The Kalgoorlie Pit. The largest trucks in the world go down there and never return until worn out.(Extracted from Our Summer in Australia and New Zealand Amazon.com)
Having left the Indian Pacific cross country train at Kalgoorlie, before its final overnight run to Perth, we began day four of our journey back and forth across Australia, with a closer look at the town that epitomizes Australia's former Wild West.The story begins with an 1892 gold strike in Coolgardie, about 25 miles from present day Kalgoorlie, to which thousands of gold crazed prospectors rushed. Thus when rumors circulated in 1893 that another "find" had been discovered somewhere to the east, about 50 out-of-luck "diggers" left Coolgardie to discover the location of this new mountain of gold. Among them were three hapless, unlucky Irish prospectors named Flanagan, Shea and Patrick Hannon. Hannon's horse became lame and these three lingered behind for the night allowing Hannon time to change the horseshoe. The story is that the lame horse pawed the ground and unearthed a gold nugget.That moment marked the beginning of the richest gold discovery in all Australia, and perhaps the world. Hannon, Shea and Flanagan were soon picking nuggets right off the ground. In a few days Patrick had about 100 ounces, and on June 17, 1893 filed a claim for himself and his two companions, instantly setting off another stampede.
By the end of the year 3000 "diggers" had moved into the area, one of the driest in the world. Many died due to the harsh conditions, water had to be brought 350 miles from Perth, a months journey. Whiskey was free, it was water you paid for.
Since Patrick Hannon picked that 100 ounces of gold off the desert floor over 49,000,000 ounces have been extracted from what is known worldwide as the Golden Mile, the most valuable piece of real estate on the planet. Moreover, it is estimated only half the gold has been extracted. In fact nobody knows. The estimate of future deposits always seems to replace that which has already been extracted.
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