Selwyn Range (Australia)


The Selwyn Range is a rugged mountain range near Mount Isa and Cloncurry in north-west Queensland, Australia, composed largely of Proterozoic metamorphic rocks. It is drained in the north by the Williams and Fullarton rivers, which run into the Gulf of Carpentaria, and in the south by the McKinlay River and its tributary, Boorama Creek which drain also into the Gulf of Carpentaria. The area is heavily mineralised, containing copper, gold, lead, and zinc, and is important for mining.
The Kalkadoon people are the traditional owners of the land. Kalkatunga is an Australian Aboriginal language. The Kalkatunga language region is North-West Queensland including the local government areas of the City of Mount Isa.
The climate of the Selwyn Range is tropical, monsoonal and semi-arid, with an erratic, mainly summer, annual rainfall of 380 mm. Vegetation cover is low eucalypt woodland and spinifex grassland.