WA School of Mines Mineral Museum Overview

WA School of Mines Mineral Museum

Get directions

Be mesmerised by minerals.

More than just rocks of the region, this collection is a learning tool, with mineral specimens from all around the world, housed in a beautiful heritage building. The minerals include sulphides, like pyrite or fool’s gold; carbonates such as calcspar and dolomite; and native elements such as graphite. Unfortunately, there are no diamonds in the collection! The mineral samples were used as teaching aids at the WA School of Mines, which first opened in Coolgardie in 1902, and then relocated to Kalgoorlie a few years later.

Visit website

Address:

117 Egan Street
Kalgoorlie WA 6430
Australia

Tel:

(08) 9088 6170

Email:

WASM-MECEAdministration@curtin.edu.au

Opening Hours

Mon to Fri 9am - 4:30pm

Pyrite from Broad Arrow

Listen to the rocks talk

Minerals like galena and pyrite were used as conductors in early crystal radios. If you wrap chicken wire around a large pyrite sample and shape it into a dish, you can pick up radio waves. It is as...

Staurolite

Twinning

Staurolite, a silicate, is used in geology as an 'index mineral'. This means it is used to estimate depth, temperature and pressure changes to rock, like movement of the earth’s crust or magma...

Malachite from Murin Murin

Viridescent deposit

Malachite, a carbonate of copper, is one of the oldest known green pigments. Malachite was used as an indicator of the presence of copper. This sample is from the Anaconda copper mine near Murin Murin...

Warden Finnerty’s Residence

A collection in a national trust stone building

The simple grandeur of this stone house sitting atop Montana Hill, overlooking Coolgardie, is impressive. The view from the veranda is amazing, but don't forget the collection inside. The house was...

Brookton Museum and Heritage Centre

Former Police Station & Quarters, now the Brookton Museum & Heritage Centre

This is an inviting old Police Station and residence, and a collection which engages visitors with the history of Brookton, its people, its environment and its history. The display changes each year...

York Motor Museum

Petrol head pleasure at this motor palace

This Museum is a feast of everything vehicular, with over 70 cars and 15 motorbikes. There is a rotating display of vehicles and motor memorabilia over three main galleries. Don't forget to check out...

The Quairading Vintage Club

A scale model road train, one of the districts oldest tractors, and everything in between!

The Quairading Vintage Club was originally formed in the 1980s by a group of farmers and locals from the district. In 2018 the Vintage Club became associated with the Men’s Shed. The collection...