http://www.theguardian.com/international
Some towns have gone, but others have diversified from iron ore to cattle farming and new businesses
Three hours from the centre of Western Australia’s iron ore industry, a scrubby patch of ground stands as a reminder of what happens to mining towns when the money moves on.
The patchy outline of a football oval is all that’s left of the town of Shay Gap, which once had a population of 650. Lang Coppin, an East Pilbara shire councillor whose family runs Yarrie Station, where the town was built, can spot it when he flies over the area in his helicopter – but that’s only because he knows where to look.
“You will drive past there now and if you didn’t know where the town was you wouldn’t believe it,” Coppin said. “You wouldn’t know you went past a town that once had schools, football ovals, shops.”
Founded by Mount Goldsworthy Mining Associates in the early 70s as a worker hub for nearby iron ore operations, Shay Gap closed two months after the mine ceased operation in February 1994.