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...

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...

Shire of Wiluna Canning-Gunbarrel Discovery Centre

A stop on the edge of the desert

Wiluna is the southern gateway to the Canning Stock Route and the western gateway to the Gunbarrel Highway. The Canning-Gunbarrel Discovery Centre is housed inside the old Wiluna District Hospital and...

Beverley Station Arts - Gallery & Platform Theatre

The heart of Beverley’s art community

A delightful gallery in an old railway station. This small collection hides treasures from prolific painters. The gallery is home to the Shire of Beverley Art Collection, which started with a Claude...

Wagin Historical Village

A historical village started by a small group of people

Bringing visitors a slice of settler life from the late 1800s to mid 1900s, Wagin Historical Village has it all: A bakery, post office, local store, dairy, fire station, printer, bank, church...

Esperance Mechanical Restoration Group

Sheds full of vehicles, tractors, machines and a library compactus of manuals

The Esperance Mechanical Restoration Group’s name speaks for itself. The members restore and collect everything from machines to matchboxes. The site takes in several sheds full of cars, trucks and...