It was a day off for me last Thursday and since Vian is still having her semester break holiday, we decided to go to the city and pay a visit to Perth Mint - one of the main tourist attractions in Perth.
As you can see from the photos, it was a fine, sunny day so all the photos taken on that day have natural lighting that makes them look finer than usual. :)
After grabbing a quick lunch at Chillis, we embarked on a Red Cat bus to go to our destination.
Apparently, there were some renovation works going on that day (thus you can the bright yellow tape in the background). We only have to fork out $5 each for the guided tour instead of the usual $15 because the front block was off-limit due to the renovation.
The bronze statue behind us was that of two prospectors who first discovered gold in Kalgoorlie in 1893 and started the gold rush in Western Australia ever since.
So, while waiting for our tour to commence, we wandered around the Coin Gallery. Perth Mint is the oldest operating mint in Australia since 1896 and thus it has a vast collections of antique coins and gold bars from around the world. We were advised that camera is prohibited in both the coin and gold galleries, so there is no photo to be shown here.
Finally, our guide arrived and we were being given a mini-tour of the building and briefing about the history and operations of the mint.
This was the campfire tent that was used by the prospectors who traveled by foot across hundreds of kilometres to Kalgoorlie since 1890's to try their luck at striking gold. Many of them died on their journey due to dehydration and diseases.
For those who made it, there was no guarantee that they'll be able to find any gold, so a lot of them died too due to depression and stress (okay, I made that up =P)
Vian was holding the 'Golden Eagle' nugget - one of the largest gold nuggets ever mined in Australia. It weighed 35 kgs and was named the Golden Eagle because it resembles the shape of its namesake. The person who discovered it soon sell it off and bought himself a hotel and named it the Golden Eagle Hotel.
However, we ain't see nothing yet until this....
THE. MOTHER. OF. ALL. GOLD. NUGGETS.!!
This is the mother of all the gold nuggets. I forgot what it was named but if you look closely, it actually resembles the continent of Australia.
A gold bar was placed in a crucible and was left to burn and melt in a furnace. The furnace was burning at around 1000 degrees Celcius as it was the melting point of gold. We can really felt the heat eminating from the furnace as we sat several feets away from it.
The worker then took out the burning crucible and pour the gold liquid into a cast and it was left to cool and solidified for about 3 minutes - just enough time for the worker to remove his safety goggle and fireproof clothing. Then, he submerged the cast into a tank of cold water for about 1 minute and..Voila! A 24 carat (99.9% purity) gold bar has just been created! Too bad the gold bar was worth about $400,000 so it's impossible for it to be passed around and to let us have a feel of it. =(
At the end of the demonstration, a security guard was waiting at the side exit. The guy who showed us the gold pour said that he will be escorted to the office each time at the of his demonstration, so that the gold bar that can be weighed and verified. If the weight of the bar doesn't tally with that in the record, he will be without a job tomorrow. If it tallies, then we can all come back tomorrow at 10 a.m. and listen and watch him repeating the same thing all over again. LOL
There is a self-operating minting machine near the exit. For a mere $2, you can mint your own coin and have it as a token of souvenir.
My mistake was to remove the coin too soon with my hand, and that is why the fingerprints are visible on the surface of the coin. Sigh~
We took a stroll around the city somemore before catching our bus home at the Wellington Station.
Everywhere we went that day, there was this news headlines stating 'Masterchef Relegates Election Debate'. The nation will be helding their federal election on 21 August, and the new Premier Julia Gillard has decided to seek fresh mandate from the people (unlike our *cough* Na *cough* Jib).
But, the reality show Masterchef has taken over the country by storm and there is nothing to stop the viewers from catching the Grand Finale episode this Sunday. NOT EVEN A LIVE ELECTION DEBATE between the PM and the Opposition Leader.
So, politics has to take a back seat and rescheduled their election debate to 4.30 p.m. today as not to coincide with Masterchef finale that will be showing at 7.30 p.m.
I will be rooting for Adam - the guy that looks like a samurai - because he is a MALAYSIAN!!
Yo dude, changed your site layout? I like the new look. Can you courier to me that Mother of all Gold Nugget? LOL!
Yo! Yup, changed it few months ago actually out of boredom. :) Thanks anyway!
Well, if I could, I would you know. But we're not allowed to even get a hold of the gold bar, so I'm very much in doubt that we can do anything with the bloody huge nugget. Haha!