Unearthed

About the exhibition

The Mid West Region covers just under 470,000 km2 (including off-shore islands), or nearly one-fifth of Western Australia. Mining has long been a part of the region's history - since Aboriginal people mined for ochre about 30,000 years ago.

This exhibition was shown at the Western Australian Museum — Geraldton from 21 May - 20 November 2011. This community-based exhibition was created in response to the recent, rapid increase and projected continued expansion of mining in the Mid West. It contains contributions from ex-miners and their families, the many historical societies in the area, mining companies past and present, and staff from the Western Australian Museum. The result is a collection of Mid West mining stories not previously told on this scale.

Unearthed education

Since the exhibition finished, a comprehensive exhibition has been developed to provide educational resources about mining in the Mid West Region of Western Australia.

Interactive quiz

Try your luck with the interactive, redeveloped Miner to Magnate Quiz and discover many remarkable facts about our past and present mining heritage.

Take the interactive quiz