The Super Pit, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Posted by: 
3l diesel
S 30° 46.730 E 121° 29.923
51J E 356341 N 6593945
The Super Pit is Australia's largest open cut gold mine, now excavated to several hundred metres depth. When worked out, its bottom will be well below sea level.
Waymark Code: WM6YH0
Location: Western Australia, Australia
Date Posted: 08/06/2009
Views: 27
The Super Pit is an around-the-clock operation. The workings continue under floodlight after dark.
It is an excavation along Kalgoorlie's famous "Golden Mile" and was originally formed from a number of struggling companies using both open cut and underground technologies. It was masterminded by the famous (or infamous!) Australian businessman, Alan Bond, in the late 1980's. His idea was to buy out the struggling companies and then form the huge open cut mine as one concern. Bond apparently never managed to see the project through, but another company, Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines Pty Ltd was formed to undertake the project.
It is expected that the mine will be worked out by around 2017. After working is finished, highly saline water is expected to partly fill the excavation.
An account of the mine's operation included that a number of later underground workings were not properly mapped, and so the progress of the mine is dependent upon probing the ground for voids at a depth that would preclude having heavy machinery on top.
Economic gold extraction is around several grams of gold per tonne of ore. Around 850,000 ounces of gold are produced annually. The ore undergoes initial processing on site before being refined by the same government owned company who own the Perth Mint. (See "Perth Mint" Waymark WM6WW7)
Mine Type: Working Mine
Mineral Collecting: No
Material Mined: Precious Metal
Operation: Opencast Mine
Surface Features: Yes
KNOWN DANGERS:
The waypoint is located at a public viewing lookout point and has minimum danger from the mine workings.
Any associated website: [Web Link]
Any Other information:
My visit to The Super Pit was on a "Whistle Stop Tour" of Kalgoorlie whilst travelling from Perth to Sydney on the transcontinental Indian-Pacific train. See http://www.gsr.com.au/our-trains/indian-pacific/the-journey.php for details. Because of security gates, nighttime viewing might only be possible on these tours.
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Visit Instructions:
Optional photograph welcomed.