Kalgoorlie, a town in Western Australia, is the center of Australia’s chief gold and nickel fields. It is part of the Kalgoorlie-Boulder census area, which has a population of 29,068. The town lies in an arid region about 370 miles (600 kilometers) east of Perth. General service industries connected with mining employ many local workers, as do the gold mines and a nickel smelter, which are located near the town.
Water is pumped into this arid country from Mundaring Weir, which is 350 miles (560 kilometers) away. Because of its isolation, the town must supply most of its own material needs. It has state and private elementary and secondary schools, as well as a technical school and a school of mines.
Patrick Hannan, Thomas Flanagan, and Dan Shea first discovered gold in the Kalgoorlie region in 1893. A gold rush followed, and more than 1,400 miners arrived in the area within one week. A settlement, called Hannans, soon grew up. It was proclaimed a town and named Kalgoorlie in 1895. The town developed rapidly after the completion of the Mundaring Weir in 1898.
