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Events/Closure · 2007

Wittenoom removed from official maps

Closure, Phase-down from 1978; degazetted June 2007, Australia.

What happened

From 1978 the WA government phased down the Wittenoom townsite because of the risk from airborne asbestos fibres. Power was cut in 2006 and the town was degazetted in June 2007.1,2

Why it matters

It is the main case study of an Australian town closed because of mining waste.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Shaba invasions trigger a cobalt market panic

    The shock made Western governments worry about cobalt supply from central Africa and still shapes talk of critical minerals.3,4,5

  2. City of Potosi inscribed

    UNESCO World Heritage listing event.6

  3. RTZ and CRA form a dual listed group

    The structure still joins Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited.7,8

  4. Mountain Pass mining stops

    The pause left China with over 90 percent of world rare earth production in the years that followed.9,10

  5. Pike River Mine disaster

    Pike River Mine disaster.11

  6. City of Potosi added to the Danger List

    UNESCO World Heritage listing event.6

  7. Indonesia bans nickel ore exports

    USGS records a nickel-ore export ban in force from 2020 to require domestic processing.12

  8. China begins export controls on gallium and germanium

    It was formal Announcement No. 23 of 2023 (3 July 2023) and put gallium and germanium exports under licence.13,14

Open the full timeline

Where next

Mines

Located inWittenoom (Colonial Mine)The townsite was phased down from 1978 because of the risk from airborne asbestos fibres.1

Events

Came out ofAsbestos mining at Wittenoom endsMining ended in 1966. The town was degazetted in June 2007.1

Places

Located inWittenoomPower was cut in 2006 and the town was degazetted in June 2007.1

Sources

  1. Information on the former town of Wittenoom (brochure PDF) Government of Western Australia
  2. Wittenoom (item Q3569521), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Investigation of U.S. Foreign Reliance on Critical Minerals, OFR 2020-1127 US Geological Survey
  4. Statement of Charles G. Groat, Director, USGS US Geological Survey
  5. Kolwezi (item Q271404), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  6. City of Potosi added to List of World Heritage in Danger UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  7. History of Rio Tinto
  8. London (item Q84), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. Rare-Earth Elements, Professional Paper 1802-O US Geological Survey
  10. Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine (item Q4285560), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  11. Wikidata item Q928629 (Pike River Mine disaster)
  12. 2022 Minerals Yearbook: Indonesia [Advance Release] U.S. Geological Survey
  13. China: Government announces export control measures for gallium and germanium Global Trade Alert
  14. Beijing (item Q956), coordinate location P625 Wikidata

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.