Gold mining in Western Australia
Encyclopedia
Gold mining in Western Australia is the fourth largest commodity sector in Western Australia
, behind iron ore, crude oil and LNG, with a value of A$5.2 billion.
The history of gold mining in Western Australia dates back to the 1880s but took on some larger dimensions in the 1890s, after gold discoveries at Coolgardie
in 1892 and Kalgoorlie
in 1893. It reached an early peak in 1903, experienced a golden era in the 1930s and a revival in the mid-1980s. In between, the industry declined a number of times, like during the two world wars, experiencing an absolute low point in 1976.Mining towns of Western Australia, page: 48, accessed: 5 February 2010
, meat
and wool
.
A major change in the state's fortunes occurred in the 1880s when gold
was discovered and prospectors by the tens of thousands swarmed across the land in a desperate attempt to discover new goldfields. Paddy Hannan
's discovery at Kalgoorlie, and the early discoveries at Coolgardie, sparked true gold fever
. In 1891 the rush to the Murchison goldfields began when Tom Cue
discovered gold at the town
which now bears his name. In the years that followed dozens of gold towns - Day Dawn, Nannine, Peak Hill
, Garden Gully, Dead Finish, Pinnicles, Austin Island and Austin Mainland - flourished only to be abandoned when the seams were exhausted and the gold fever moved on.
The first gold rush occurred in 1885 when Charles Hall
discovered alluvial gold in the Kimberley area. Further alluvial finds occurred across the state during the five years with finds in Marble Bar, Southern Cross
and Yalgoo
. From these discoveries the prospectors moved further a field. In 1892 by William Ford and Arthur Bayley set off a gold rush
when they discovered gold in Coolgardie this would shortly expand to Kalgoorlie in 1893 and bring the state out of many years of economic doldrums.
In 1890, gold was discovered in the Norseman
region at Dundas
, 22 km south of present-day Norseman, followed in 1894 by a gold discovery near the future town of Norseman itself, by prospector Laurie Sinclair, who named the deposit after his horse, Hardy Norseman
In 1896, the Sons of Gwalia mine
, named after an archaic Welsh
word for Wales
, Gwalia
, was established by Welsh
miners. Herbert Hoover
, the later President of the United States
, served as the mine manager in its early days from May to November 1898.
In 1896, gold was discovered in the Wiluna
region, which was then known as Lake Way, by three prospectors, George Woodley, James Wotton and Jimmy Lennon. On 29 December 1897, a 460 ounce nugget was found in Wiluna, then the largest found in the colony of Australia. The location it was found at was later to become the spot for the power house of the Wiluna Gold Mine
Limited, the operators of the early mine.
In the late nineteenth century there was talk of the gold-rich regions around Kalgoorlie leaving the colony of Western Australia and becoming a state called Auralia
if Western Australia did not join the Commonwealth. By 1900, more than a third of the states population was located in the Goldfields. The political influence of this population was demonstrated when the Goldfields threatened to secede, should Western Australia not join the Australian Federation.Mining towns of Western Australia, page: 45
In many cases, the boom was short lived, with towns and mines in the Goldfields disappearing fast once the surface deposits were depleted. Only where larger companies developed underground mining did towns survive. By 1903, the gold mining industry in Western Australia reached its peak and population of the Goldfields started to decline again.
. The gold price rose once more, the Commonwealth Government determined to pay a gold bonus and foreign investment increased. Gold mining towns like Wiluna or Kalgoorlie experienced a revival from entrepreneurs like Claude de Bernales
. The discovery of the Golden Eagle nugget at Coolgardie in 1931, at the time the largest ever found in Western Australia, attracted many prospectors to return to the state.
in the region and, by the mid-1980s, gold mining was on the up again, too. New technologies led to the reopening of many mines. Where, at the turn of the 19th century, mining was only profitable at above 15 grams of gold per tonne, mines could now operate profitably on grades of as low as one gram per tonne. Mines like the Super Pit at Kalgoorlie now incorporate many former surface and underground operations in one large open pit.
In the more remote mining locations of Western Australia, the work force however has moved away from being residential and to a fly-in fly-out roster. This led to the former mining towns not sharing the current boom with most of the work force residing in Perth, Kalgoorlie or even the capital cities on the east coast. Population and services in the Goldfields towns are far short of what they were during the golden era of the 1930s.
Western Australia produced approximately 50% of all Australian mineral and petroleum sales, which made up 89% of the state's merchandise exports in 2008. In 2008, gold
was ranked fifth in the list of resources exported by Western Australia in regards to value, behind iron ore, crude oil, alumina and LNG, with a value of A$4.4 billion. In 2008, the state produced 4,200,000 ounces
of gold, or 131.421 tonnes. All up, in 2008, Western Australian gold mines employed 14,459 people on their mine sites.
By 2008-09, gold had jumped into fourth spot in regards to export value with a value of A$5.2 billion , overtaking alumina. The average gold price was US$874 per ounce in 2008–09, or A$1,171 per ounce, which was 28 per cent higher than the previous year. While the value of sales increased by 25%, the gold output of the state decreased by 4%, to 4.4 million ounces. Western Australia accounted for 62% of Australia's gold production in 2008-09.
In 2008-09, 41% of Western Australia's gold exports went to the United Kingdom
, followed by India
with 34%. Thailand
and the United Arab Emirates
hold third spot jointly, with a 8% share.
The Golden Mile
, producing 20 tonnes of gold, was Western Australia's top-producing mine in 2008-09, followed by the Telfer with 18.1 tonnes and St Ives
with 13.4 tonnes. With a project cost of US$2.9 billion, the Boddington Gold Mine
is by far the biggest gold project to commence production in the state in 2009, being capable to produce 900,000 ounces of gold per annum.
The number of people employed in the Western Australian gold mining industry rose to 15,572 in 2008-09.
Since the late 1960s, when the Department of Mines began categorising fatalities by commodity, until 2010, 127 work-related fatlities have occurred in the gold mining industry in Western Australia.
After a short slump during the war, gold production remained relatively steady until the mid-1960s. From there, it fell to levels not seen since the late 1890s, to reach a low point in 1976. It remained low until the mid-1980s, when a new gold boom hit the state.
By 1990, production hit 150 tonnes of gold per year, three times the previous peak of 1903. It reached an all-time record in 2001 with close to 250 tonnes of gold produced that year. Production in 2009 has declined to 142 tonnes per annum.
World gold mine production was at a record in 2001 with 2,640 tonnes produced. Production has fallen since, to 2,415 tonnes in 2008. World gold production is expected to rise in 2009-10, with Australia scheduled to increase production by 15 percent.
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, behind iron ore, crude oil and LNG, with a value of A$5.2 billion.
The history of gold mining in Western Australia dates back to the 1880s but took on some larger dimensions in the 1890s, after gold discoveries at Coolgardie
Coolgardie, Western Australia
Coolgardie is a small town in the Australian state of Western Australia, east of the state capital, Perth. It has a population of approximately 800 people....
in 1892 and Kalgoorlie
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Kalgoorlie, known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder, is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, and is located east-northeast of state capital Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway...
in 1893. It reached an early peak in 1903, experienced a golden era in the 1930s and a revival in the mid-1980s. In between, the industry declined a number of times, like during the two world wars, experiencing an absolute low point in 1976.Mining towns of Western Australia, page: 48, accessed: 5 February 2010
Early history
Until the 1870s the economy of the state was based on wheatWheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
and wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
.
A major change in the state's fortunes occurred in the 1880s when gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
was discovered and prospectors by the tens of thousands swarmed across the land in a desperate attempt to discover new goldfields. Paddy Hannan
Paddy Hannan
Patrick "Paddy" Hannan was a gold prospector whose discovery on 17 June 1893 near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia set off a gold rush in the area....
's discovery at Kalgoorlie, and the early discoveries at Coolgardie, sparked true gold fever
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
. In 1891 the rush to the Murchison goldfields began when Tom Cue
Tom Cue
Tom Cue is a gold prospector from Western Australia. The town of Cue is named after him for his discovery of gold in its area in 1892....
discovered gold at the town
Cue, Western Australia
- Further reading:* 'Along the Cue railway. Inspection of line with suggested improvements, visit to Georgina Siding'. West Australian, 11 June 1898, p. 5-External links:* *...
which now bears his name. In the years that followed dozens of gold towns - Day Dawn, Nannine, Peak Hill
Peak Hill, Western Australia
Peak Hill is the name of a goldfield, locality and the site of a gold mining ghost town in the Murchison Region of Western Australia. The gold mine covers 2,162 hectares and consists of four open-cut mines, titled Main, Jubilee, Fiveways and Harmony....
, Garden Gully, Dead Finish, Pinnicles, Austin Island and Austin Mainland - flourished only to be abandoned when the seams were exhausted and the gold fever moved on.
The first gold rush occurred in 1885 when Charles Hall
Charles Hall
Charles Hall may refer to:*Charles Hall , MP for Lincoln 1727–1734*Charles Hall *Charles Hall , British economist, physician and early socialist...
discovered alluvial gold in the Kimberley area. Further alluvial finds occurred across the state during the five years with finds in Marble Bar, Southern Cross
Southern Cross, Western Australia
Southern Cross is a town in Western Australia, 371 kilometres east of Perth on the Great Eastern Highway. It was founded by gold prospectors in 1888, and gazetted in 1890. It is the major town and administrative centre of the Shire of Yilgarn...
and Yalgoo
Yalgoo, Western Australia
-Further reading:* Palmer, Alex. Yalgoo Fremantle, W.A: Lap Industries. ISBN 0959058400- See also :* Yalgoo - the ecological region* Thundelarra* Shire of Yalgoo - the local government region...
. From these discoveries the prospectors moved further a field. In 1892 by William Ford and Arthur Bayley set off a gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
when they discovered gold in Coolgardie this would shortly expand to Kalgoorlie in 1893 and bring the state out of many years of economic doldrums.
In 1890, gold was discovered in the Norseman
Norseman, Western Australia
Norseman is a town located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia along the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway, east of Perth and above sea level. It is also the starting point of the Eyre Highway, and the last major town in Western Australia before the South Australian border to the...
region at Dundas
Dundas, Western Australia
Dundas is the name of an abandoned town in the Goldfields-Esperance Region of Western Australia. The town is located about east of the Esperance Branch Railway, on the western shore of Lake Dundas....
, 22 km south of present-day Norseman, followed in 1894 by a gold discovery near the future town of Norseman itself, by prospector Laurie Sinclair, who named the deposit after his horse, Hardy Norseman
In 1896, the Sons of Gwalia mine
Gwalia Gold Mine
The Gwalia Gold Mine is located at Gwalia, a few kilometres south of Leonora, Western Australia. It was originally established by Welsh miners in the late 19th century and Herbert Hoover, the later President of the United States, served as the mine manager in its early days from May to November...
, named after an archaic Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
word for Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, Gwalia
Gwalia
Gwalia is an archaic Welsh name for Wales. It derives from the Medieval Latin Wallia, which in turn is a Latinisation of the English 'Wales'...
, was established by Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
miners. Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
, the later President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, served as the mine manager in its early days from May to November 1898.
In 1896, gold was discovered in the Wiluna
Wiluna, Western Australia
Wiluna is a complex town in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It is situated on the edge of the Western Desert at the gateway to the Canning Stock Route and Gunbarrel Highway. It is the service centre of the local area for the local Aboriginal people, the pastoral industry, mining, and...
region, which was then known as Lake Way, by three prospectors, George Woodley, James Wotton and Jimmy Lennon. On 29 December 1897, a 460 ounce nugget was found in Wiluna, then the largest found in the colony of Australia. The location it was found at was later to become the spot for the power house of the Wiluna Gold Mine
Wiluna Gold Mine
The Wiluna Gold Mine is an active gold mine in Western Australia near the town of Wiluna. The mine was active from 1984 till its closure in 2007; when it was put into care and maintenance; and again since late 2008....
Limited, the operators of the early mine.
In the late nineteenth century there was talk of the gold-rich regions around Kalgoorlie leaving the colony of Western Australia and becoming a state called Auralia
Auralia
Auralia was a proposed state that would have been formed out of the south-eastern portion of the colony of Western Australia in the early twentieth century , and would have joined the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia...
if Western Australia did not join the Commonwealth. By 1900, more than a third of the states population was located in the Goldfields. The political influence of this population was demonstrated when the Goldfields threatened to secede, should Western Australia not join the Australian Federation.Mining towns of Western Australia, page: 45
In many cases, the boom was short lived, with towns and mines in the Goldfields disappearing fast once the surface deposits were depleted. Only where larger companies developed underground mining did towns survive. By 1903, the gold mining industry in Western Australia reached its peak and population of the Goldfields started to decline again.
First World War
The decline of the gold mining industry in Western Australia was reinforced with the outbreak of the First World War. The effects of the war, a large number of miners enlisted in the armed forces and a drying up of overseas investment meant that, by 1920, gold production in the state had fallen to a third of what it was at the height of the boom. A large number of mines in the state had been closed.Great Depression
Western Australian gold mining received a boost in the 1930s, ironically from the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. The gold price rose once more, the Commonwealth Government determined to pay a gold bonus and foreign investment increased. Gold mining towns like Wiluna or Kalgoorlie experienced a revival from entrepreneurs like Claude de Bernales
Claude de Bernales
Claude Albo de Bernales was a Western Australian mining entrepreneur whose business activities and marketing did much to stimulate investment in Western Australia during the early years of the twentieth century...
. The discovery of the Golden Eagle nugget at Coolgardie in 1931, at the time the largest ever found in Western Australia, attracted many prospectors to return to the state.
Second World War
The boom started during the Great Depression was short-lived, with the outbreak of the Second World War, the gold mining industry declined once more, for very similar reasons as it had at the beginning of the First World War.Post-war
Gold mining temproarily recovered after the war but by the mid-1960s, mining declined once more. By 1976, the Western Australian gold mining industry reached its low point, with production at a level of one tenth of the production in 1900. The Goldfields mining industry was saved by the discovery of NickelNickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
in the region and, by the mid-1980s, gold mining was on the up again, too. New technologies led to the reopening of many mines. Where, at the turn of the 19th century, mining was only profitable at above 15 grams of gold per tonne, mines could now operate profitably on grades of as low as one gram per tonne. Mines like the Super Pit at Kalgoorlie now incorporate many former surface and underground operations in one large open pit.
In the more remote mining locations of Western Australia, the work force however has moved away from being residential and to a fly-in fly-out roster. This led to the former mining towns not sharing the current boom with most of the work force residing in Perth, Kalgoorlie or even the capital cities on the east coast. Population and services in the Goldfields towns are far short of what they were during the golden era of the 1930s.
Current situation
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
was ranked fifth in the list of resources exported by Western Australia in regards to value, behind iron ore, crude oil, alumina and LNG, with a value of A$4.4 billion. In 2008, the state produced 4,200,000 ounces
Troy ounce
The troy ounce is a unit of imperial measure. In the present day it is most commonly used to gauge the weight of precious metals. One troy ounce is nowadays defined as exactly 0.0311034768 kg = 31.1034768 g. There are approximately 32.1507466 troy oz in 1 kg...
of gold, or 131.421 tonnes. All up, in 2008, Western Australian gold mines employed 14,459 people on their mine sites.
By 2008-09, gold had jumped into fourth spot in regards to export value with a value of A$5.2 billion , overtaking alumina. The average gold price was US$874 per ounce in 2008–09, or A$1,171 per ounce, which was 28 per cent higher than the previous year. While the value of sales increased by 25%, the gold output of the state decreased by 4%, to 4.4 million ounces. Western Australia accounted for 62% of Australia's gold production in 2008-09.
In 2008-09, 41% of Western Australia's gold exports went to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, followed by India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
with 34%. Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
hold third spot jointly, with a 8% share.
The Golden Mile
Super Pit gold mine
The Fimiston Open Pit, colloquially known as the Super Pit, is Australia's largest open cut gold mine. The Super Pit is located off the Goldfields Highway on the south-east edge of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia. The pit is oblong in shape and is approximately 3.5 kilometres long, 1.5...
, producing 20 tonnes of gold, was Western Australia's top-producing mine in 2008-09, followed by the Telfer with 18.1 tonnes and St Ives
St Ives Gold Mine
The St Ives Gold Mine is a gold mine located 20 km south-east of Kambalda, Western Australia. It is owned by the South African mining company Gold Fields.It is one of two mines the company operates in Australia, the other being the Agnew Gold Mine....
with 13.4 tonnes. With a project cost of US$2.9 billion, the Boddington Gold Mine
Boddington Gold Mine
The Boddington Gold Mine is a gold and copper mine located 17 km northwest of Boddington, Western Australia.Officially reopened on 3 February 2010, the mine is expected to become Australia's largest gold mine once it reaches full production.-History:...
is by far the biggest gold project to commence production in the state in 2009, being capable to produce 900,000 ounces of gold per annum.
The number of people employed in the Western Australian gold mining industry rose to 15,572 in 2008-09.
Safety
In the past decade, from 2001 to 2010, 42 employees have lost their live in the state's mining industry. Of those, gold and iron ore have been the most dangerous, with 14 fatalities each. Of the 42 fatalities, 29 have occurred at the surface and 13 in underground mining. Gold mining last had a fatality-free year in 2001.Since the late 1960s, when the Department of Mines began categorising fatalities by commodity, until 2010, 127 work-related fatlities have occurred in the gold mining industry in Western Australia.
Gold production
Gold production in Western Australia begun in the 1890s, reaching its first peak in 1903, with over 50 tonnes of gold produced annually. Production gradually fell to reach a first low in the late 1920s. At that point, Western Australia was almost the only state in Australia to still produce gold. Production rose once more during the Great Depression, to reach a second peak in 1939.After a short slump during the war, gold production remained relatively steady until the mid-1960s. From there, it fell to levels not seen since the late 1890s, to reach a low point in 1976. It remained low until the mid-1980s, when a new gold boom hit the state.
By 1990, production hit 150 tonnes of gold per year, three times the previous peak of 1903. It reached an all-time record in 2001 with close to 250 tonnes of gold produced that year. Production in 2009 has declined to 142 tonnes per annum.
World gold mine production was at a record in 2001 with 2,640 tonnes produced. Production has fallen since, to 2,415 tonnes in 2008. World gold production is expected to rise in 2009-10, with Australia scheduled to increase production by 15 percent.
Statistics
Annual statistics for the Western Australian gold mining industry:| Subject | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Production (kg/annum) | 199,500 | 192,200 | 188,860 | 187,500 | 164,420 | 169,830 | 163,840 | 152,690 | 131,824 | 142,519 | |
| Production value (A$ billion) | 3.08 | 3.24 | 3.46 | 3.37 | 2.94 | 3.15 | 4.24 | 4.07 | 4.39 | 5.66 | |
| Employees | 10,879 | 11,938 | 12,653 | 12,801 | 13,398 | 12,121 | 12,314 | 13,733 | 14,459 | 16,686 |
See also
- Western Australian gold rushWestern Australian gold rushIn the latter part of the nineteenth century, discoveries of gold at a number of locations in Western Australia caused large influxes of prospectors from overseas and interstate, and classic gold rushes. Significant finds included:...
- 1907 Varischetti mine rescue near Coolgardie, Western Australia.
Further reading
- Garrick Moore: Mining towns of Western Australia, published: 1997, ISBN 1875449345