Telfer is a minesite and company town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, within the Great Sandy Desert. It is the state's most isolated town and is located 1300 km north-east of the state capital Perth.[2] The gold, copper, and silver mine is one of the largest gold mines in Australia.
History
Newmont first made a claim to the deposit in 1972;[3] however, this is disputed by Jean-Paul Turcaud to this date.[4][5]
A company town to support the mine was built by Newmont in 1976 and named after Telfer, former Western Australian Under Secretary for Mines. The town grew to a peak of almost 1,000 inhabitants in the early 1990s, with services such as a supermarket, a police station, a bank, a community hall, a library and a number of sporting facilities being available.