Research Paper On Kalgoorlie Mine

Kalgoorlie Gold Mine

The Kalgoorlie Mine, also known as the Super Pit due to its impressive depth of 600m ( Figure 1.), is a mine situated in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia ( Figure 2.) that primarily extracts gold. Often considered to be the largest open-cut mine in the nation (goldsfieldtourism.com, article 62), Kalgoorlie extracts a tremendous 22 000 grams of gold each year. The gold rush that happened in Australia (during 1851-1914) was a result of the discovery of many mining sites like the Kalgoorlie gold mine. This particular discovery of the Kalgoorlie mine by Paddy Hannan attracted several thousands of prospectors (mineral explorers) and created a “ rush” to whoever would quickly become prosperous from mining gold at Kalgoorlie. Hence,

As it is a gargantuan mine consisting of several acres of land, it requires a huge quantity of wood and timber to make several products which are necessary in order to mine. Timber is needed to provide fuel for the condensers which provide fresh water to the miners who regularly stay at the site. An estimated 1500 tonnes of timber has been reported by Moya Sharp at kalgoorlierealestate.com (2016) to be used on a daily basis at the Kalgoorlie mine site. This wood is often acquired by destroying the woodlands and forests located in Western Australia- leading to a mass deforestation of it in the 1900. As an extremely massive and busy mine, Kalgoorlie also produces noisy and boisterous sounds that cause noise pollution within the residents living nearby. Also, gold ores require sulphur that causes contamination of groundwater and the environment to drive themselves. The levels of greenhouse gases such as sulphur used at the Kalgoorlie mine have been reported by KCGM Performance Review Report ( 2015) to be constantly increasing. These increasing toxins harm the biodiversity which is present around the mining site and pose a serious threat to