almost all pink, still exists, but is not open for business.
West of the resort, the logistics hub will include a new runway, hangars for long-range helicopters and a floating wharf precinct.
Crestlink founder and chief executive Eanna Doolin said Koolan would then become its second logistics base, with both islands operational by mid-2027.
Cockatoo and Koolan, north of Derby, are close to each other in the Buccaneer Archipelago. (Supplied: Crestlink)
Mr Doolin forecast economic opportunities for the closest mainland town Derby.
“During construction there’ll be 150 to 200 people and then long-term employment over 30, 40 or 50 years,” he said.
There are now three leaseholders on Cockatoo, with Crestlink holding the airstrip and port areas. (Supplied: Crestlink)
Derby-based chairman of Dambimangari Aboriginal Corporation (DAC) Gary Umbagai said people were “excited” by the plans.
“Derby will benefit, not only traditional owners but the local business,” he said.
“There’s also tourism options and employment with Crestlink on both islands. The opportunities are there.”
Mr Umbagai said DAC had a good relationship with both companies and was looking forward to providing cultural inductions to the new workforce.
“We have a story for all those islands from Horizontal Falls to Koolan and Cockatoo,” he said.
Once MGX leaves Koolan Island it will develop a gold mine in the Tanami Desert. (ABC news: Andrew Seabourne)
While no companies have yet signed up to use the hubs, Mr Doolin was confident memorandum of understandings with industry would occur this year.
Mine ‘scarred’ the country
Looking back on the history of Koolan Island’s iron mine, which dates back to the 1950s, Mr Kerr said it was a “challenging site”.
Koolan was once home to almost 1,000 people with its own school, police station, shops and golf course, which doubled as the airstrip.
Only 150 crew remain with MGX on Koolan and Mr Kerr said while there would be redundancies, some workers might be redeployed or transition to Crestlink.
“From the end of this year we’ll focus on development of the Tanami gold project, another remote project which requires many of the skills we needed on Koolan Island,” Mr Kerr said.
MGX will continue exporting its remaining stockpiles of iron ore until July and rehabilitation will continue until it departs the island for the Tanami Desert at the end of 2026.
The most significant challenge will be refilling the mine pit, which will be inundated with each tide through a hole cut in an inner wall.
“The country is scarred and it’s sad for us to see that,”
Mr Umbagai said.
“But we have the opportunity now to rebuild that scar to make it back to the way it was.
“We have that feeling when we go back on country that it heals us. So when country’s not healed, we’ll heal the country.”
