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Karratha - 6714

Pilbara gold miner Calidus enters receivership despite skyrocketing global prices

Only two years after beginning operations at its Pilbara gold project, Calidus Resources has collapsed under debt, even after gold prices recently hit a record high.
A small townsite in the desert with a fence in the foreground.

Space trackers and trailblazers reunite to celebrate Australia's starring role in lunar history

It's been six decades since NASA first touched down in outback WA, and it's given current and former residents of Carnarvon plenty of reasons to celebrate.
A large rocket and satellite dish point upwards into the evening sky.

Overcoming arthritis in her spine, marathon runner Natasha Leslie finds herself in elite sporting company

Arthritis and chronic pain would stop many runners at the starting line, but for Natasha Leslie it's just one challenge on her way to claim her six-star medal by running the six World Major Marathons.
A woman runs in the London Marathon under Big Ben.

Nearby this remote river could become home to WA's largest desalination plant

The Pilbara's Balla Balla River is known for its barramundi fishing but could soon be home to a nearby sea water desalination plant worth $5 billion. 
Crystal clear blue water laps upon red rocky shores

Health alert issued after mosquito-borne virus kills two people in northern Western Australia

Residents and tourists are urged to take precautions after two people died after contracting Murray Valley Encephalitis in WA's Pilbara.
a sign reading "FIGHT THE BITE" tied to a fence in Port Hedland.

Rare sea snake lives in a WA reef near where Woodside proposes to drill for gas

The last stronghold of a sea snake slated for an endangered species listing sits atop Australia's largest undeveloped gas field.
A brown and light brown banded snake underwater on a bed of small white rocks

Motorbike club in remote northern WA helping men connect

A Pilbara motorbike club organised a 1,300 kilometre loop of the WA mining region to raise money and awareness for men struggling with their mental health.
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'A dramatic change of heart': Miners realise 44,000 tonnes of tyre waste must be properly managed, recyclers say

With nearly half of Australia's mining tyre waste generated in WA's Pilbara region, the focus is turning to how they can be recycled locally.   
A yellow truck on red dirt

For Napapan, folding paper birds was a way to find happiness

Napapan Price turned a skill she had picked up in childhood into a way to make everyone feel a little bit happier.
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A close of woman's hand holding paper birds

From Nigeria to the heart of Western Australia, Chef Omo has travelled a long road

Olashinde "Chef Omo" Omotosho's journey has taken him 12,000km from Lagos to Gascoyne Junction, where he's head chef for the small cattle town's only pub.
A middle aged man leans over pots and plates in a kitchen.

After she was swarmed by bees at her rural home, Katie was left $50,000 out of pocket

Travelling to Perth for medical treatment is becoming more costly for country West Australians, who receive the lowest fuel rebate in the nation and an accommodation allowance that would not cover half the price of the average hotel room. 
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A woman hugs her baby.

'Rainmaker' sounds the alarm as Western Australia's longest river runs dry

Bridging the gap between scientific monitoring and cultural knowledge, traditional owners say persistent pools along the Gascoyne River are changing with dire consequences.
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A woman walks towards a dry river bed.

WA police double down on calls for alcohol restrictions in regional towns

WA police write a second letter to the state's director of liquor licensing, Lanie Chopping, urging her to consider widespread liquor restrictions, according to documents obtained by the ABC under freedom of information laws. 
Alcohol stacked up which was seized by Kimberley police

Hopes anthropologists' notes will answer questions for Indigenous communities after 30-year embargo lifts

For three decades, hundreds of notebooks filled with detailed descriptions of sacred Indigenous practices were locked away in a museum's archives. Now, Ngadjuri man Vincent Copley Junior hopes to finally have access to his great-grandfather's history.
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An Aboriginal ma wearing a hat and black shirt stands with his hands clasped among Eucalyptus leaves and branches.

Further booze bans to be introduced in WA's Kimberley, with limits on trading hours

The Director of Liquor Licensing announces the sale of takeaway alcohol in the Kimberley town of Derby will be banned each Sunday and Monday, alongside further restrictions on trading hours in Broome. 
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A crushed can of mixer floats in the dirty incoming tide

West Australian town divided as fight over shack squatters looks set to continue

The local council vows to continue its fight to remove the remaining 23 shacks at the Carnarvon Blowholes, despite the State Administrative Tribunal throwing the shack owners a lifeline.
A wide shot of a green shack in front of sand dunes.

A new resources boom in the Pilbara may be good for the economy, but it's bad news for local renters

As Western Australia's mining and energy sectors shape up for their latest boom, residents in the state's mining heartland are scrambling to keep a roof over their heads after an increase to average rents of more than 120 per cent in five years.
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A man carrying a box to his car.

Union says 'major' fatalities a possibility on WA mine railways due to poor safety culture

The Mining and Energy Union says the fact that there have been no serious injuries or deaths in the past 12 months — despite four derailments in the Pilbara in that time — can be put down to "more good luck than good management". 
An iron ore train snakes its way through the Pilbara

Leslie got the call just after midnight. He drove eight hours alone to receive a life-changing kidney transplant

Australia's organ donation and transplantation rates are among the lowest in the developed world, and only 36 per cent of eligible adults are on the register. Leslie Schultz thinks changes are needed to turn that around. 
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He pretends to steer a boat

In this outback town, a plague of flies has a silver lining

An "absolutely shocking" number of bush flies has caught both locals and visitors to the Gascoyne off guard, with a hot summer followed by a mild autumn blamed for the outbreak. 
A woman in sunglasses wears a broadbrimmed hat crawling with hundreds of flies.

Remote community travels 600km for first junior footy match in years

It's Saturday sport not quite as you remember it. A Western Australian remote community comes together to ensure a special day that meant "more than just kicking the footy around" could go ahead.
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Four school-aged kids look determined as the compete in a pack for the football

Former Chevron employee wins government gas advisor role, prompting potential conflict of interest concerns

Former Chevron employee Simon McKirdy is the co-chair of a committee set up to consider appeals against a controversial decision that recommended the approval to expand the Karratha Gas Plant — something environmental groups say is a conflict of interest.
Professor in front of garden bed

Growing up in tropical paradise, Sally amassed a large shell collection. Now she's righting the 'crime of the past'

NSW-based artist Sally Clarke spent her formative years on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and amassed a vast shell collection. Forty years later, she wants to return what she took.
An image of two shells on a white background

WA is set to record its highest-ever gas emissions as net zero looks unlikely, secret report finds

WA is expected to hit a new record for greenhouse gas emissions this year, and has no chance of reaching net zero by 2050 unless it changes tack, a government-commissioned report reveals.
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A dump truck drives along red dirt near a mine

Union accuses Rio Tinto of 'catastrophic' safety failure after automated train crash in Pilbara

The Mining and Energy Union has accused Rio Tinto of seriously downplaying the risks posed by this week's automated train crash in the Pilbara, including its concerns about spilled diesel contaminating water supplies.
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Overturned rail cars with iron ore in them.