Mine host

Kalgoorlie, the hub of Western Australia’s mining industry, is home to iconic haulier Hamptons and the world’s second-largest gold mine

- Nick Garlick

Kalgoorlie, in the centre of Western Australia’s goldfields, has become the hub for the mining industry in the southwest of this massive state. The town is home to the Fimiston Open Pit, known locally as the Super Pit, opened in 1893. Gold is mined from the 900-meter-deep hole and further 1300m underground using specially-built equipment, making Fimiston the richest gold mine in the world.

The whole town sits on old tunnels that stretch for miles around the surrounding countryside. This makes it a potentially prosperous area but also a dangerous one, old unmarked shafts collapsing on a regular basis. Companies are drawn to this sprawling country town in a bid to supply the huge mining conglomerates that dominate the industry, all exploiting rich deposits of copper, lithium, silver and iron ore.

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