Mount Magnet, Western Australia
Mount Magnet | |
|---|---|
Mt Magnet Shire Office b.1898 | |
Mount Magnet | |
Interactive map of Mount Magnet | |
| Coordinates: 28°3′36″S 117°50′46″E / 28.06000°S 117.84611°E | |
| Country | Australia |
| State | Western Australia |
| Region | Mid West |
| LGA | |
| Location | |
| Government | |
| • State electorate | |
| • Federal division | |
| Area | |
• Total | 261.2 km2 (100.8 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 426 m (1,398 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 576 (UCL 2021) |
| Postcode | 6638 |
| Mean max temp | 28.6 °C (83.5 °F) |
| Mean min temp | 15.2 °C (59.4 °F) |
| Annual rainfall | 257.5 mm (10.14 in) |
| Website | Mount Magnet |
Mount Magnet is a town in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It is one of the region's original gold mining towns, and the longest surviving gold mining settlement in the state. The prominent hill that is adjacent to the current townsite was called West Mount Magnet in 1854 by explorer Robert Austin, having named a smaller hill 64 km away, East Mount Magnet (now called Carron Hill). Both hills had an extremely high iron content which affected the readings of his compass. West Mount Magnet had its Aboriginal name reinstated by the Surveyor General in 1972, "Warramboo", meaning campfire camping place. The magnetic variation at Mount Magnet is zero: magnetic north equals true north.