29-05-2025
Outback cattle station May Downs sells for $47.5m to Australian company
A historic outback cattle station has been bought at auction for $47.5 million by a Queensland family pastoral company.
The 233,000 hectare May Downs Station was sold by Lord Cattle to McMillan Pastoral Company, based in Cloncurry.
The property has been under the ownership of the Lord family for 39 years and has never been destocked, indicating a resilient pasture base and successful management.
Located 28 kilometres west of Mount Isa, the lease backs onto the prominent Mount Isa Mines and offers 9,500 head of prime cattle.
The McMillan family previously purchased two stations straddling the Queensland and Northern Territory border for $53 million in 2020, repealing them from Chinese ownership.
Wollogorang and Wentworth Stations were previously owned by one of China's richest businessman, Xingfa Ma, who bought the properties in 2015.
"We were interested in presenting our property to the market and accepting the result on the day," previous owner James Lord said.
Stock Place Marketing Agent Luke Westaway said the station was a "quality asset" and performed positively in the current market.
