澳大利亞最大的露天金礦，1893年帕迪∙漢南（Paddy Hannan）首次在此地發現金子以來，好多小公司相繼在這一礦區開採，曾經多達80多個礦井，開採歷史超過100年。到1989年，Normandy Australia 和Homestake Gold of Australia Limited合資成立卡爾古麗聯合金礦（Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines Pty Ltd - KCGM）買下全部租約，從此獨家控制這一礦區。KCGM每年生產多達85萬盎司的黃金，遠遠超過澳洲任何其它金礦，也確保澳大利亞作為世界第三大黃金生產國的地位，僅次於南非和美國。該金礦雇用員工1000多人，2008年支付當地薪金3.856億澳元。
基本介紹
- 外文名：super open pit
- 特色：澳大利亞最大的露天金礦
- 發現日期：1893年
- 性質：位列地球十大傷疤之一
The Super Pit Location,Super Pit's Scale,Super Pit's Operating,Super Open Pit位列地球十大傷疤之一,
The Super Pit Location
The super Pit is located at the town of Kalgoorlie, known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder, a city in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, and is located 595 kilometres (370 mi) east-northeast of state captial Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway.
Super Pit's Scale
The Super Pit is an open-cut gold mine approximately 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long, 1.6 kilometres (1.0 mi) wide and 512 metres (1,680 ft) deep. It was created by Alan Bond, who bought up a number of old mine leases in order to get the land area needed for the Super Pit. Every now and again the digging reveals an old shaft containing abandoned equipment and vehicles from the earlier mines.
Super Pit's Operating
The mine operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and a visitor centre overlooks it. The mine blasts at 1:00 pm every day, unless winds would carry dust over the town. Each of the massive trucks carries 225 tonnes of rock and the round trip takes about 35 minutes, most of that time being the slow uphill haul. Employees must live in Kalgoorlie; it is not a fly-in fly-out operation. The mine is expected to be productive until about 2017. At that point, it is planned to abandon it and allow the groundwater to seep in and fill it. It is estimated it will take about 50 years to fill completely full.
Super Open Pit位列地球十大傷疤之一
Super Pit被環保網站Environmental Graffiti列為地球上十大傷疤之一，與南非的老鑽石礦“大洞”，加拿大的Ekati和Diavik鑽石礦，俄羅斯的Udachnaya和Mirny鑽石礦，印尼的Grasberg金礦，智利的Chuquicamata 和Escondida銅礦，美國賓厄姆峽谷（Bingham Canyon）金銅礦等並列稱為“超級陷阱”。
據報導，該“超級陷阱”3.5公里長，1.5公里寬，縱深下切360米，在太空看得清清楚楚。該礦原定於2017年停止開採，後來又得到批准延長4年到2021年，開採深度增至600米，可年產60萬金衡盎司黃金，且許可其建立額外的廢料堆。
