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Gold continued

Introduction

Prospecting for gold

Underground mining 1900-1972

Sons of Gwalia gold mine 1900-1960

Open cut mining

Corporate underground gold mining continued

By 1925 the Sons of Gwalia gold mine was the only big mine left operating outside Kalgoorlie's Golden Mile. It had benefited from State government aid under the Mining Development Act of 1923, which helped improve the mine after a disastrous fire in January 1921 had destroyed most of its surface plant and stopped mining operations for nearly three years.

In other areas of the industry the story was more bleak. Higher costs from the introduction of a miner's award (1921) and the closing of smaller mines where gold was more difficult to extract, contributed to a 15% reduction in the number of men employed in gold mines. By the time of the 1929 Depression the gold mining industry was in a state of general decline. The Federal Government's Gold Bonus Scheme (1932) was introduced to boost gold production through subsidies.

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