We went to Arltunga for a visit, and to attend two tours run by the Ranger. The road out there was tar for 80kms and then gravel for the last 40km. The first tour was at the tourist information. It was a display of the mine stamp battery working and a talk on gold mining in the area. Apparently people originally came here to look for Rubies but they ended up being Garnets. They then looked for gold which had been previously found in the area. There was gold found here, but not in the amounts they originally thought they would find.
We then went out the where the gold mining was done. We entered a hand dug gold mine, and saw how much they had dug out over a period of around 11 years. There is also an open cut mine at the top of the hill.
We went for a walk through one of the many historic gold mines in the White Range area. Imagine the life, hardships and isolation of the miners around Arltunga and how the miners worked the sites. We also saw old stone surrounds that the miners use to live in when they came up from the mine. Some of them lived with aboroginal women who did the cooking and housekeeping. We also saw a gaol cell, police station and a government works building. The two cemeteries we saw were also good. People often died by 50yrs because of dust disease, from working in the mines. They also died from exposure to mercury and cyanide, that is mixed with gold when it is exposed from the ground. The sunset on the mountain was beautiful. Reds and rusts mixed the green foliage was absolutely beautiful.
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