The town of Port Hedland in northwest Australia.
Outback Town That Rivaled Manhattan’s Prices Now Gathers Dust
- Residents of world's largest iron-ore port rue air pollution
- Port Hedland ships millions of tons of Australian ore each day
Of all the mining-town booms spawned by China’s insatiable appetite for minerals, few were as epic as that of Australia’s Port Hedland.
In one of the most remote corners of the Earth, its real estate was more expensive than in Manhattan, service workers earned bankers’ salaries, and its small airport began running direct flights to Bali, where miners bought beach houses to relax between stints in the red-stained Pilbara hills.