I know that my maternal grandmother when she was widowed with three kids, opened Ma Brett’s Boarding House in Brakpan, South Africa, and for twenty years she housed and fed miners. Until the kids were grown and gone and she married one of the miners: a taciturn red-haired Irishman, call Joe Roney. He was the only grandfather I knew and he was a great one.
Recently in Guatemala I was amazed to see a half-built hotel in a remote village near the mine. One of my hosts assured me it was probably a way to launder drug money. The other host assured me it was a local entrepreneur looking to accommodate NGOs come to attack the mine. I suggested maybe the hotel was being built so that a mine widow could house the mine workers and maybe marry one twenty years hence.
We will probably never know the truth about the hotel. But my grandmother in Brakpan and the half-built hotel in Guatemala came to mind when I read the following about investing in Australian mining towns;
There is no question that Australia is a country which is rich in natural resources. Hence it is no surprise that mining towns are in abundance and can be a good investment opportunity for those willing to take the risk. Of course the first thing to look at is how long a mine will last. For those with the right information on future mining sites, or mines with long lasting deposits that may take many years to fully extract, investment in mining towns is a good idea. Where the mine is just about to start then buying a property and renting out accommodations to the many transient visitors to the mine will make a good investment. The problem is this may be a risky prospect since the profitability and life span of mines may vary greatly. For example, where there was a projection of a mining project of 10 years, the project can suddenly cease due to situations which are not within your control. This means that research should be done, and feasibility studies should be made before thinking of investing in the mining town. Good loan rates should also play a key factor, as your return on investment would also depend a whole lot on how good a deal your loan is. Where your loan is one of a low interest rate, then your return on investment should be easily recoverable, and your investment in the mining town would be less of a risk. For more information and advice on mining towns, do not hesitate to consult the experts on home loans. They can get you a good deal on getting a loan to start your mining town investment, or can help you to decide if such an investment is feasible.
To be fair, I have never been to Australia, so can offer no sound advice on investing in houses for miners. I have heard of Perth which is wonderfully describe in Australian English in this piece:
Perth may be the capital town from the state of Western Australia with a populace of over 1.6 million and a recent growth rate which has regularly exceeded the average in Australia. The city itself was founded back again in 1829 and is frequently referred to since the “city of lights” because of the occasions when residents switched on all of their house lights and street lights when American astronauts passed overhead in 1962 and 1998. The city itself is situated on the west coast of Australia and also the port of Perth is of a size that it is actually a town in its own right named Fremantle.
The climate in Perth is known as a “Mediterranean climate” with hot dry summers commonly lasting among December and late March with comparatively cool and wet winters among May and September. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Perth was 46.7 back again in 1991 using the coldest coming back in 2006 at -0.7C. Unlike numerous summer seasons across Australia, there is some rainfall during the summer period, but not much!
Perth is comparatively isolated as far as Australia’s biggest urban centers go even though the town itself is really a focal point for business and government despite the fact that numerous industries such as mining, petroleum and agricultural exports are located elsewhere within the express of Western Australia. Like so many of Australia’s more notable urban centers there has been a shift from the manufacturing business to the providers business, which has been ongoing because the 1950s. Due towards the big port associated with Perth the vast majority of manufactured goods required within the area are imported from either other places of Australia or overseas.
The vast majority of employment opportunities are available in wholesale trade, retail, business services, health, schooling, community and personal providers and public administration. While perhaps not as well-known as the likes of Sydney and Melbourne within expat circles, Perth is really a town which continues to grow at a far greater rate than the average Australian town, offering new and interesting employment and investment opportunities.
Clearly there is also a local vernacular or an absence of schools teaching the Queen’s English. Still it would be fun to see, particularly with all the light on flashing at passing satellites.
