Murrin Murrin, Western Australia
Encyclopedia
Murrin Murrin is an abandoned
town in Western Australia
located 883 kilometres (549 mi) east of Perth
situated along the Old Laverton Road in between Leonora
and Laverton in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.
The town began as a mining camp, as part of a gold rush
, with allotments being made available in 1896. Alfred Edward Morgans, who later became Premier
of Western Australia, established a short lived copper
smelter in the area in 1896. Town lots were sold in 1900 but the railway to Leonora
, built in 1905, by passed the townsite and the railway station was located 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the original townsite. The boundaries of the town were extended in 1906 to the include the railway station. All further development occurred alongside the railway line. A police station was opened in 1905, with building constructed in 1906 and then closed in 1911. The station was then reopened in 1943 and then closed again in 1951.
Murrin is an Indigenous Australian name for a species of Acacia
tree that is commonly found in the area.
Nickel was discovered in Kambalda and the nearby Mount Windarra in the 1960s. The giant Murrin Murrin Joint Venture
which produces Nickel
and Cobalt
is approximately 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) to the north west of the abandoned townsite from which it takes its name.
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 in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
located 883 kilometres (549 mi) east of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
situated along the Old Laverton Road in 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.
The town began as a mining camp, as part of a gold rush
Western Australian gold rush
In the latter part of the nineteenth century, discoveries of gold at a number of locations in Western Australia caused large influxes of prospectors from overseas and interstate, and classic gold rushes. Significant finds included:...
, with allotments being made available in 1896. Alfred Edward Morgans, who later became Premier
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
of Western Australia, established a short lived copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
smelter in the area in 1896. Town lots were sold in 1900 but the railway to 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...
, built in 1905, by passed the townsite and the railway station was located 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the original townsite. The boundaries of the town were extended in 1906 to the include the railway station. All further development occurred alongside the railway line. A police station was opened in 1905, with building constructed in 1906 and then closed in 1911. The station was then reopened in 1943 and then closed again in 1951.
Murrin is an Indigenous Australian name for a species of Acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
tree that is commonly found in the area.
Nickel was discovered in Kambalda and the nearby Mount Windarra in the 1960s. The giant Murrin Murrin Joint Venture
Murrin Murrin Joint Venture
The Murrin Murrin Joint Venture is a major nickel-cobalt mining operation being conducted in the North Eastern Goldfields, approximately 60 km east of Leonora, Western Australia...
which produces Nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
and Cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
is approximately 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) to the north west of the abandoned townsite from which it takes its name.