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Published: November 21st 2011
The Super Pit
looking into the bottom of the pitThis Blog entry covers our stay in the Heart of the Goldfields from the 14th to the 19th November.
There are 53 photos with this blog and I cannot (for some insane reason get them in order!) so this entry is over three pages not two, Additionally, you can only enter the third page from the bottom of the first page, this page. So I hope you get to see all the pics and you understand what I am saying (questionable!) I hope I can fix it soon and remove this message.
Where do we start !!! What a magnificent place this is. Full of history, lots to do and fantastic shopping, the likes of which could only be rivalled in a major capital city, and everything is so big! I guess a bit of history...
The city has a rich (sic) heritage, Gold was discovered in Coolgardie, 38Klms west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in 1892. One year later in 1893, Paddy Hannan , with two of his mates - Daniel O'Shea and Tom Flanagan (no guesses as to what sailing ship they hopped off!) found gold in Coolgardie East, which is today known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Boulder is the home
of the Golden Mile, the richest square mile of gold bearing earth in the world. After more than 6 decades of economic stagnation in WA the discovery of gold triggered a boom that has continued. Men came from all corners of the globe full of hope enduring isolation, heat, flies, lack of water (and women!) and hard labour - some struck it rich, for others it ended in shattered dreams or even death. The ear;y prospectors built a city under hessian (tents) and today the houses (and most house prices) bare testament to the fact that this place remains a city of wealth and opportunity. mining is still the lifeblood of the community.
The city was built to last with imposing stone and brick buildings still prominent in the main street (Hannan Street) after more than 100 years. During the founding years, water was scarce, this is semi arid country out here, and very expensive. An ambitious project, with many critics at the time, was commissioned by the WA Gov't to produce a practical plan for pumping water to the Goldfields. In 1896 the Sate Parliament gave approval to raise $5 million (I repeat this was in 1896!), to
finance the scheme, such was the confidence in the future of the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Goldfields. It was not until 1902 that pumping began from the foothills above Perth taking 'liquid gold' 597 Klms to the goldfields of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Tragically, criticism of the scheme was to much for C.Y.O'Connor (the Engineer in charge of the project) and he took his own life on a beach in Perth just 3 weeks before pumping began. C.Y.O'Connor stands immortalised now as a pioneer and hero and the scheme has since been hailed as a wonder of world engineering by many organisations worldwide.
The success of Kalgoorlie-Boulder (K.B. from now on !) is largely attributed to the fact it is Australia's 'Gold Capital' and has historically been used to gauge mining industry activity in WA and more widely Australia. Annual regional gold production is valued at more than $2.7 Billion. Nickel is another newer valuable resource BHP Biliton smelter treats much of the production from a range of projects and is the third largest smelter in the world.
K.B has a population of 30,000 and we read that the average median family income is in excess of $1700 per week ! So, there are
The Super Pit
A CAT 793C Haul Truck, 8.0 mtrs High, 15.5 mtrs long and 9.5 mtrs wide oh, and a cool $5,000,000 each ! some very well paid jobs out here to lift the average up to that level. And that would account for the shopping we experienced....
K.B. is the retail hub of The Goldfields/Esperance Region and benefits from multi-national business chains as well as a strong and progressive small business community. K.B unlike Albury-Wodonga or Echuca-Moama is one place not divided by any structure or geographic boundary (the two grew together as each expanded) but Hannan Street and surrounds is the main shopping area (with respect to Burt Street in Boulder). There is a myriad of of retail clothing outlets, (good ones selling most big label brands!), eateries and specialty shops. To compare with Bendigo a major city in central Victoria which we know very well, K.B. was equal to in offerings and equal to if not better in presentation. And, if it is mining gear, engineering services, 'big anything', K.B would win hands down, every company is represented here - in a big way!
Another highlight of our trip to the Goldfields was doing a small side trip that involved a 450Klm round trip into the Northern Goldfields region, no problem! The Northern Goldfields is huge, rugged, desolate and
beautiful. Heading north to the outback town of Menzies which today is a small mining town. It once had a population of over 13,000 and boasted both hotels and breweries, camel races and a 40 bed hospital. When I stand in the main street now I just cannot believe it ! All that remains today are a couple of magnificent stone and brick buildings including the pub, a town hall, and an information centre come art gallery plus a couple of old dwellings. According to Chris a local prospector we met about 50 people live there today mostly of Aboriginal origin. Chris told us an amazing story of finding a 'stash' buried near the railway line which included a couple of medals and a pocket watch belonging to an Alfred Hulls (yes, a relative of Rob Hulls). The story unfolded that it was all stolen as Alfred had reported the watch and 2 medals stolen. Police reports were furnished to show us this detail. Alfred went on to serve at Gallipoli and then on to France where he was killed in action. The story made the news, again cuttings were provided to show us, and the said stolen goods handed
Kalgoorlie
from top of the Super Pit over to the Hulls family some 90 years later.
From Menzies we went across to Lake Ballard, no, no water, a salt lake where British sculptor Antony Gormley's world famous 'Inside Australia' art installation is located (of course it is, 1000's Klms from anywhere!!). This incredible cultural display is situated within the eerie setting of Lake Ballard. It is a salt lake 51 Klm drive west of Menzies and about 240 Klm North of Kalgoorlie (where else would you put a display that cost the WA Govt hundreds of thousands of dollars!!! - tax payer dollars!!). The sculptures all 51 of them are cast in an alloy containing molybdenum, vanadium and titanium - no less - materials that are found in the achaean rock of WA - what is that ??? - Joe ????? It was commissioned to mark the 50th anniversary of the Perth International Arts festival in 2003, ---bloody long way from Perth!!!! Antony Gormleys web site for those that are interested is www.antonygormley.com
I might add that it was about 40 degrees on the salt lake that day so we did not walk around all 51 sculptures spread over a 2 klm distance on the lake
bed. We returned via a number of dirt roads to kalgoorlie via Riverina Station, Siberia, (ghost town), a couple of other ghost town sites and then Ora Banda - a pub. Notorious for its recent past, as well as being a 'wild west pub' in gold prospecting days gone by. In the 70s an ex detective left the force in Perth and took up the pub, short story, a bunch of bikers camped nearby and one of them got shot, an inquest determined that it was one of the bikers who did him in as he was going to leave the club and testify against some members in a rape case. But, somehow the ex detective got the blame for a sniper shooting and this went to court where he got off, but no he did not! Somehow the pub got burnt down and on return to Perth two years later he died when his car 'just' blew up ! We had a nice cold beer here and wondered what might have been....On to the 'BAT', the Broad Arrow tavern. home of the movie the Nickel Queen starring Googie Withers. The BAT is one of the few buildings to have
Boulder
Burt Street out lived the gold rush in this outback town (2 houses and pub!) of Broad Arrow. Again we had to partake of some refreshment in this establishment which does not have an inch of space on any walls, ceiling or surface that has not been written on ...two great historical pubs of the Northern Goldfields. Big day out but fascinating.
The Super Pit...approx 6000 people are employed in the goldfields mining industry. The major players in the local mining industry include Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) who manages Kalgoorlie's famous Super Pit operation for joint venture partners Newmont Australia and Barrick Gold Australia. KCGM is recognised also for their commitment to the community outside of their day-to-day operations. Other big players in the Gold mining include Barrick and Goldfields. BHP Biliton operates the third largest Nickel smelter in the world in K.B. The Supper Pit is the largest gold mine in Australia. The Super Pit is a man made wonder that can be seen from space, a massive gouge carving into the red earth, where trucks the size of houses move hundreds of tonnes of rock in the hope of extrcting a few ounces of gold at a time.
Boulder
Burt Street CAT 793 Haul Trucks loaded by a Komatsu PC 8000 face shovel haul 225 tonnes in each load out of the Super Pit with an average of 2 ounces of gold per tonne. These 225 tonne loads add up to approx 85 million tonnes of material needed annually to produce up to 800,000 ounces of gold from the historic Golden Mile, and that is a lot of Gold ! we hope the pics do it some justice.
Infamous or Historic Hay Street and the 'lack of women'....with the influx of single men after gold was first discovered the demand for goods and services as well as single women was another boom that grew with the town. Brothels sprang up all over K.B. and by the turn of the century it was uncontrollable creating much work for an undermanned police force. The community and police got together to control these activities and proceeded to move all the brothels to one street - Hay Street. At one time there were 25 brothels in this street. All the 'working girls' were strictly controlled by the police and 'Madams' in accordance with the communities demands and were not allowed to leave the 'Houses'
Boulder
The Miners Monument they worked for without prior Police approval and that would only be given if they were leaving the town for a break etc. Girls were not allowed within the community, this was a family town! If this curfew was broken the offending Girl was packed onto a train to Perth, by the Police, and not allowed to return for 3 weeks. This was tough punishment for a working girl. On return if she broke the laws of the community a second time she was sent packing never to return. Working girls could not socialise or own property within the community. Today only 3 working brothels are left in Hay street and only one, Questa Casa, is in an original building that dates back to 1901. Today tours of the brothel supplements the income earned between 6pm and the 'early hours' of the morning. Our tour of Questa Casa was an amazing insight into an after dark world, providing incredible stories including the death of a client on the job, how to tie up your husband, and how much a housewife is actually worth !. We enjoyed our amazing tour with a Lady that loves the history of the region as
much as she loves the history of Questa Casa and Hay Street, we would highly recommend this entertaining tour to all that are passing through K.B.
In the heart of the main street of Boulder stands the Miners' Monument, a proud statue erected in tribute to the Miners of the Goldfields - past, present and future. It is a powerful reminder of the blood, sweat, and tears that have been shed for many a 'Golden Dream'. What a brilliant and vibrant town, we loved it here.
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faye gronow
non-member comment
wow! what a history lesson, mike. fab reading. your 450 ks round trip was interesting. Not to keen on the temp around the salt lake. Have followed you trip on our atlas.(450ks trip) we were taken on a bus trip from the indian pacific thru kalgoorlie. Have similar photo of me in the 'mouth' of the digger.(above the super pit!) that at nite was awesome looking down on what looked like 'fairy land' with the lights and what looked like match box vehicles working!