The Super Pit Lookout

Useful Information

Location:	Kalgoorlie-Boulder. 600 km east of Perth, at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. Super Pit lookout: Hainault Road, off the Goldfields Highway. Super Pit Shop: 2 Burt Street, Boulder.
Open:	Super Pit: Mine Open Day every year in OCT. Super Pit lookout: all year daily 7-21. Super Pit Shop: all year weekdays 9-17, Boulder Market Days (3rd Sun of month) 9:30-12:30. [2006]
Fee:	Super Pit: on open day free. Super Pit lookout: free. Super Pit Shop: free. [2006]
Classification:	Gold mine
Light:	n/a
Dimension:	L=3,500 m, W=1,500 m, D=360 m.
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	The Super Pit Shop, 2 Burt Street, Boulder, Tel: +61-8-9093-3488 (during office hours), +61-8-9022-1100.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1892	exploration by Arthur Bayley and William Ford at Coolgardie.
1893	the Irishmen Paddy Hannan and Tom Flanagan discovered gold at Kalgoorlie.
1929	Joe Thorn became general manager of the Lake View and imported new technologies.
1989	Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines Pty Ltd (KCGM) founded and the small mines of the area united.

Geology

The gold ores of Kalgoorlie formed in a rock unit called the Golden Mile Dolerite. The ore occurs in shears, which are the result of ancient tectonic movements. More than 2,000 ore lodes occur in an area of 5 km length and 1 km width, to a depth of more than 1 km. The ore lodes vary in size between a few centimetre to several hundred meters in length. To be of economic interest, they have to be at least 10 m long and 6 m thick.

The ore is a combination of gold, pyrite, chalcopyrite, tellurides of gold, silver, mercury and lead. But gold is the economicaly most important component. The gold deportment is 30% native gold, 25% telluride gold, 45% gold inclusions in pyrite.

Since its discovery more than 50 million ounces of gold have been mined. At the moment the Super Pit produces up to 900,000 ounces of gold per year. It is the largest gold mine in Australia.

Description

The Super Pit or Fimiston Open Pit is a huge opencast mine, big enough to be seen from space. This mine is operational and it is not possible to visit the mine. Huge trucks, the size of a house, transport tons of gold ore to the processing plant. The pit is built in steps, to make it stable.

Although the mine itself is not open to the public, it is possible to see the open pit from a lookout. Binoculars and tele lens for photographers are a good idea.

This huge operation was the idea of Alan Bond who tried to buy up all the leases in this area. Before this, the area called the Golden Mile was scattered all over with small companies running their own mines. KCGM manages the Super Pit for two owners, Newmont Australia Ltd and Barrick Gold of Australia Ltd.