Could an Australian gold mine help unlock the secrets of the universe? Scientists to build underground laboratory in Victorian mine shaft to search for dark matter

An abandoned Australian gold mine could help solve one of the great mysteries of the universe.

The Stawell Gold Mine in Victoria is currently undergoing tests by The Centre of Excellence for Particle Physics (CoEPP) to determine if it would be suitable for an underground laboratory.

If it is, the study of the 1,500-metre deep mine would focus entirely on locating and studying dark matter, and the laboratory would be the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

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> Could an Australian gold mine help unlock the secrets of the universe? Scientists to build underground laboratory in Victorian mine shaft to search for dark matter

Brilliant. I’ve been hoping for this. The more places on Earth with detectors like this, and the further they are apart, the more easily detector timing can be used to identify weak events from far away. I’ve been wondering which Australian mine would be as most suitable deep location for detectors.