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Kalgoorlie (or Kalgoorlie-Boulder as it is officially known) is a large town situated in the outback of Western Australia. It is a gold mining town which, unlike many other gold towns in Australia, is still mining the metal in the 21st century.
It is built around the Golden Mile, a square mile which in its heyday was one of the richest gold mining areas in the world.
Founded in the 1890s by gold prospector, Paddy Hannan, the town grew rapidly with thousands of miners coming to seek their fortune by looking for surface gold.
After the surface gold was exhausted, the big mining companies moved in. They established mines which looked for gold at greater depths and extracted the gold from rock by a process of grinding, roasting and chemical treatment.
These days gold mining continues to be pursued profitably from lower-grade ores using a variety of new technologies.
Kalgoorlie is still a mining town with a Wild West, frontier feel about it.
Some of the interesting places to see include:
-- Hannans North Tourist Mine
-- Golden Mine Loopline Railway
-- Museum of the Goldfields
-- Mt Charlotte Lookout
-- Super Pit Lookout
-- Fabulous Victorian-era buildings including the Town Hall and the Post Office.
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Author: David Paul Wagner
(David Paul Wagner on Google+)
