Super Pit Mine

　　The Super Pit Mine is located in Kalgoorlie, a major mining city in south-central Western Australia, and is the city's largest open-pit gold mining area. It measures approximately 3.6 kilometers in length, 1.6 kilometers in width, and 512 meters in depth. It is clearly visible from space and is hailed as one of the largest "man-made scars" on Earth.

　　The Super Pit Mine was first established by Australian businessman Alan Bond, who acquired the leaseholds of several old mines to secure the land needed for this operation. To this day, abandoned equipment and vehicles from earlier mining activities are still occasionally found during the mine's ongoing extraction. The Super Pit conducts a scheduled blast at 1:00 PM daily, though blasting may be halted if the resulting dust, carried by the wind, threatens air quality in Kalgoorlie. The mine's large trucks can carry 225 tons of rock, with each round trip taking about 35 minutes—most of which is spent ascending the pit's slopes, illustrating just how deep the mine is. It is expected that mining operations at the Super Pit will continue until 2017, after which the site will be abandoned, allowing groundwater to gradually seep in and fill it. However, it will take approximately 50 years for the pit to be completely filled.

　　The Super Pit Reason to visit: The largest open-pit gold mining area in Kalgoorlie Continent: Oceania Country/Region: Australia Province/State: Western Australia City: Kalgoorlie