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Norseman, WA.
location map Norseman is the major township in the Shire of Dundas extending to the South Australian border. Eucla is the other townsite in the shire which has a variable population, presently (in 2007) numbering 1,600. The town is on the Eyre Highway and is the gateway for road travellers from the east into the Western Australia goldfield region. The railway line to the east does not run through Norseman. The railway line between Kalgoorlie/Boulder and Esperance runs through Norseman carrying iron and nickel ore to Esperance for export by sea.

Major industries in and around Norseman include gold mining and tourism with pastoral farming along the Eyre Highway. Norseman is on an ancient geological plate containg mineral deposits worth millions of dollars. Mainstay of the mining industry is gold mined by Central Norseman Gold owned by Croesus Mining N/L. Gold deposits are very rich; ore is three times as rich as that mined at Kalgoorlie. There is a large proven deposit of tantalum in early developmental stages. Gypsum is also mined.

Norseman has a semi-arid climate with about 300 mm annual rainfall; much of the rain falls in the summer months. Temperature ranges in summer from 15 to the high 30s and low 40 Celsius; winter temperatures are from 0 to the low 20s.

Despite the low rainfall, the surrounding countryside is pleasantly wooded with more than 40 eucalyptus species and more than 70 acacia species and a variety of wildflowers in bloom at certain times of the year.

Information
Shire of Dundas web site. http://www.dundas.wa.gov.au/tourism.html on 24 March 2007.
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