Laverton, Western Australia
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Laverton Western Australia |
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 Laverton
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| Coordinates | 28°37′40″S 122°24′11″E / 28.62778°S 122.40306°ECoordinates: 28°37′40″S 122°24′11″E / 28.62778°S 122.40306°E | ||||||
| Population | 417 (2011 census) | ||||||
| Established | 1898 | ||||||
| Postcode(s) | 6440 | ||||||
| Elevation | 461 m (1,512 ft) | ||||||
| Location | |||||||
| LGA(s) | Shire of Laverton | ||||||
| State electorate(s) | Kalgoorlie | ||||||
| Federal Division(s) | O'Connor | ||||||
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Laverton, originally known as British Flag, is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, and the centre of administration for the Shire of Laverton. The town of Laverton is located at the western edge of the Great Victoria Desert, 957 kilometres (595 mi) north-northeast of the state capital, Perth, and 124 kilometres (77 mi) east-northeast of the town of Leonora with an elevation of 461 m.
About a third of the population is of Aboriginal descent. The area is semi-arid, with a mean annual rainfall of 233 millimetres (9.2 in). It is also quite warm, with mean daily maximum temperatures ranging from 17 °C (62 °F) in July to 36 °C (97 °F) in January
Laverton is the westernmost town on the Outback Way - a proposed highway which goes through the Northern Territory to Winton in outback Queensland.
A number of early explorers travelled over the Laverton area, including John Forrest,David Carnegie and Frank Hann. Gold was discovered in the British Flag area in 1896 and many prospectors and miners moved into the area. Among them was Dr Charles W. Laver, who became an enthusiastic supporter and promoter of the region.
One of the most successful mines was Craiggiemore, and by 1897 a residential and business area known as British Flag had sprung up on the west side of the mine. In March 1898 a townsite was approved as Laverton, in honour of Dr Laver. In 1899, the residents sought to have a townsite surveyed, but by then the original location had become unsuitable, so a new site was chosen about three kilometres from the original lots. The new site was surveyed in July 1899 and the town of Laverton gazetted in July 1900.
By the late 1960s, Laverton was in decline, mainly because of the very low price of gold. In 1968 a Poseidon prospector Ken Shirley discovered nickel-bearing rocks at Windarra, 24 km northwest of Laverton. In 1969 Poseidon began drilling Windarra. In September rumours of a nickel strike prompted the famous Poseidon bubble. The deposit was developed by Western Mining and its partners into the Windarra Nickel Project, which mined and processed nickel ore from 1974 to 1991.
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