Recently arrived migrants in the Kalgoorlie-Boulder community took a close-up look at the region’s mining industry with a tour of the Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) Super Pit on Saturday, 22 June.

The migrants, mostly women, travelled alongside giant dump trucks through the Super Pit. Measuring 3.6km long, 1.5km wide and 500m deep, the Super Pit is Australia’s largest open pit gold mine.

Community Migrant Worker Elizabeth Coghill said the Super Pit tour was an important opportunity for the migrants to learn about the history of mining and current mining
operations in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

“Most of the participants have no experience of the Super Pit or the mining industry in general, despite some of their spouses being involved in mining,” said Ms Coghill. “The tour was a totally new experience and provided an insight into the contribution that mining makes to their community.”

“It was also an opportunity for the new
migrants to share in a new learning experience in a supportive environment.”

The Frontier Services Community Migrant Service, funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, supports new migrants as they settle into their new lives.

Many of the migrants that the service supports do not have the benefits of socialising at work and tend to feel isolated until they begin to form connections with the community.

“Kalgoorlie-Boulder is often the first experience many of these women have of life in Australia and this was one opportunity for them to build strong bonds with each other and form lasting friendships,” said Ms Coghill.

The nationalities of the migrants on the tour included Mongolian, Indian, Iranian, Syrian, Thail, Japanese, Chilean and Sri Lankan.

The tour was followed by afternoon tea at Palace Hotel.

Frontier Services is grateful to KCGM for providing funding for the Super Pit tour hosted by Kalgoorlie Tours and Charters.