In 1802 Matthew Flinders sailed along this part of the coastline in the Investigator he commented in the ships log on the 8th November there were “some reddish cliffs” south of Albatross Bay at Pera Head. These cliffs were identified by Harry Evans (Geologist) in 1955 to be a significant deposit of almost pure bauxite.

Today Weipa is a large mining town with a population of over 4,000. The town is managed by the Weipa Town Office under a special act of the Queensland Parliament which gives the town the status of a Special Bauxite Mining Lease and hands control to Comalco Aluminium. The bauxite deposit is the largest known in the world. Most of the bauxite is shipped to Gladstone for processing into aluminium.
 

Weipa is also home to a large Kaolin Plant. Kaolin is a soft fine white clay with many industrial uses including paper coating, rubber and plastic industries, ceramics, and the paint industry. Most of the Kaolin is exported to Japan and South East Asia.

Visitors should be wary of the presence of estuarine crocodiles, marine stingers, venomous sea snakes and sharks which inhabit the waters. Weipa has a local swimming pool at Rocky Point, and two man made lakes, Patricia and McLeod which are used for swimming and sailing.

Weipa has close ties to numerous Aboriginal Communities on the Western Cape: including Napranum (situated approx. 10km from Weipa Township), Aurukun, Mapoon, Injinoo, and New Mapoon.

The easiest way to get to Weipa is by air from Cairns. If you wish to drive the town is approximately 800 km north west of Cairns and over 3,000 km from Brisbane. Driving to Weipa is best attempted by 4WD and during the dry season, most of the road is gravel and in poor condition. The road is impassable during the wet season October till May.

Fishing and Eco tourism businesses are growing enterprises in this area, the fishing being world renown.

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