Western Australia, Kalgoorlie-Boulder - - Pictures
Kalgoorlie-Boulder, town in Western Australia. It is a gold-rush town in the East Coolgardie goldfields, on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert. The town of Kalgoorlie was amalgamated with its southern neighbour Boulder in 1989 to form the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. It is one of the few gold-rush towns still producing gold, albeit in comparatively small amounts. Gold was discovered in Kalgoorlie in 1893 by Paddy Hannan, attracting gold miners to the town from neighbouring Coolgardie. A statue of Hannan stands outside the town hall (1908). Gold output peaked in 1903, with reserves significantly depleted by the 1920s. Only one gold mine remains operational and today Kalgoorlie-Boulder relies upon tourism, brewing, and nickel-ore mining and processing, local nickel reserves having been discovered in 1966. The town has large elegant hotels, shops, and offices, built in the town's heyday at the turn of the 20th century. Kalgoorlie-Boulder lies on the Great Eastern Highway and the Trans-Australian Railway and is also served by an airport. The town is the seat of the Western Australian School of Mines, which is now a constituent of Curtin University of Technology. Population 28,087 (1996).
