Mertondale is an abandoned

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 town located between Leonora

Leonora, Western Australia

Leonora is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located northeast of the state capital, Perth, and north of the city of Kalgoorlie. At the 2006 census, Leonora had a population of 401, about a third of whom are of Aboriginal descent. The area is extremely arid, with a...

 and Laverton in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.

A prospector named Fred Merton discovered Gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

in the area in 1898 and the claim turned out to be an exceedingly rich find. The mining warden suggested that a townsite should be declared in 1899, and it was gazetted later the same year.

Merton's lease, named Mertons Reward or Mertons Find was the main mine in the town. Merton himself suggested the name Mertondale. The gold petered out by 1910 and the town was deserted shortly afterward.