Kalgorlie-Boulder

This twin town in the Western Australian Outback is quite large with 32,000 inhabitants. It's all about gold here, since the first nuggets were found directly on the surface in 1893. The biggest problem back then was supplying the suddenly emerging gold seekers with enough drinking water. The solution was simple: from 1898 onwards, a pipeline over 500 km long was built within 5 years to pump water from Perth to the city, uphill over a difference in altitude of 400 meters! This is how the water still reaches Kalgoorlie today.

After there was no more gold to be found on the surface, mining went underground. The mining towers look like those in the Ruhr area, just a little smaller... Some small mines are still in operation today.

On the other hand, the large mines today operate open-pit mining. For example, the "Super-Pit" right on the outskirts of Kalgoorlie. It was impressive to see the huge equipment used in this crater. But it doesn't look too pretty. But since there won't be much left to find here either, the mine is expected to be closed in 2017. Then Kalgoorlie will only be a supply center for agriculture and a transportation hub. The history of the city is already vividly presented in the Kalgoorlie Museum, which is worth a visit.