Gold mining in Western Australia

Gold mining in Western Australia
Position of Western Australia within Australia highlighted
Location
State	Western Australia
Country	Australia
Regulatory authority
Authority	Department of Mines and Petroleum
Website	Official website
Production
Commodity	Gold
Production	6.27 million troy ounces (195 tonnes)
Value	A$10 billion
Employees	19,175 (2014-15)
Year	2015-16

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$10 billion.

Gold mining in Western Australia dates back to the 1880s but became a significant industry in the 1890s, following gold discoveries at Coolgardie in 1892 and Kalgoorlie in 1893. It reached an early peak in 1903, experienced a revival in the 1930s and a further revival in the 1980s. Between, the industry declined a number of times, such as during the two world wars, experiencing an absolute low point in 1976.

Until the 1880s, the economy of WA was based on wheat, meat and wool. A major change in the colony's fortunes occurred when gold was discovered and prospectors by the tens of thousands swarmed across the land in a desperate attempt to discover new goldfields.

The first gold rush occurred in 1885 when Charles Hall discovered alluvial gold in the Kimberley region, near the future site of a town named after him. 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 afield.

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 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 gold towns such as Abbots, Austin, Barrambie, Big Bell, Day Dawn, Garden Gully, Lennonville, Moyagee, Munarra, Nannine, Peak Hill, Pinnacles, Reedy and Rothsay, flourished only to be abandoned when the mines were worked out.