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Leonora
Western Australia
Leonora; Western Australia
	Tower Street, Leonora
	Leonora
Coordinates	28°53′04″S 121°19′51″E / 28.884498°S 121.330812°E
Population	567 (UCL 2021)
Established	1897
Postcode(s)	6438
Elevation	376 m (1,234 ft)
Area	11,072.4 km2 (4,275.1 sq mi)
Location	833 km (518 mi) NE of Perth ; 237 km (147 mi) N of Kalgoorlie ; 124 km (77 mi) NNW of Leinster ;
LGA(s)	Shire of Leonora
State electorate(s)	Kalgoorlie
Federal division(s)	O'Connor

Leonora is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located 833 kilometres (518 mi) northeast of the state capital, Perth, and 237 kilometres (147 mi) north of the city of Kalgoorlie.

History

The first European explorer to visit the area was John Forrest in 1869.^[2] On 21 June 1869 Forrest's party made camp near a conspicuous hill, which Forrest named Mount Leonora, after his six-year-old niece Frances (Fanny) Leonora Hardey.^[3] In 1895, gold was discovered in the area by prospector Edward "Doodah" Sullivan at the Johannesburg lease just north of the current townsite. In the following two years a number of rich finds resulted in rapid development of the area. The Sons of Gwalia gold mine brought Leonora to the attention of the world. By 1897 a residential and business area had been established, and the town was gazetted as Leonora.^[4]

Leonora is the terminus of the Kalgoorlie to Leonora railway line, which opened in 1903.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Leonora had a single track passenger tramway linking the town and nearby Gwalia, from 1901 to 1921. Initially steam driven, the service was electric from November 1908, and petrol powered from 1915.^[8]^[9]

A reverse osmosis desalination treatment plant was opened in October 2005 to improve the quality of the town's water supply from the Station Creek wellfield by reducing the naturally occurring high levels of salinity, nitrate and hardness. It was designed to supply 2.5 million litres (660 thousand US gallons) of treated water per day.^[10]^[11]

In 2010, the Rudd government relocated asylum seekers from Christmas Island to the "Leonora Alternative Place of Detention", an immigration detention centre, previously used as a mine workers hostel, in Leonora. The Abbott government closed the facility in February 2014.^[12]^[13]

Economy

Leonora is primarily a mining town. There are a number of major gold mines in the shire, as well as the Murrin Murrin laterite nickel project. The area supports a significant pastoral industry.

Demographics

At the 2016 census, Leonora had a population of 556, 27.6% of whom were of Aboriginal descent.^[14]

Climate

The area has an arid climate (BWh), with very hot summers and cool winters. Frost may occur occasionally on some winter mornings. Rainfall is very sparse.

Climate data for Leonora
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	49.0 (120.2)	46.7 (116.1)	45.2 (113.4)	41.7 (107.1)	35.6 (96.1)	30.2 (86.4)	28.9 (84.0)	33.0 (91.4)	37.7 (99.9)	40.8 (105.4)	44.4 (111.9)	47.8 (118.0)	49.0 (120.2)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	37.0 (98.6)	35.3 (95.5)	32.6 (90.7)	27.9 (82.2)	22.8 (73.0)	19.0 (66.2)	18.4 (65.1)	20.7 (69.3)	24.9 (76.8)	28.9 (84.0)	32.3 (90.1)	35.3 (95.5)	27.9 (82.2)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	21.8 (71.2)	20.9 (69.6)	18.6 (65.5)	14.8 (58.6)	10.2 (50.4)	7.3 (45.1)	6.1 (43.0)	7.0 (44.6)	10.0 (50.0)	13.7 (56.7)	17.0 (62.6)	20.0 (68.0)	14.0 (57.2)
Record low °C (°F)	12.6 (54.7)	10.6 (51.1)	8.4 (47.1)	3.1 (37.6)	0.7 (33.3)	−2.8 (27.0)	−1.7 (28.9)	0.3 (32.5)	1.8 (35.2)	3.6 (38.5)	4.0 (39.2)	9.5 (49.1)	−2.8 (27.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	26.3 (1.04)	31.2 (1.23)	29.0 (1.14)	20.4 (0.80)	23.9 (0.94)	25.0 (0.98)	18.8 (0.74)	15.9 (0.63)	9.0 (0.35)	9.5 (0.37)	12.4 (0.49)	16.8 (0.66)	236.4 (9.31)
Average precipitation days	3.4	3.6	3.9	3.5	4.3	5.4	5.2	3.9	2.6	2.5	2.9	3.2	44.4
Average relative humidity (%)	21	27	28	34	39	45	43	36	28	22	21	20	30
Source: ^[15]

References

^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Leonora (urban centre and locality)". Australian Census 2021.
^ Forrest, John (1875). Explorations in Australia. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, & Searle. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
^ "Woman Pioneer". Daily News. Perth, WA. 17 August 1927. p. 4. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
^ "1829-1896". Shire of Leonora. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
^ "Public Transport Authority: Railway System: April 2019" (PDF). Public Transport Authority. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
^ "Railway map of Western Australia, 1952". Trove. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
^ "Arc Map Network" (PDF). Retrieved 13 August 2024.
^ "The Gwalia Tram". The Mt. Leonora Miner. Vol. 2, no. 95. Western Australia. 11 May 1901. p. 3. Retrieved 15 August 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Leonora-Gwalia Tram". The Leonora Miner. No. 1042. Western Australia. 1 June 1918. p. 2. Retrieved 15 August 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Work to start on Leonora desalination plant". ABC. 2 June 2003. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
^ "Leonora Water Reserve drinking water source protection plan: Leonora-Gwalia town water supply" (PDF). Water Resource Protection Series. 113. Perth, WA: Government of Western Australia Department of Water. June 2010. ISSN 1835-3924. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
^ "Asylum seekers to be sent to WA mining camp". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
^ "Shire of Leonora disappointed over Government decision to close immigration detention centre". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 January 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Leonora (L) (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
^ "Climate statistics for Leonora". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 27 July 2018.