By Jessica Grimble 

An internationally-significant experiment to understand one of the greatest mysteries of the universe, hosted underground in the Wimmera, will soon reach a new milestone. 

Officials from the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory, built about one-kilometre underground in Stawell Gold Mine and the only underground laboratory in the Southern Hemisphere, will begin installing major equipment for the experiment in coming months. 

The laboratory will house the first major dark matter experiment in Australia – the SABRE South experiment. 

It mirrors an experiment in the Northern Hemisphere in Italy, ensuring seasonal variation does not impact results of dark matter detection. 

Professor Phillip Urquijo, of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics, presented a lecture in Stawell last week as part of an 18-day, national quantum and dark matter road trip. 

The Stawell lecture also came during National Science Week.  

“Dark matter is a mysterious substance that we can infer its existence via its interaction with gravity – through measurements of space, how the galaxies rotate and various other affects we can see, using information from outer space,” Professor Urquijo said. 

“This substance actually makes up most of the mass of the universe – more than 80 percent of the mass of the universe is this stuff that we cannot see. 

“It doesn’t absorb light, it doesn’t emit light. It’s invisible to light.” 

Professor Urquijo said major pieces of equipment would begin to enter the laboratory, and scientists would begin to take data soon. 

“To begin with, we’re going to be taking data of cosmic rays that can penetrate all the way through the rock,” he said. 

“The lab itself is sitting at 1025m below the surface and it’s designed to do that so we can block out almost all of the cosmic rays that are produced, primarily from the sun; but just a few make their way all the way through. 

“We’re doing these survey measurements ahead of the installation of the main dark matter experiment and it will take more than a year, to a year and a half, to assemble all the components that make up our experiment — which is about a 150-tonne experiment, with multiple different types of detection technologies within it.” 

The experiment has the potential to change the way scientists and the general public understand the universe. 

It brings together scientists from across the world and puts Australia at the forefront of scientific exploration and nurtures future leaders. 

Scientists will also use the Stawell laboratory for other research in the physics, geology and biology fields, providing a long-term research asset. 

Stawell Gold Mine is one of the deepest mines in Australia.  

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