Meekatharra, Western Australia
| Meekatharra Western Australia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Location of Meekatharra in Western Australia (red) | |||||||||
| Population | 945 | ||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 6642 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 517 m (1,696 ft) | ||||||||
| Location | |||||||||
| LGA(s) | Shire of Meekatharra | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Murchison-Eyre | ||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Kalgoorlie | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Meekatharra is a town in the Mid West region of Western Australia. Meekatharra is an Australian Aboriginal word meaning 'place of little water'. At the 2001 census, Meekatharra had a population of 945, with 36.2% being Indigenous Australians.[1]
Overview
Meekatharra is a major supply centre for the pastoral and mining area in the Murchison region of Western Australian.
It was an important location in the Western Australian Government Railways system - being the northernmost location in the Northern Railway railway network, apart from the isolated Marble Bar Railway branch out of Port Hedland. For a while a further branch line continued eastwards to Wiluna. The line was closed from Mullewa and pulled up in the 1970s. In the 2000s, new iron ore prospects may see the railway return. [2]
It is located 764 km north east of Perth and may be reached by the Great Northern Highway. It is a centre for sheep and cattle transshipment, initially by rail but now by road trains. A huge 2181 metre runway, now known as Meekatharra Airport, was built by the Americans during World War II. It serves as an important ETOPS diversion airport for inbound transcontinental flights to Australia. It is also a regional home to the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the School of the Air.
Meekatharra is a former gold rush town. It seems the first settlement at Meekatharra occurred in 1894 and that, in May 1896, after the prospectors Meehan, Porter and Soich discovered gold, miners moved to the new settlement from the other East Murchison fields and mining grew rapidly in scale and sophistication. The Peak Hill mining town was founded in 1892 approximately 100km up the road during this initial Gold Rush.
Success on the Meekatharra field was short-lived. It was only because a second gold discovery occurred in 1899 that the town survived. In 1901 the Meekatharra State Battery began operation and by Christmas Day 1903 the township had been officially gazetted.
In 1906 Alfred Wernam Canning was appointed to develop a stock route from the East Kimberleys to the Murchison. The stock route, comprising 54 wells, was completed in 1908 and, when the railway arrived in Meekatharra in 1910, the town became the railhead at the end of the route. In many ways the railway ensured the town's survival. In 1910 it took the first shipment of wool out of the area and it continued to serve the local pastoral interests until it was closed down in 1978.
From 1927 until 1931, a railway line operated from Meekatharra to the manganese mine at Horseshoe, some 80 miles (128 km) distant[3].
Meekatharra underwent a significant gold rush during the mining boom of the 1980s, with mining continuing until early 2005 at St Barbaba Mines's Bluebird open pit mine. Exploration has recently restarted in the area, St Barbara sold out to a company known as Mercator Gold. Mercator Gold have conducted an extensive drilling program and are currently in the process of re-opening the mill and commencing production in early June 2007.
Another substantial gold deposit lies just south of the townsite called the Paddy's Flat area was explored and mined by Western Mining Corporation and Dominion Mining Ltd in the 1990's.[4].
Although the town has fallen on tough economic time in the recent past it is now looking to a bright future with the recommencement of mining in the area.
The climate is hot and dry. The annual rainfall is between 200mm and 500mm (20 inches). No viable horticultural industry exists in the area, although extensive but poor cattle stations in the Murchison and Gascoyne exist.
References
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (19 November 2002). "2001 Community Profiles: Meekatharra (L) (Urban Centre/Locality". 2001 Census of Population and Housing. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
- ^ Golden West Resources | Wiluna West Iron Project
- ^ Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, August, 1984, pp183-189
- ^ "Mindax - Former Normandy Executives Team Up in $3 Million Mindax Gold IPO". 2004. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
External links
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2008) |
Further reading
- Boyd, D. (1988) Meekatharra : a glimpse of the past- Meekatharra, W.A. Shire of Meekatharra ISBN 0731643089. "A Bicentennial, Back to Meekatharra publication".
- Edwards, Hugh, (1994) Meekatharra : the gold beyond the rivers Swanbourne, W.A : H. Edwards for the Meekatharra Shire. ISBN 064620842X
- Heydon, P. R. (1994) Meekatharra : end of the earth West Perth [W.A.] : Dominion Mining ; Carlisle, W.A : Hesperian Press, ISBN 085905196X