Koolyanobbing is located 54 km north-northeast of the town of Southern Cross, Western Australia. Iron ore has been mined here since 1948 by a series of companies, with a break between 1983 and 1993. The ore is currently railed to the port at Esperance for export. The current owner and operator of the lease is Mineral Resources. The place name is of local Aboriginal origin, meaning "place of large rocks."