Tarcoola, South Australia

Tarcoola South Australia
Tarcoola, South Australia, 2012.
Tarcoola
Coordinates	30°42′S 134°34′E / 30.700°S 134.567°E / -30.700; 134.567Coordinates: 30°42′S 134°34′E / 30.700°S 134.567°E / -30.700; 134.567
Population	38 (2006 census)
Established	1901
Postcode(s)	5710
Elevation	204 m (669 ft)
Time zone	ACST (UTC+9:30)
• Summer (DST)	ACST (UTC+10:30)
Location	602 km (374 mi) NW of Adelaide city centre 416 km (258 mi) NNW of Port Augusta
LGA(s)	Unincorporated area
State electorate(s)	Giles
Federal Division(s)	Grey
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 27.5 °C 82 °F 12.0 °C 54 °F 182.7 mm 7.2 in
Localities around Tarcoola: Wilgena Wilgena Wilgena Wilgena Mulgathing Tarcoola Wilgena Mulgathing Mulgathing Wilgena
Footnotes	Climate Adjoining localities

Tarcoola is a town in the Far North of South Australia 416 kilometres (258 mi) north-northwest of Port Augusta. At the 2006 census, the Tarcoola district had a population of 38.

Tarcoola is taken from a non-local aboriginal language from an area around Tarcoola Station in New South Wales; it means river bend.

The Tarcoola Goldfield was discovered in 1893, but it was in an isolated arid area, and there was little development until 1900. A Post Office opened on 18 August 1900 and the town was proclaimed on 21 February 1901. It was named after Tarcoola the winner of the 1893 Melbourne Cup horse race. The horse Tarcoola had been raised on Tarcoola Station on the Darling River.

The goldfield's heyday was from about 1901 to 1918. A government battery was built to process ore from small mines. Between 1901 and 1954 the field produced about 77,000oz (2.4 tonnes) of gold, most of it from the Tarcoola Blocks mine.

The Trans-Australian Railway was built through Tarcoola in 1915, and in 2004 the Adelaide–Darwin railway diverged from Tarcoola to Darwin.

The town is almost completely deserted today except for transient railway maintenance staff and geological exploration teams. The original Tarcoola goldfields are long closed. However, there is now new exploration for minerals in the wider area, including the Challenger Mine.

The Tarcoola Goldfield, Battery and Township is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register as a designated place of archaeological significance.

Tarcoola is now best known as a junction of the Sydney-Perth and Adelaide-Darwin railways, which share the same approximately 530 kilometres (329 mi) of track between Tarcoola and Crystal Brook. There is a triangular junction at Tarcoola which joins Crystal Brook, Darwin and Perth. Another triangular junction at Crystal Brook joins Tarcoola, Adelaide and Sydney.