Australia: construction begins on nuclear particle laboratory

The Australian State of Victoria governments have earmarked 3.5 million AUD (approx. 2.5 million EUR) for the construction and implementation of an underground nuclear particle physics laboratory in the city of Stawell. The laboratory should be able to add to the studies on dark matter already carried out in Italy at the national laboratories of Gran Sasso that belong to the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN). The laboratory will be located at the Stawell Gold Mine, located 240 km from the city of Melbourne and is still active. Construction and implementation of the laboratory will involve the INFN and CoEPP (Centre of Excellence for Particle Physics at the Terascale) of the University of Melbourne.