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

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...

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...

Old Police Complex

A country police station

The first Laverton police station is described by the guide as ‘tents, tin and fibro,’ with the prisoners brutally chained to logs. In 1899 the original jail was moved from the close-by settlement of...

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...

Sandstone Heritage Museum and Visitor Centre

Tiny town with a huge history

A 1940s converted shop houses this locally cherished collection. The Museum was opened by dedicated volunteers who decided to save Sandstone’s relics, buildings and history. The items in the...

Nungarin Heritage Machinery and Army Museum

Army and local history, everything including the kitchen sink!

Between 1942 and 1962 Nungarin was a depot for Australian army personnel, supplies and machinery. The Museum is situated in the original Army Vehicle Workshop. When you visit the Museum watch a video...