About CME

In 1895, following the discovery of gold in Coolgardie, local leaseholders and representatives of the area’s gold mining companies formed the Coolgardie Chamber of Mines and Commerce to protect and advance their interests. With the addition of members from Kalgoorlie mining companies, The Kalgoorlie Chamber of Mines was inaugurated the following year, with a Perth Chamber of Mines established in 1897, consisting principally of attorneys and legal managers of gold mining companies. The Perth chapter soon folded as it was considered too far removed from the industry’s geographic centre.

Over the next few years, a great deal of legislation was passed and it became necessary for goldfields mining companies to unite on a larger scale. In 1900, the Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie Chambers were amalgamated to provide a consolidated voice for the flourishing gold mining industry. The Chamber of Mines of Western Australia was born.

At the first general meeting of the new Chamber on 11 March 1901, Richard Hamilton was unanimously elected as the inaugural President, a position he held until his death in 1943. This meeting was attended by 37 members, who voted upon the Chamber’s structure and Constitution. The Chamber’s Executive Council discussed a range of matters including opposition to the granting of a sluicing and dredging area as recommended by the Warden, methods of mine timbering, and a recommendation the Government supply immediately at least 250 additional rolling stock for conveyance of fuel and fresh water supplies to the mines.

The Chamber has grown with the sector, particularly through the boom times of the 1960s when key minerals such as iron ore, bauxite and nickel came online. As the sector expanded into oil, petroleum and natural gas, so too did the Chamber, leading to its formal renaming as the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia.