Way Away in WA 2023 – Day 75

Today was a chance to take a leisurely look around Kalgoorlie. The city was built on gold wealth over the past 127 years. There are many original heritage buildings in town.

Gold spire of the Government Buildings

York Hotel (1901)

The Australia Hotel (1898)

Exchange Hotel (1900)

Hannan Street streetscape

Criterion Hotel

This was the meating place in Kalgoorlie for many decades.

A ram-dom act of sculpting.

World’s Tallest Bin in Hannan Street – despite its size, I still managed to check its contents. I felt rubbish.

British Arms Hotel – the narrowest hotel in Australia at the Museum of the Goldfields.

KCGM Gold Mine Super Pit Lookout – The Golden Mile at the centre of the Kalgoorlie Goldfield is one of the richest gold deposits in the world. The Kalgoorlie Goldfield is part of a belt consisting of volcanic and sedimentary rocks and surrounded by extensive granite. These rocks are between 2.6 and 2.9 billion years old. The mine is owned by Northern Star.

Aerial view of the northern part of the Super Pit and its proximity to Kalgoorlie suburban areas. (image: Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM))

The Lookout is open to the public and allows a view of mining operations. And even in this harsh environment, Mulla Mullas (Ptilotus exultatus) grow.

We avoided being run over by the mining trucks so we didn’t become victims of bullion.

Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines image of the annual parade in the main street shows the size of the trucks in use at the mine. (Image KCGM)

Komatsu PC8000 Face Shovel. 12 million tonnes of ore from the Super Pit and nearby Mount Charlotte Underground Mine are processed annually to produce 500 000 ounces (14175kg) of gold every year.

Area in the grid at the front being drilled and prepared for blasting. 11.1 metre holes are drilled and a detonator placed inside a high explosive booster is lowered into each hole.

Pink blast for International Womens Day. (Image KCGM)

The ore is transported to the local Fimiston and Gidji Gold Processing Plants. There are 40 Caterpillar C793 trucks on site costing 5.9 million dollars each. They weigh 166 tonnes each and have a 245 tonne payload. The fuel tank is 3790 litres.

Rockfall area in the Super Pit

Ore scoop from the Face Shovel.

Super Pit panorama

Mount Charlotte Reservoir and Lookout – water is piped here from the Perth hills and is pumped to Mount Charlotte before gravity feed to the city. Irish prospector Paddy Hannan found alluvial gold at the base of this mountain (hill?) in 1893. We had a bit of a dig for gold but I hurt my back – it’s OK though – it’s just a miner injury.

Kalgoorlie City Centre from Mount Charlotte

The Two Up Shed is the only legalised Two Up School in Western Australia. The Kalgoorlie Two Up School is in its original corrugated iron shed and bush ring.