Mining Museum

At the local mining museum, Rachael showed me a big mining truck. It takes 7 load of ore this size to extract a golf-ball-sized lump of gold. It is extracted by one of several different methods.

Not only do the mining companies use an open pit method, there is still a lot of underground mining. Mine safety is a major concern. This is a pod that can be placed in the mine. If there is a fire, for example, the workers can enter the capsule and have adequate oxygen, water and a portable toilet until they are rescued.

In the gold rush of the late 1800s, miners often first lived in tents and then built "humpys" out of scrap materials. They might have a stove, a bed and a few other items.

This makeshift refrigerator was a common household item in the late 1800s in Western Australia. The food items were placed on the shelves. Water was poured in the basin above. The sides were burlap. Felt hung down the sides of the refrigerator and wicked water out of the basin. When a breeze came along, the wet strips helped cool the air...for a little while.

This was the next step up for housing for the early miners. The sides and walls were made out of tin, which could get hot in the summer. The house could be disassembled easily and flat-packed to be moved to a new location.

Gold! This is the reason Kalgoorlie was established. A replica of the largest nugget found is at a local museum.

We watched a demonstration of gold being melted and poured. Okay, okay, it wasn't real gold, however, the man who was demonstrating passed around one ounce of gold afterwards. What a fun, but hot, time!

It is not surprising to find sculptures and artwork around the city of Kalgoorlie that pay homage to the mining tradition. This miner is holding a drill that is used to drill a hold in which to insert a stick of dynamite.

The cities of Kalgoorlie and Boulder have merged. (This means that I don't remember which town these photos were taken in.) Some buildings have been recently restored because of an earthquake a few years ago. Remind anyone of an Old West town?

At the Boulder Town Hall, their restored stage curtain was painted by Victorian scenic painter, Phillip Goatcher. It is the largest remaining curtain that he painted.

Closeup.