Western Australia (WA or 'dub-ya-ay') is larger than most European countries and occupies a third of the Australian land mass. A two hour plane flight from Perth, Wiluna is positioned in the middle of this vast, desolate (but mineral rich) State. After going over the safety protocols, and putting our duplicate badges on the tag board, we travel by four-wheel vehicle underground.

Having never been to a modern gold mining operation before, I'm surprised by the size of the mine tunnels. No narrow claustrophobic mineshafts here. These are massive tunnels, as wide as a two lane road. A dragon could comfortably explore them and never scrape his wings on the sides. We pull over from time to time into alcoves, allowing huge trucks carrying 50-ton loads of ore to pass on their journey to the surface. I'm most impressed by the skill of the heavy equipment operators, delicately using gigantic mechanical arms to postition and drive in pins that hold the safety netting into the ceiling rock.

Me, trying to remember not to shine my head lamp into anyone's face.