Leonora (Western Australia)

Leonora
Leonora 1899
State :  Australia State : Western Australia
Coordinates : 28 ° 53 ′  S , 121 ° 20 ′  E Coordinates: 28 ° 53 ′  S , 121 ° 20 ′  E Height : 376  m
Residents : 556 (2016)
Time zone : AWST (UTC +8) Postal code : 6438 LGA : Leonora Shire
Leonora

Leonora is a town in the Goldfields region in Western Australia . The city is located approximately 835 kilometers northeast of the capital Perth , 235 kilometers north of Kalgoorlie and 125 kilometers west of Laverton . The city of Leonora is the seat of the eponymous Leonora Shire and has about 550 inhabitants.

Leonora is located on the Goldfields Highway at the junction of the Laverton and Great Central Road . The area around Leonora is very warm with average temperatures of 18 ° C in winter and 37 ° C in summer. The annual rainfall is less than 240 millimeters.

The warm and dry climate prevents arable farming or agriculture. Only large-scale cattle farms can successfully exist in the area.

history

The area around Leonora was explored in 1869 by John Forrest as the first European. Forrest named a mountain after his six-year-old niece Frances (Fanny) Leonora Hardey.

In 1894 the first gold discoveries were made in the area and numerous prospectors came to the area. In 1897 a settlement was established and the city was officially called Leonora. Welsh miners founded a first gold mine called Gwalia , Welsh for Wales, a few kilometers south , in which gold was mined on a large scale. This and other gold discoveries led to rapid growth and development of the city.

Between 1901 and 1921 Leonora had a system of tram lines.

present

Gold deposits have been in decline since the 1960s and most of the mines have gradually closed. This was accompanied by a constant decline in the population.

Today there are only a few large mines left, some of which were only opened in recent years, when rising prices on the raw material market made mining profitable again. In addition to gold, nickel is also mined in large quantities.

Leonora hit the headlines again in early 2010 when the Australian government selected an abandoned mine site near the town as a reception center for asylum seekers .

Web links

Commons : Leonora, Western Australia  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics : Leonora (L) (Urban Center / Locality) ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
2. ↑ Climate statistics for Australian locations (Leonora) ( English ) Australian Government - Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
3. ↑ File # 37045: "WABI Card H1452" ( English ) Carnamah Historical Society & Museum. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 29, 2016. 
4. ^ Woman Pioneer (English) . In: Daily News , August 17, 1927, p. 4. Retrieved February 29, 2016. 
5. ^ Historical Collections - Large objects ( English ) Gwalia Museum. Retrieved February 29, 2016.