WA School of Mines Mineral Museum Overview

WA School of Mines Mineral Museum

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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.

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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

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...

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...

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...

Albert Facey Homestead

A Fortunate Life

Visit the original humble homestead of Albert Facey, author of Australian classic autobiography, A Fortunate Life. The homestead is right in the heart of Wickepin and forms a key feature of the 58km...

Laverton Outback Gallery

Aboriginal art from Laverton and the Western Desert region

In this gallery you will find artworks, paintings, digging sticks, carvings, weavings and crafts by artists from the surrounding regions, including the Ngaanyatjarra Lands. Well known weavers in the...

The Windmills Shed

A farmer's love of windmills

A collection not to be missed! The extremely rare Steel Wings windmill at the entrance to Wimera Farm signal that this is a special visitor experience. The windmill collection, developed by local...

City of Kalgoorlie - Boulder Art Collection

City's art collection

In 1955 Claude Hotchin gave a collection of 32 art works to the Municipality of Kalgoorlie. The Claude Hotchin Bequest includes important works by Ernest Philpot, Hans Heysen and Walter Ebatarinja, an...