Norseman is located 726 km east of Perth and 278 m above sea level, it is the last major town in Western Australia before heading east across the Nullarbor Plain. The Eyre Highway starts here eastwards.

The quest for gold led to the establishment of Norseman. Today there are a number of small goldmining operations in the area but only the Central Norseman Gold Corporation can be considered a major producer.

Once it was the richest goldfield in WA next to the Golden Mile of Kalgoorlie. It is claimed that since 1892 over 100 tonnes of gold have been extracted from the area.

Modern Norseman is a large, sprawling town driven by mining and tourism and dominated by a huge tailings dump.