The mining industry in the desert of Western Australia exposes some fundamental problems associated with development in small settlements, such as Leonora. This paper focuses on barriers to women’s employment (comprising a very small proportion of the paid work-force), male prevalence in fly-in–fly-out practice and dominance of patriarchal values which reinforce industry’s own traditions. It provides a gender-related analysis of the relations of patriarchy, which appear to be central for the unsustainability of mining. The paper concludes that one reason for the current palpable ecological and social problems is that development has been largely determined by masculine behaviour and values.