Hi Guys, we are in Kalgoorlie at the moment and love the place, visited the Super Pit, and some other abandoned mines in the area.
We were even lucky to see a blast in the Super Pit, although we had to wait a couple of hours, however it was worth it.
And some of the big toys they use down there, which look like matchbox toys from the observation platform.
1 Super Pit from the observation platform.
2 The machinery that look like toys.
3 A lucky shot of a blast.
4 One of the abandoned mines in the area.
5 Now that is a big tyer.
6 Alice trying to span the with of these monster tyers.
7 Now what did I just run over.
8 Alice and me on the driving deck, the size of a house.
Fascinating images Leon, thanks for the view.
I was surprised how this looks almost identical to the Martha gold mine here in NZ. The hole seems to be about the same size and here they also have one of those huge dump trucks on display.
Interesting pics. I've seen many photos similar but have never seen anything like those first hand. Stood in a bucket or sat inside the cabin. That's an experience. Do you know what fuel volume it may consume?
House on wheels. LOL
Hi Rolf, the scale is a bit deceptive. Not that it's anything to brag about, but the Kal pit is an order of magnitude bigger than Martha. It really has to be seen to be believed.
Cheers,
Andrew.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkyViking
Fascinating images Leon, thanks for the view.
I was surprised how this looks almost identical to the Martha gold mine here in NZ. The hole seems to be about the same size and here they also have one of those huge dump trucks on display.
Hi Rolf, the scale is a bit deceptive. Not that it's anything to brag about, but the Kal pit is an order of magnitude bigger than Martha. It really has to be seen to be believed.
Cheers,
Andrew.
Thanks Andrew, just had a look at the maps and it sure is massive!
My apologies Leon,
My reaction was one of shock and I had/ have no intention of turning your thread in another direction. Thank you again, the images are a treat.
Best.
Greg.
I don't want to comment on the pit except perhaps there may be uses for it in the future, but I have to share the experience of handling "real gold."
In the 70s my brother-in-law owned a number of gold mines around Southern Cross. Handling the gold bars was enough to cause a fever, damn it one bar could have bought my house. The real blast was having five garbage bins full of quartz pieces encrusted with pure gold stored in my garage in Perth for a night worth enough to have bought the whole cul-de-sac!
My cut was the job of running a betting system for him with the equivalent of $50K to $100K of today's money. The bookies hated me for a while!
Gold does strange things to people...
Some years ago one of our PhD students got a job in a mine when he graduated - I've forgotten which one. A year or so later he came back for a visit. He has a story, which may be quite old and you can take with a grain of salt if you wish, about a haul pack. Apparently some of the workers, including a haul pack driver, had arranged to go to the pub in town at the end of the shift. The haul pack driver was late getting back and found that the others had left, leaving him stranded at the mine. Not to be deterred he jumped in the haul pack and drove it into town and parked it outside the pub! The next day he was unemployed. Of course moving the haul pack back to the mine on a public road legally cost the mine a packet.
BTW the Super Pit was only the 3rd mine in the world to produce >50 million ounces of gold.
Buy the chassis only and stick on a three bedroom house and you could tour the outback in style. Don't worry about the roads - cross country will do!
Of course you might want to take a little extra fuel - 2x 10,000 litre tanks ought to do the trick.
however it still is an impressive sight.
... Hahaha 
