• The area around Wauchope has been the traditional home of the Warumungu, Kaytetye, Alyawarra and Warlpiri people for tens of thousands of years.
• Wauchope is a relatively modern settlement established in 1917 to service the newly established wolfram mining operations and to provide a pub for the workers at the various Barkly Tablelands cattle stations in the area.
• Mining continued from 1917 to 1941 and was determined by the price of tungsten and during this time it was estimated that a little over 1000 tonnes of concentrate were extracted from 10,100 tonnes of quartz mined.
• The Wauchope Hotel opened in 1930 to serve the needs of the miners and cattle workers.
• In April, 1942 the Commonwealth government took over the wolfram operations but further exploration revealed that the quartz provided such low returns and so by the end of 1943 mining was abandoned although it would restart intermittently according to the prices for the mineral.
• In 1951 it was reported that there were about 30 miners working the field.
• Today there is little evidence of the wolfram mining which took place in the area. There are some photos of the old operations on the walls of the Wauchope Hotel.

Source: www.aussietowns.com.au/town/wauchope