12 months is a bloody long time

heres a vid on Ktown

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=prospecting+in+western+australia&view=detail&&&mid=BCBBC0875C2CD59868F5BCBBC0875C2CD59868F5&rvsmid=BCBBC0875C2CD59868F5BCBBC0875C2CD59868F5#view=detail&mid=BCBBC0875C2CD59868F5BCBBC0875C2CD59868F5

with over 10,000 people have left our small town and we are now reeling in hardship.

API would have shit for brains if they think they can ship iron ore at about $40 per ton and make a profit for shareholders plus build a 300km rail line--good luck.

people leave ktown now in droves is due to unemployment and the cost of running air conditions to stay cool in summer. Further heres Horizon Power trying to claim hardship and trying to increase power costs by 15%--hello u idiots

Pilbara Plant Hire has long gone-shut down gone broke call it what u want--they don't live here.

unfortunately there is nothing in ktown for anyone and a lot of the Cuzzy Broes have left.

Even camps have been shut down. They were never meant to be acting as Motels and rightly so shut them down.

The silver haired town clown has absolutely no idea and he is the town mayor--how wrong can one person be..

http://www.bbc.com/news/34111793

Its now got to the stage that its cheaper for me to buy a 3600 sp m block in the LIA than pay rent for the area I have at the local shopping centre and considering I own everything in my workshop its a thought that is being acted upon.

Plus I have that much prospecting gear I need more area than the front and back yard of our current house.

regards
oneday

I can't blame the worker too much, more the politicians and the big money makers, but how many times have we seen this "boom & bust" here in WA? We fall for it again & again with each generation of workers. I've been in WA since 1973 and I've seen this phenomenon time & time again. "Boom 'n bust" and a "cargo cult mentality", "she'll be right" attitude.

The speculators get in, make the money and get out 'cos they study these things. It's what they do. But the worker is led by the pollies, believes the spiel that "This time it's different",,,,,,,,,,,,and it never is. It always ends just like this one. The worker and the small business owner hasn't got the time and probably hasn't got the interest in reading international economic news. (I do 'cos I enjoy it, maybe I'm strange!). They just want a good living and a steady job until they retire. It never happens unless you can lob on to something like Woodside/Alcoa or BP for 30 odd years!

Me? I blame people like Barnett, sharemarket spruikers, iron ore companies and the crafty old Chinese. Can't blame the worker for the downturn as they don't see it coming. But I can blame the worker along with Barnett for going out and spending the whole bloody lot on stuff they can't afford. Whether you're a worker or a pollie, ya shoulda put some away for a rainy day because one day it will piss down.

If ya wanna see how a modern town looks when everyone bails out, go and see Leinster, north of Leonora. The gold mines are closed and BHP nickel has closed once, re-opened and about to close again, permanently. Leinster is a ghost town but with a few living humans in it. I couldn't believe the state of the place when, after 7 years away from it, I dropped in for some shopping. It was once a great little spot but now it's been rated as the next Australian Ghost Town - think Sandstone, Wiluna, Wittenoom, Goldsworthy, Menzies etc.

Good luck with it all Ray and the poor buggers in KTA,,,,,,,,,,and the rest of WA it seems!

PS - I just watched that vid on KTA about the Kiwi guy driving the loader. She said he gets "35 dollars an hour"?? That's crap money for KTA? She can't be right surely. On a 40 hour week that wouldn't pay the power bill in summer and using air-con!

I'll be bringing my Mexican money to Leonora and the Pilbara this winter.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/30431633/aurizon-shelves-west-pilbara-project/

Well thats the final blow for this little town. Half the guys I know were hanging on for this project. Its a shame really, but im not supprised. The IO price was the driver for this and now its worth 2 parts of FA the juniors cannot compete.

Which town is it? KTA? Hedland? Wickham? Tom Price? Panna?

KTA, Anketell point. $7bn project.

your mexican money is more than welcome in Leo Peterau!!!

same deal with API--building a 300km rail line from the Ashburton to Anketell--I don't think so.

They would earn a lot more leaving their money in the bank playing the share market or buying a percentage of BHP share which would return them more in the foreseeable future than Iron Ore would.

Barrow Island just let go of about 1000 workers and more to come. That isn't a sign of the times --its the devil of the game in construction. U work to do yourself out of a job.

This Xmas has certainly been one of the worst I have seen up here.

People are still leaving in droves, cost of fuel $1.38, cost of electricity, rent well that's more than comparable with Perth around $350 per week, food isn't that much dearer but the chances of work are limited. Fights to Perth around $700, rates and taxes all seem to be higher.

I don't know were we are going to end up and that's the truth. It aint good.

just maybe it wasn't a bad idea to nail a few leases around the countryside. At least I will earn a few bob of them.

regards
oneday

Things the same up here in Hedland. The place is dead with talk of more layoffs from different companys.
I noticed the other day there was over 400 rentals empty and that just the ones that are listed.
Ive even been told of one bloke that is given free rental just so someone was in it, as theres been a few empty ones being vandalised.

The future looks grim for all of us up here in the northwest.

Whilst its not so obvious down here in Perth 'cos it's a lot bigger, I live down near the Kwinana Heavy Industrial Area with all the supporting small and medium workshops. I was out the other day looking for bits 'n pieces and the number of places that are shut down, "Workshop For Lease" etc, is staggering if you really look at the empty yards. They were all very busy 18 months ago.