Telfer is a minesite and company town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, within the Great Sandy Desert. It is the state's most isolated town and is located 1,300 kilometres (808 mi) north-east of the state capital Perth.[3] The gold, copper, and silver mine is run by Newcrest Mining, and is one of the largest gold mines in Australia.
| Telfer Western Australia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Telfer | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 21°42′30″S 122°13′40″E / 21.70833°S 122.22778°E | ||||||||
| Population | 657 (SAL 2021)[1] | ||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 6762 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 292 m (958 ft)[2] | ||||||||
| Area | 177,847.9 km2 (68,667.5 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Location |
| ||||||||
| LGA(s) | Shire of East Pilbara | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Pilbara | ||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Durack | ||||||||
| |||||||||
History
editNewmont Mining first made a claim to the deposit in 1972;[4] however, this is disputed by Jean-Paul Turcaud to this date.[5][6]
A company town to support the mine was built by Newmont in 1976 and named after A. H. Telfer, former Western Australian Under Secretary for Mines. The town grew to a peak of almost 1,000 inhabitants in the early 1990s, with services such as a supermarket, a police station, a bank, a community hall, a library and a number of sporting facilities being available.[7]
The mine opened in 1977 as a joint venture between BHP and Newmont Mining. In 1990, a merger between Newmont Australia Limited and BHP Gold Limited resulted in the creation of Newcrest Mining, with ownership of the Telfer mine lying with Newcrest.[8]
Telfer's demographic characteristics were typical of a northern Western Australian mining town in the time period. It had a male to female ratio of 2.4 to 1 and almost 40 percent of its population was born overseas. Half its population was below the age of 35 and the town experienced an annual population turnover of almost 20 percent.[7]
In 1996, the town suffered from the decision to move the Telfer mine from residential to a fly-in fly-out workforce. Many of the commercial services were withdrawn; only the recreational facilities were maintained. The existing housing was now used for the accommodation of the mine's mobile work force. One of the main reasons for the town's closure was that fly-in fly-out rosters gave the mine access to a larger skilled work force and to people that would otherwise have been unwilling to relocate to a remote location like Telfer.[7]
Open-cut mining was suspended in August 2000 due to high operating costs. High production costs were primarily caused by the presence of cyanide soluble copper in the open pit ore.[8]
In 2002, Newcrest Mining announced a new redevelopment project worth $1 billion,[9] after discovering new mineral areas and a reserve base of some 591 tonnes (19 million troy ounces) of gold and 640 thousand tonnes (1.4 billion pounds) of copper.[10] The mine reopened in November 2004, after commissioning of the processing plant and, initially as an open cut mine, from March 2006 also with an underground operation.[8][11]
In July 2018, a woman on her lunch break at the Telfer Mine was attacked by a dingo. The injuries required surgery.[12]
Climate
editTelfer has a hot arid climate (Köppen BWh) with sweltering summers and very warm winters. Summer highs average at 40 °C (104 °F) and winter highs at 25 °C (77 °F). These very high temperatures mean that the climate is classed as arid despite receiving around 370 millimetres or 15 inches of rainfall per year. Telfer's location near the hot Indian Ocean leaves the community vulnerable to tropical cyclones. For example, Cyclone Graham affected the area in early 2003, delivering 163 millimetres (6.4 in) of rain. Severe Tropical Cyclone Laurence also passed over the mine site in December 2009.[13]
| Climate data for Telfer Aero | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 48.1 (118.6) |
47.1 (116.8) |
45.1 (113.2) |
41.2 (106.2) |
38.0 (100.4) |
33.9 (93.0) |
33.4 (92.1) |
36.0 (96.8) |
41.3 (106.3) |
44.1 (111.4) |
46.0 (114.8) |
47.9 (118.2) |
48.1 (118.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 40.4 (104.7) |
38.6 (101.5) |
37.4 (99.3) |
34.5 (94.1) |
29.0 (84.2) |
25.3 (77.5) |
25.3 (77.5) |
28.4 (83.1) |
32.9 (91.2) |
37.2 (99.0) |
39.4 (102.9) |
40.3 (104.5) |
34.1 (93.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 26.0 (78.8) |
25.4 (77.7) |
24.0 (75.2) |
20.6 (69.1) |
15.4 (59.7) |
11.9 (53.4) |
10.6 (51.1) |
12.5 (54.5) |
16.5 (61.7) |
21.0 (69.8) |
23.5 (74.3) |
25.5 (77.9) |
19.4 (66.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 17.2 (63.0) |
17.7 (63.9) |
14.4 (57.9) |
11.5 (52.7) |
5.6 (42.1) |
2.1 (35.8) |
3.0 (37.4) |
2.5 (36.5) |
6.2 (43.2) |
10.5 (50.9) |
13.0 (55.4) |
16.5 (61.7) |
2.1 (35.8) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 53.2 (2.09) |
101.9 (4.01) |
74.5 (2.93) |
19.6 (0.77) |
18.8 (0.74) |
13.6 (0.54) |
12.8 (0.50) |
5.0 (0.20) |
2.3 (0.09) |
2.9 (0.11) |
16.1 (0.63) |
46.7 (1.84) |
367.4 (14.45) |
| Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 7.7 | 8.5 | 5.9 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 5.2 | 42.8 |
| Source: [2][14] | |||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Telfer (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Climate statistics for Telfer". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
- ^ "Interesting facts about Western Australia". Landgate. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
- ^ The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition, page 128, accessed: 27 January 2010
- ^ The Golden Riddle: Finder's Keepers? ABC Radio National, produced by Bronwyn Adcock, broadcast: 6 June 1999, accessed: 27 January 2010
- ^ The Golden Rule Book review, author: Bob Sheppard, ISBN 0-85905-311-3, accessed: 27 January 2010
- ^ a b c Mining towns of Western Australia, page: 33-34
- ^ a b c History of NCM Archived 2010-03-02 at the Wayback Machine Newcrest website, accessed: 27 January 2010
- ^ "Newcrest cold on Telfer raising". The West Australian. 25 March 2002. p. 28.
- ^ Phaceas, John (20 November 2002). "Newcrest nod to invest $1b in Telfer". The West Australian. p. 61.
- ^ Operations - Telfer Archived 2010-01-22 at the Wayback Machine Newcrest website, accessed: 27 January 2010
- ^ Dirksz, Monique. "FIFO worker Debbie Rundle opens up about violent dingo attack at Telfer minesite". The West Australian. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ AAP General News (2003). "Cyclone Graham hits WA". The Age. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
- ^ "Highest daily maximum temperatures for Australia - 27 December 2019". www.bom.gov.au. Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
Further reading
edit- Garrick Moore: Mining towns of Western Australia, published: 1997, ISBN 1-875449-34-5