Kalgoorlie Archives - Explore Cornwall

Karlkurla Park

Caitlin — Wed, 18 May 2022 04:36:18 +0000

On the northern edge of Kalgoorlie is 200 hectares of bushland paradise.

Named after the local Aboriginal word for ‘silky pear’, this area of land was once completely felled by the mining industry. It took decades of work to regenerate the area and replant a wide variety of trees and shrubs, efforts that are now maintained by the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Urban Landcare Group.

The park is also home to a number of the Goldfields native species, with Scott spotting a Bobtail Skink early on in our walk. We also saw three different bird species, hearing a few others. In the early hours, walkers have been known to spot western grey kangaroos and even snakes.

Dotted throughout the park are plenty of information signs about the park and the flora within it.

Just 1.5 km from the parks entrance is the Katunga lookout, giving wonderful views of the whole area, from the Kalgoorlie-Boulder downtown to out over the surrounding lands. Several mining features can be seen on the horizon, including some of the Superpit dumps and the chimney at Kanowna Bell mine.

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A Walk Around the Kalgoorlie Arboretum

Caitlin — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 05:40:47 +0000

Just outside of central Kalgoorlie is 26 hectares of woodland perfect for walks.

First established in 1954, it was designed as a testing area to see if certain native and exotic tree species could grow in the arid Kalgoorlie environment. This proved a success and seeds from these trees have been exported worldwide, including nearly 60 types of eucalyptus.

Dotted along the paths are a number of information signs, providing information of just some of the flora growing here.

This is a perfect spot to take a walk, regardless of the time of year. If there is water in the dam, you’re sure to see some ducks paddling back and forth.

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A Trip to the Superpit

Caitlin — Sat, 21 Mar 2020 14:33:51 +0000

The first thing we did on my arrival in Kalgoorlie (apart from sleep off the flight) was head to the centre of town to the Kalgoorlie Tours & Charters office for a tour of the Superpit (Fimiston Open Pit). Now considering I’d left the UK at a tepid 9°C, and Kal was building up to a wonderful 44°C I packed my bodyweight in water and a big hat for this trip.

We were greeted by the super friendly tour guide, who introduced himself as Wes, who guided our little group onto his wonderfully airconditioned bus before giving us the safety talk.

Following this we were off, heading through town towards the main entrance to the mine.

On our way we passed by the Museum of the Goldfields, the conveyer belt linking Mount Charlotte Mine with Fimiston’s processing mill and several trucks pulled over on the side of the road.

After the guide took us through the gate, he drove the bus past the truck workshop and a number of old and new bits of machinery. Here he showed us the different between the well-worn tracks from an excavator compared with new ones that were off to the side, waiting for their new assignment.

We then headed down the main track towards the lookout post, stopping for fully laden trucks on the way and passing other smaller light vehicles with various roles. Once we got to the lookout, we were allowed out of the bus to really take in the scale of the Superpit.

At 3km long, 1.5km wide and 700m deep, it’s the biggest open pit in Australia and the third largest in the world. As this pit remains active, this size is increasing every day and the company expand the outer edges. We were also able to clearly see the wall slip from May 2018 on the eastern side of the pit, which took out the main route to the bottom of the pit. Work to remove this slip is estimated to take 3.5 years and will require the removal of a lot of earth so that company can get back to the high ore grade just below it.

After a quick talk about the superpit, its ore and fault zone, we headed back onto the bus and down the track towards the mill. On the way we got to drive past the decline to Mount Charlotte, follow a truck as it finished its journey to the ore dump and watch materials being put into the big crusher.

We then went down into the mill, taking the narrow track under all of the machinery as our guide gave us a quick breakdown of each part of the process.

Following this, it was back to the front gate and into town to be dropped off again.

This was a really fabulous tour, giving great insight into the goings on of a large gold mining company working along the Golden Mile of Kalgoorlie. Scott and I had both anticipated that the tour would just involve looking at the mine from an extensive distance in the name of health and safety, but instead we were able to get up close and personal with the mine itself, follow the trucks around as they went about their work and see the mill in action (while still being safe!). Real credit to Wes as well who was full of information about the mine, its equipment and the mining process.

A Bit of History

Following the western goldrush of 1892, mining began in earnest in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. In 1988, Bond International Gold bought control over Gold Mines Kalgoorlie (GMK), a major owner of smaller ventures along the Golden Mile. With this new ownership, work began on creating this open pit and building the new Fimiston processing plant.
1989 saw Homestake Gold of Australia take control of 50% of the stake, turning into a new venture called Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM); these then owned Fimiston, Mount Charlotte, Aroya, Mount Percy, Superpit and Croesus mines, along with their respective mills.
As the years went on, there were several merges involved Poseidon Ltd, Barrick Gold Corporation and Newmont Mining Corporation. At the end of 2019, Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd and Northern Star Resources Ltd became the new joint owners of the mine, making it 100% Australian owned. The company now work Fimiston open pit and plant, Mount Charlotte and Gidji processing plant.

Since its discovery all those years ago, its estimated that over 60 million ounces of gold have been mined, and KCGM itself produces 8% of Australia’s gold, second only to Boddington Gold Mine.
Current projects see the companies estimated life lasting until 2034, with Fimiston finishing in 2026, Mount Charlotte in 2024. KCGM is a major employer in the area, contributing over 1000 jobs and supports local businesses.

References

Kalgoorlie Tours & Charters (2020) Kalgoorlie Super Pit Tour the only tour that goes into the Super Pit Operations. Available at: https://www.kalgoorlietours.com.au/tours/super-pit-tour-2-5-hours (Accessed: 12 February 2020).

KCGM (2019) History – KCGM. Available at: http://www.superpit.com.au/about/history/ (Accessed: 12 February 2020).

Mennell, J. (2019) Option revealed for KCGM Super Pit wall collapse fix, Kalgoorlie Miner. Available at: https://www.kalminer.com.au/news/kalgoorlie-miner/option-revealed-for-kcgm-super-pit-wall-collapse-fix-ng-b881386293z (Accessed: 21 February 2020).

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Two Days in Kalgoorlie

Caitlin — Fri, 21 Feb 2020 14:43:51 +0000

Back in November my trusty sidekick moved to the other side of the world. This therefore meant that I would have to go out and visit him in his new place: Kalgoorlie-Boulder, in Western Australia. This city was founded in 1889 during the the Coolgardie gold rush and sits 595km outside of Perth.

The centre of the eastern goldfields of Australia, Kalgoorlie is situated on the famous golden mile which is home to a number of large gold mines, including the Superpit. Now while Kal may not seem like a real tourist destination, there are still plenty of things to do.

Take a tour around the Superpit

The Superpit, officially named Fimiston Open pit, is the biggest open pit in Australia and the third largest in the world. At around 3km in length, 1.5km wide and 700m deep, its a biggun and is being expanded more and more every day. Kalgoorlie Tour & Charters offer the most amazing tour of the mine site, taking you right through the front gate and onto the roads used by trucks and other mine machinery. This takes you to the in-house viewing platform and also through their huge mill and past the illusive gold room.

Head to Mount Charlotte

The Mount Charlotte Reservoir and Lookout offers fantastic views over the whole of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and even takes in one of the nearest mines, also named Mount Charlotte. Dotted around the site are a number of information signs detailing a brief history of the area along with the famous Golden Pipeline which was established to pump fresh water from Perth to Kalgoorlie.

Hannan's North Tourist Mine

Owned and operated by KCGM, the same guys from the Superpit, t his absolute gem sits just north of Kalgoorlie. Opened in 1991 as a tourist attraction on the old Hainault site, it features a large number of old mine buildings, equipment and various records relating to gold mining in the area. The real beauty of this site is that you have free reign to explore it as you want – all of the old bits and pieces are still there with the more dangerous bits having been fenced off; you can wander to your hearts content.

Visit the Museum of the Goldfields

On the western side of town, you can spot the prominent read headgear belonging to the local museum. This is a great stop, free to enter and packed with information about the area. Down in the basement you can find their vault, with a large collection of gold items. There was a special display on shipwrecks off the Western Australian coast, replica buildings outside and the first floor is mainly dedicated to the history of the eastern goldfields. You can also take the lift up to the top of the headgear, giving another perfect view of the city.

References

About Us – Hannans North Tourist Mine (2020). Available at: http://www.hannansnorth.com.au/about-us/ (Accessed: 12 February 2020).

Hannans North Tourist Mine (2020). Available at: http://www.hannansnorth.com.au/ (Accessed: 12 February 2020).

Kalgoorlie Tours & Charters (2020) Kalgoorlie Super Pit Tour the only tour that goes into the Super Pit Operations. A must see on your Kalgoorlie visit. Bookings in advance are strongly recommended. | Kalgoorlie Tours & Charters. Available at: https://www.kalgoorlietours.com.au/tours/super-pit-tour-2-5-hours (Accessed: 12 February 2020).

Museum of the Goldfields (2020). Available at: http://museum.wa.gov.au/museums/museum-of-the-goldfields (Accessed: 20 February 2020).

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