The area is rich in minerals, and from the 1880s until 1960 the Harts Range area produced most of Australia's
mica and one of these mines was the
Spotted tiger mine. Many of the miners who arrived after the First World War (1918) were
Italian, with no experience of mining. After 1945 Italian immigration to the area increased, many of them with families. Mining occurred mainly in the Central Harts Range District, where the new migrants established settlements. The
Plenty Highway and other transport services were developed as a result of these migrants' activities, and they formed the basis of
Central Australia's Italian community that still exists today. The miners used local
Aboriginal people for labour and for their knowledge. In 2005 the area was shortlisted as a potential site for a
low-level and intermediate-level
radioactive waste storage and disposal facility, raising concerns that the local
hydrogeology could result in spills contaminating the ground water. ==Geology and geography==