12-592: The Outback Highway or Outback Way is a series of roads and dirt tracks linking Laverton, Western Australia and Winton, Queensland . At 2,719 km (1,690 mi), it crosses Central Australia (colloquially known as the Outback ), passing through Western Australia , the Northern Territory and Queensland . It has been proposed as a development to provide an inland route between southern Western Australia and northern Queensland as an alternative to
24-517: A laterite nickel ore formed by deep weathering of a peridotite ultramafic rock . Significant problems and delays were encountered in the design, construction and commissioning of the ore process plant at Murrin Murrin. The designers, Fluor Daniel eventually had to pay the joint venture partners A$ 155 million in an out-of-court settlement. It was their second successful claim against Fluor, Murrin Murrin owners having been awarded $ 147 million from
36-756: A nickel strike prompted the Poseidon bubble . The deposit was developed by Western Mining and its partners into the Windarra Nickel Project, which mined and processed nickel ore from 1974 to 1991. Laverton is primarily a mining area. There are two major operating gold mines in the district: the Wallaby Mine near Granny Smith , owned and operated by Gold Fields , and the Sunrise Dam Gold Mine , owned and operated by AngloGold Ashanti . Both open pit and underground mining
48-601: Is a town in the Goldfields region of Western Australia , and the centre of administration for the Shire of Laverton . The town of Laverton is located at the western edge of the Great Victoria Desert , 957 kilometres (595 mi) north-northeast of the state capital, Perth , and 124 kilometres (77 mi) east-northeast of the town of Leonora , with an elevation of 461 metres (1,512 ft). About 20% of
60-561: Is conducted at these mines. The Murrin Murrin laterite nickel project is located 55 kilometres (34 mi) to the west, midway between Laverton and Leonora. The area has a long history of pastoralism with sheep, cattle and goats, and a substantial area of land is used in this way. According to census results from the Australian Bureau of Statistics , the population of the Laverton urban centre fell 23%, from 439 to 340 in
72-602: The National Highway 1 along either coast. Roads that make up the highway are: Support for the project is strong amongst local government areas along the route and elsewhere. The project has secured over $ 400 million in funding; 80% Federal funding and 20% from the Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland governments. As at June 2021 there is 1200km to seal. Laverton, Western Australia Laverton , originally known as British Flag ,
84-654: The 15 years from 2001 to 2016. Over this same period, the population of Indigenous Australians decreased from 37.6% (165 people) to 20.8% (71 people) of the town. Laverton has a semi-arid climate with hot summers and mild to cool winters. Murrin Murrin Joint Venture The Murrin Murrin Mine is a major nickel-cobalt mining operation being conducted in the North Eastern Goldfields , approximately 45 km east of Leonora, Western Australia . The project
96-485: The Laverton area, including John Forrest , David Carnegie and Frank Hann . Gold was discovered in the British Flag area in 1896 and many prospectors and miners moved into the area. Among them was Dr Charles W. Laver, who became an enthusiastic supporter and promoter of the region. One of the most successful mines was Craiggiemore, and by 1897 a residential and business area known as British Flag had sprung up on
108-720: The population is of Aboriginal descent. The area is semi-arid, with a mean annual rainfall of 233 millimetres (9.2 in). It is also quite warm, with mean daily maximum temperatures ranging from 17 °C (62 °F) in July to 36 °C (97 °F) in January. Laverton is the westernmost town on the Outback Way – a proposed highway which goes through the Northern Territory to Winton in outback Queensland. A number of early explorers travelled over
120-412: The west side of the mine. In March 1898 a townsite was approved as Laverton, in honour of Laver. In 1899, the residents sought to have a townsite surveyed, but by then the original Craiggiemore location had become unsuitable, so a new site was chosen about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) north of the original lots. The new site was surveyed in July 1899 and the town of Laverton gazetted in July 1900. Laverton
132-603: Was initiated as a joint venture between Murrin Murrin Holdings Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anaconda Nickel Limited (whose share was 60%) and Glenmurrin Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore International AG , which had a 40% share. In 2003 Anaconda changed its name to Minara Resources Limited. In November 2011, Minara Resources was fully acquired and is now wholly owned by Glencore International. The mine opened in 1999. Murrin Murrin mines
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#1732793742574144-467: Was the terminus of a branch line of the Kalgoorlie to Leonora railway line , with the junction at Malcolm. By the late 1960s, Laverton was in decline, mainly because of the very low price of gold. In 1968 a Poseidon prospector Ken Shirley discovered nickel-bearing rocks at Windarra, 24 kilometres (15 mi) northwest of Laverton. In 1969 Poseidon began drilling Windarra. In September rumours of
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