While waiting for the truck to load we both did some window shopping in the ticket office. Paul found many Vegemite souvenir items for sale. Vegemite is a yeast extract spread that is very salty (tried it one time) and very popular in Australia.
On the way in we stopped to see a really long conveyor that moved waste rock from the pit to the waste areas. They are using it to infill some of the old mine shafts. It can also be used to move low grade ore from their underground mine to the low grade stockpile near the refining facilities.
On the way in we also saw the Fuel Farm that has a 700,000 liter fuel
capacity. They go through 5 to 6 million
liters (1.3 to 1.6 million gallons) of diesel a month. There was a road train of 4 tankers at the Fuel Farm, unloading diesel.
We stopped to see the tire storage area. The tires weigh 5 tons each and it takes two
men 45 minutes to change one tire.
The dump trucks (haul trucks) weigh 166 tons and haul up to 225
tons. They run 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, 365 days a year. And they have
the right of way at all times. Everyone
must get out of their way or risk getting run over. We were told that for every 7 truck loads
hauled out of the pit, one has high grade gold ore and the other 6 are
waste.
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| Display on the dump truck showing a load of 257 tons |
Blasting often breaks into the old mine shafts. When this happens lumber, rail tracks and other items in the old mine tunnels end up in the rocks. These items are called "sticks" and these items can really mess up the refining equipment. So rocks with sticks are moved to stick piles where individuals go through to remove all of the items. We didn't get to see any blasting but we did get to see the stick piles.
The tour was great, stuffed with facts and figures and GIGANTIC equipment.
Interesting factoid…it requires about 10 tons of rock to obtain enough
gold to make one wedding ring.
We had great views of the upper walls of the pit where the iron had oxidized into glorious technicolor.
We watched the dump trucks coming up the sides of the pit…
and road grading going on (they have their own road repair crews)…
and the teeny, tiny equipment at the very bottom of the pit.
After viewing the pit, the tour took us through the processing
area. The first step was breaking car-size
rocks into stove-size rocks. These were
then dumped into a pit where they were crushed into head-size rocks. This sequence of pictures shows a Volkswagen sized rock being broken to bits.
Piles of high grade ore waiting to be processed.
Big scoops loaded the rocks into big dump trucks who then dumped them into the first grinders.
The ground rocks come out of the bottom of the grinder.
and then are moved by conveyor belt up to the top of these piles of rocks where they await further processing.
These slightly ground rocks were then put into gigantic drums...
that are full of metal balls. The drums rotated and ground the stones into sand.
Tank farm holding chemicals used in the refining process.
The ground rocks come out of the bottom of the grinder.
and then are moved by conveyor belt up to the top of these piles of rocks where they await further processing.
These slightly ground rocks were then put into gigantic drums...
that are full of metal balls. The drums rotated and ground the stones into sand.
Tank farm holding chemicals used in the refining process.
We couldn’t see the actual gold refining area. As it is, the people who work doing the final
refining of the gold must strip down to their birthday suits, enter a changing
room where they don their work clothes.
At the end of the shift they again strip down, go through a metal
detector, and put on their own clothes.
Guess that prevents people from trying to sneak out any gold.
For the most part everyone works 12-hour shift 7 days on and 7 days
off. The salaries quoted were very high
but the work is pretty rough. And half
the staff (including equipment operators) are women.
Nearest, we can calculate the mine produces about $2.5M worth of gold a
DAY.
After being made dizzy by all the information and the size of
everything we headed back into town for a short walk. Gold was found in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, in 1894...and the rush was on. Mining is still the biggest industry in Kalgoorlie but the buildings of the 1890's dominate the town and it's sister, Boulder. It was like walking into a time capsule. The town sprung up almost immediately in order to accommodate all the miners and their families. So the architecture is gingerbread Victorian and very well preserved.
And we had some lunch at the Kaoss Café.
And we had some lunch at the Kaoss Café.
In the afternoon we drove out to Hannan’s North Tourist Mine.
Paddy Hannan was one of the original discoverers of gold in Kalgoorlie so everything is named after him.
This museum had a lot of equipment,
buildings,
and tools from the early mining days. Very interesting (and rather hot).
Paddy Hannan was one of the original discoverers of gold in Kalgoorlie so everything is named after him.
This museum had a lot of equipment,
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| Mary in front of a dump truck. |
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| Paul in a scoop |
and tools from the early mining days. Very interesting (and rather hot).
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| Drill Bit |
There was a little oriental garden on the museum grounds, to
commemorate the people who came from all over the world to work the mines and
settle the land.
Then we went over to Boulder. This used to be a separate town but the two towns grew together and eventually decided to become one. The combined town is Kalgoorlie-Boulder, how original. The main point of interest in old Boulder is the Old Town Hall.
On the stage of the Main Hall is a theater stage curtain that depicts the Bay of Naples. It was painted by Philip Goatcher in 1908, the world's highest paid theater scene painter in the world at that time. is believed to be the last remaining working stage curtain of its kind in Australia.
Today was a very mixed selection of sights and all in all it was a very interesting day.
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| Boulder Old Town Hall Main Hall |
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| Boulder Old Town Hall Council Meeting Room |
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| Boulder Old Town Hall, Main Hall with Goatcher Curtain on Stage |
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