Mount magnet

Mount magnet
Town center
State :  Australia State : Western Australia Founded : 1880s
Coordinates : 28 ° 4 ′  S , 117 ° 51 ′  E Coordinates: 28 ° 4 ′  S , 117 ° 51 ′  E Height : 426  m
Residents : 1,905 (2016)
Time zone : AWST (UTC + 8) Postal code : 6638 LGA : Mount Magnet Shire
Mount magnet

Mount Magnet is a city in the west of the Australian state of Western Australia . It was founded at the time of the Western Australian gold rush , had only 532 inhabitants in 2011, but now almost 2000 inhabitants again (2016).

Its name was coined while exploring the area and refers to a detached hill 5 km northwest of the present-day city. Its rock has an extremely high content of iron ore and significantly distracted the researchers' compasses.

Mining and History

Mount Magnet Hotel

The city is located 570 km northeast of the Western Australian capital Perth and is connected to it by the Great Northern Highway . Only a few of the formerly numerous mines are now in operation - especially the Hill 50 Gold Mine , which began operations in the 1890s. There were originally three different settlements in the area, Mount Magnet, Boogardie and Lennonville . Boogardie disappeared now in the open pit of Hill 50 Gold Mine. Lennonville was abandoned at the beginning of the First World War ; the foundations of the bank and the train station can still be seen today.

It was unusual for a mining settlement as large as Mount Magnet to never have its own public stamping mill . The nearest stamp mill was 5 km west in Boogardie. Nevertheless, one recognizes the typical signs of a gold rush settlement: the very wide main street with three hotels, a racecourse and a golf course with well-kept green.

geography

Around the city you can find the remains of old mines and in the northeast are important Aboriginal sites , whose holdings are jointly preserved by the local community and the West Australian Museum . Today Mount Magnet is mainly a supply center for the surrounding agricultural land with large sheep breeding stations.

In spring (September to November) the area attracts many tourists who watch the natural spread of the daisies , which stretches for several kilometers in all directions. Places further north are also visited from here, such as the Mount Augustus National Park or the port city of Port Hedland, 800 km to the north . The 6 hour drive from Perth is considered a "leisurely day trip" for tourism in this deserted country.

From Mount Magnet Airfield , Skippers Aviation operates flights to Meekatharra and Perth. When the Northern Railway to Meekatharra still existed, Mount Magnet was an important station and repair shop.

The Australian cricketer Bill Ponsford (1900-1991) spent his summer vacation here in his youth.

Coincidentally, the magnetic declination in the area has been almost zero since 2006 - i.e. H. the magnetic needle points (except for the Erzberg) almost exactly to geographic north.

Web links

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

• Website of the Shire of Mount Magnet (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Australian Bureau of Statistics : Mount Magnet (L) (Urban Center / Locality) ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
2. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics : Mount Magnet (L) (Urban Center / Locality) ( English ) In: 2011 Census QuickStats . March 28, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
3. ↑ Airport data on World Aero Data ( English, as of 2006 )