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Events/Invention · 1903

Goldfields Water Supply Scheme opens

Invention, 22 to 24 January 1903, Australia.

What happened

The scheme pumped water 566 km from Mundaring Weir to Mount Charlotte Reservoir at Kalgoorlie, lifting it 390 metres over the Darling Scarp. Work began in 1898. It opened at Coolgardie on 22 January 1903 and at Mount Charlotte on 24 January.1,2,3

Why it matters

It let the dry goldfields grow after the 1890s rush.1,2,3

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Alluvial gold found at Pilgrim's Rest

    It began the gold rush in the eastern Transvaal.4,5

  2. Homestake Mine: inception

    Homestake Mine: inception.6

  3. Barberton gold rush

    Barberton was the first major gold boom of the eastern Transvaal, two years before the Witwatersrand.7,8

  4. Cyanide process for gold developed in Scotland

    USGS says heap leaching with cyanide was proposed in 1969 as a way to treat low-grade ores.9,10,11

  5. Bayley and Ford strike gold at Coolgardie

    Arthur Bayley and William Ford made the first big Goldfields strike.12

  6. Gold found on Rabbit (Bonanza) Creek

    It set off the Klondike gold rush.13,14,15

  7. Dawson City at the height of the Klondike rush

    Parks Canada estimates 20,000 to 30,000 people at the height of the rush.16

  8. Goldfields Water Supply Scheme opens

    It let the dry goldfields grow after the 1890s rush.1,2,3

Open the full timeline

Where next

Mines

Led toGolden Mile, Kalgoorlie-BoulderThe Golden Mile's output peaked at 2,064,803 ounces in 1903, the year water arrived.17ExamplesLas MedulasRoman gold-miners dug canals up to 100 km long. Kalgoorlie's pipeline ran 566 km.1

Places

Located inKalgoorlie-BoulderThe pipeline lifted water 390 metres over the Darling Scarp to reach Mount Charlotte.1Located inCoolgardieThe scheme opened at Coolgardie in January 1903 and at Mount Charlotte on 24 January.1

Sources

  1. Building a Pipeline (WA Goldfields) Western Australian Museum
  2. CY O'Connor's Golden Pipeline celebrates 120 years of service (media statement, 24 Jan 2023) Government of Western Australia
  3. Mundaring Weir (item Q1800878), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. Mpumalanga South African History Online
  5. Pilgrim's Rest (item Q2992348), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  6. Wikidata item Q2351504 (Homestake Mine: inception)
  7. Barberton, Mpumalanga South African History Online
  8. Barberton (item Q807828), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. Cyanide hazards to plants and animals from gold mining and related water issues (publication page) US Geological Survey
  10. Johannesburg Timeline 1800-1991 South African History Online
  11. Scotland (item Q22), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  12. Gold is discovered and Coolgardie is born Shire of Coolgardie
  13. Discovery Claim National Historic Site Parks Canada
  14. Gold Discoverers (Klondike Gold Rush NHP) US National Park Service
  15. Bonanza Creek (item Q2213604), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  16. Dawson Historical Complex National Historic Site Parks Canada
  17. Kalgoorlie Eastern Goldfields Historical Society

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0.