Leonora (Western Australia)

Leonora is a town on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert in Western Australia and is located in the so-called Goldfields region. The city is located about 835 kilometers northeast of the capital Perth, 235 kilometers north of Kalgoorlie and 125 kilometers west of Laverton. The city is the seat of the homonymous Leonora Leonora Shire and has about 400 inhabitants.

Leonora is located on the Goldfields Highway at the junction of the road to Laverton and the Great Central Road. The area around Leonora is very warm with average values ​​of 18 ° C in winter and 37 ° C in summer. The annual rainfall is less than 240 millimeters.

The warm and dry climate prevents farming or agriculture. Only large-scale cattle ranches remain successful in the area.

History

The area around Leonora was explored in 1869 by John Forrest became the first Europeans. Forrest named a mountain for a girlfriend Phylis Leonora Hardey.

1894, the first discovery of gold in the area were made and a number of gold-seekers came to the area. In 1897, a settlement was established and the town was officially named Leonora. Welsh miners founded a few kilometers south a first gold mine by the name of Gwalia Welsh for Wales, in which gold was mined on a large scale. This and other gold discoveries led to the rapid growth and development of the city.

In the years 1901-1921 there were in Leonora, a system of tram lines. Thus Leonora was probably the smallest town in the world with its own tram.

Presence

Since the 1960s, the yield of gold deposits goes back and most of the mines were gradually closed. This was accompanied by a steady decline in the population.

Today there are only a few large mines, some of which were only opened in recent years, as rising prices in commodity markets the reduction made ​​viable again. Besides gold and nickel is reduced thereby in large amounts.

Was in the headlines again as Leonora became the Australian government in early 2010 an abandoned mine site in the vicinity of the place selected as the reception center for asylum seekers.