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By Jarrod Lucas
ABC Goldfields
Topic:Mining and Metals Industry
WA's Goldfields woke on Tuesday to a record Australian dollar price for the increasingly precious metal. (Supplied: Perth Mint)
The price of gold has hit a record, topping $5,000 an ounce.
Australia's gold mining city, Kalgoorlie, is celebrating the news but with some trepidation over how long it might last.
The mayor and leading local figures say more money should be invested in the town as a result.
Australia's "gold capital" is celebrating record prices for the precious metal, but there are concerns the hot streak conceals a two-speed economy with cost-of-living pressures rife.
Kalgoorlie-Boulder, about 600km east of Perth, was home to Australia's biggest gold rush in the 1890s when the population swelled beyond 60,000 people.
The mining city, home to about 31,000, woke on Tuesday to a record Australian dollar gold price, with the metal surpassing $5,000 an ounce for the first time.
Gold has soared more than 60 per cent since the start of last year and caught fire when tariffs introduced by US President Donald Trump triggered a global trade war.
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor Glenn Wilson unsurprisingly celebrated the record price because the local economy relies heavily on gold mining, an industry worth $21 billion in Western Australia last financial year.
But he tempered those celebrations because, he said, the strength of the industry contrasted with nationwide cost-of-living pressures, and WA has seen the demise of its nickel and lithium industries.
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor Glenn Wilson said the city is looking to diversify its economy but the mining industry remains its biggest employer. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)
"While we're riding on that particular high at the moment, we still do have residents who are facing a cost-of-living crisis,' he said.
"We almost have that two-speed economy and we've seen what's happened with nickel and lithium.
"While I'd love to get out and celebrate as much as possible the $5,000 an ounce gold price, we have to be reminded that there are community members feeling the effects of a cost-of-living crisis."
Kalgoorlie accountant and publican Ashok Parekh migrated from Ireland in 1975 and now chairs ASX-listed gold miner Horizon Minerals.
Kalgoorlie entrepreneur Ashok Parek migrated to Australia from Ireland 50 years ago when the gold price was just $250 an ounce. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)
The owner of Kalgoorlie's Palace Hotel said "not in my lifetime" when asked if he could have dreamed of a gold price so high.
"I don't know anyone in the Goldfields who believed the gold price would hit $5,000 an ounce … it was $250/oz when I came here from Ireland 50 years ago," he said.
"I certainly think a lot of it has to do with the Trump effect, due to tariffs."
Mr Parekh said he was confident new investments would flow to the historic mining region if gold prices remained high.
But he wants to see benefits for the community, which has seen increasing numbers of fly-in, fly-out workers due to housing shortages and sky-high rents.
Kalgoorlie-Boulder is one of Australia's biggest inland cities with a population of about 30,000 people. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)
"This is the best place in the world … we've got the gold here, so we've got to get to work," he said.
"There's mining and services and then there's retailers who are absolutely struggling because the city council has approved so many mining camps around the city.
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Simone De Been said businesses had to plan for the future when prices inevitably decline, but she hoped they also made the most of the record prices.
"It's a real milestone … gold's a safe haven and there's uncertainty around the world at the moment, so gold's the place to be," she said.
"I certainly think it will stimulate exploration in the Goldfields and more companies might invest in infrastructure because the price is so high, and hopefully it keeps going up and stimulating our economy.
Sandra Close has followed the ups and downs of the gold price for decades as a director of Melbourne-based gold mining consultancy Surbiton Associates. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)
Sandra Close, a former Kalgoorlie geologist who now runs Melbourne-based mining consultancy Surbiton Associates, said the surge in local prices was "extraordinary" in historical terms.
Dr Close said the biggest beneficiaries of record prices were Australian miners, who produced 296 tonnes of gold last year.
"You've got a record price in Aussie dollars but you've also got a record price in US dollar terms," Dr Close said.
"What drives gold is uncertainty and we've sure got some uncertainty in the world at the moment."
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