We were on the road by 7.00am and made good time reaching Kalgoorlie around 9.15am. Coffee drinks were had whilst we waited for the tour commencement and had discussion with other travelling Victorian caravaners who were booked into the tour.
The tour necessitated all participants to wear safety vests & glasses, long sleeve shirts & pants and closed footwear. We were given a history of the gold finds as we headed out to the mine on the bus. The tour bus took us into the mine at the top and indicated that in certain sections that there were miners & enormous dump trucks and shovels working up to 1.5klm below the surface, with their own road network to bring the ore to the surface.
The pit is huge and at a depth of 600 metres, 1.5klm and 2,5klm across. We were given an explanation of how they were developing the mine now and over previous years. We saw this later at a display centre with photos taken on an annual basis over the last 25 years. During an explanation of operations and the mine vista, Michael recognised and caught up with a couple of Rotary cricketers from Horsham who were also on the tour.
We returned to town central around 12.15pm with indications that a blast explosion of the mine face would be happening at 1.30pm. We along with many others arrive at the superpit entrance pre 1.00pm, only to find the gates shut due to maintenance work to the entrance road, required due to rain overnight. The gates to the superpit road were finally opened around 1.40pm, but the blast explosion had already occurred. We nevertheless get an alternate view of the superpit with the help of binoculars. Ordinary work vehicles look like an ant compared to the huge dump trunks and shovels…binoculars give a better view.
We check into Swiss type chalet accommodation which is well appointed with all cooking facilities available for a family of 4. After this we head off with David & Barbara to take in the views of the city and surrounds from a number of lookouts.
We are using this as a base for tomorrow to take in the city and surrounds.
No comments:
Post a Comment