Asbestos Mining in Wittenoom, Australia, 1950s - Film 1007266

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Asbestos mining in Western Australia 1950s.

Pilbara. View of rocky outcrops in the Hamersley Range. Rock cliffs. Wide view across the outback landscape with small town of Wittenoom in the foreground. Closer view of rows of identical houses. A truck drives along a dirt street. Post Office Wittenoom sign. Two women read a letter. Group of men walk along road, returning home from their mining shift? Two men chat, one is a European migrant, attracted to the town. Young boy walks along road with his hands in his pockets. He stares bewildered at the camera. Woman pushes a pram whilst walking with a young girl. Smiling mother and daughter. Family sit in their garden on deck chairs while father waters with a hose. Close up view of woman in her deck chair holding a joey or baby kangaroo. Outside classroom. Migrant adults are being taught English. View of teacher pointing to the white board. Woman reading the New Australia paper. Light aircraft lands. The pilot helps the flying doctor and nurse off the aircraft. Sign for Port Hedland Flying Doctor Service. Doctor treats toddlers sitting on their mother's laps. Packages are unloaded from a small plane. Passengers board an aircraft. Truck approaches camera, carrying supplies in barrels. Freight being loaded and unloaded from a train. Freight truck arriving in Wittenoon laden with goods. Narrator comments that "beer is indispensable to life in Wittenoon". Sign writing on vehicle door says Roebourne and Wittenoon Gorge No 2. Lorry is unloaded. Empty truck drives on dirt road. Views to rocky cliff tops. Asbestos mine. Men entering the mine. Rail cart travelling into the mine. Rail cart inside the mine. Man driving the loco. Battery being recharged. Miner operating drilling equipment and hoses for keeping dust down. Loaders carry digger buckets of rock and empty them into carts for transport out of the mine. Miner points to the seams of blue asbestos in the wall of the mine. Miner uses a long drill to bore a hole. A hoe pulled on a steel wire removes ore from a hole. Mine train pulling many carts laden with ore. Train exits the mine into daylight. Processing plant. Asbestos mill. Exterior views of buildings. Ore moves along a conveyor belt where workers separate rock by size. Machines in operation. A vibrating belt shows finer material being moved along. Shaking machine removing dust. Crushing, screening, removing fibres processes are carried out. Men bag the finished product, using long poles to pack the asbestos down into the large sacks. Man handles the fibrous asbestos in his bare hands. Silhouette view of man carrying a large sack on his shoulder. Large freight vehicles pass the camera, transporting the mined product.

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