Up at 6.30am for an early mining tour. We were ready by 8.30am, hopping on the bus for a 2.5 hour tour of the Bauxite (used to make aluminium) ope cut mines. Chris the tour guide was a mine of information (good pun huh?) - he drove through the town and talked about its history & showed us some typical mining houses - a bargain : $600,000 for a 2-3 bedder! Rio Tinto 'run' the show now - originally it was Comalco. They have apparently only mined 10% of the contracted area-so the future of the town is very promising-a good real estate investment to be had?
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| Rio Tinto Bauxite Mine Tour |
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| Diggers and loaders |
The interesting thing about the mine is the massive re-generation of the entire site. Before they start digging up an area the Geologists, Ecologists and Aboriginal Elders check out every square inch of vegetation, before they move it all to a close by area, to be put back after the bauxite is removed. Whilst that area is growing back, only an Aboriginal Elder is allowed to walk on that area to avoid any accidental seed deposit or other miscellaneous materials interfering with the natural regeneration.
After finishing the tour, we stopped back in town to get last minute supplies (including hot chips and white fluffy bread - we were very hungry), then it was back on the red dirt corrugations to Bramwell Station - a 1330km square property - the northern most cattle station in Australia. They cross breed the hardy brahman cattle (the ones with the big bump on their necks) for sale. Vin & I had a drink in Happy Hour and listened to the fascinating history of the place.
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| You looking at me? |
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| Bramwell Station |
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| Lazy afternoon |
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| Toastinators |
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| Who's stereotyping? |
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