Kanowna, Western Australia

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Kanowna
state = wa


caption =
lga = Kalgoorlie-Boulder
postcode = 6431
est = 1894
pop =
elevation= 377
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Kalgoorlie
fedgov = Kalgoorlie
dist1 = 615
dir1 = East
location1= Perth
dist2 = 20
dir2 = NE
location2= Kalgoorlie
dist3 = 56
dir3 = NE
location3= Coolgardiecoord|-30.608|121.603|type:city(50)_region:AU-WA_scale:50000|format=dms|display=title

Kanowna is a ghost town in the Goldfields region of Western Australia. It is located about 20 km east of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.

After the discovery of gold in the area in 1893, the population rose to over 12,000 by 1905. However, the alluvial gold supply was rapidly exhausted, and underground mines following the outcropping vein produced decreasing amounts of gold, resulting in a slow but steady decrease in the population. The railway station was closed during the Great Depression, and by 1953 the town had been completely abandoned. There is nothing but rubble and two cemeteries left of the original town of Kanowna.

Increasing gold prices in the late 1970s sparked renewed interest in exploring the geology of the area for new sources of gold, and the discovery of a large amount of gold, previously undiscovered because the vein did not reach the surface, made gold mining in the region economically viable again. Mining recommenced in 1986, initially as open-cut mining, before moving to underground mines. As of 2002, the Kanowna Belle mine employed over 300 people.

Further reading

* Laurie, Kris (Kristien Elizabeth) (1993) "Kanowna heritage trail : commemorating Kanowna's centenary, 1893-1993". Kalgoorlie, W.A : Kalgoorlie-Boulder Tourist Centre for Delta Gold N.L.