No one would talk to me for one specific reason - salt.
I accidentally stumbled across the most secretive town in Australia, and no one could tell me anything about it - because they're not allowed to.
The town of Useless Loop has a population of just 134 people and is situated in Western Australia's Shark Bay Shire.
Useless Loop sits right next to a massive Shark Bay Salt Mine, which is a subsidiary of Japanese trading and investment company Mitsui & Co.
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The town only exists to give the miners somewhere to live with their families.
More than four million tonnes of salt come from the mine every year, with each grain exported directly to Asia, including Japan.
It is one of Australia's only closed communities, meaning no one is allowed in without approval from "the mine" first.
The town is so secretive that you can't even access it on Google Earth's street view feature.
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After I discovered this town thanks to a TikTok video, I knew it would make a good story - I just needed to find someone who lived there, so I started digging.
The town isn't as barren as you'd think; there's a local public primary school, a few shops and even an infamous tavern that is legendary among the locals.
I figured my best bet would be to reach out to the school, which is a public school run by the WA Government.
If you used to live in Useless Loop and wish to speak to me about life in the town, email me at Mikala.Theocharous@nine.com.au
I found the school's Facebook page and started messaging people who had commented on their posts.
I also managed to find the principal's email address, so I sent him an email and kept searching.
I found the local community page and popped a message in there explaining I was looking to speak to someone from Useless Loop for a story.
As I was digging into this town and the people who lived there, I gathered that it's a pretty cool place to live.
Locals spend their time fishing, swimming and hanging out with the local community - what more could you want!
Everyone online was super friendly...I knew this was a closed community, so visiting was out of the question, but an over-the-phone interview? I thought I was in for a good chance.
I was wrong.
The first glimmer of hope came in a DM from a local who had seen my Facebook post.
He expressed that he was keen to talk to me; he just needed his boss's approval to speak to the media first.
I also had the blessing from WA Education, who told me they were trying their best to get my media request to speak to someone from the school approved.
Then, everything started to fall apart.
After a few hours, the miner reached back out and apologetically told me he didn't want to get into trouble for speaking to the media, and he was unable to help me.
I thought, 'that's okay', like all good journos, I had a backup source, the school!
However, after a week of emailing (and pleading), it soon became clear talking to someone from the school wasn't going to happen.
I even reached out to Shark Bay Salt directly, who never replied to my media enquiry.
I have been a journalist for four years - I have never dealt with anything like this before.
At this point, it's been over a month since I fell down this rabbit hole of Useless Loop, and I have more questions than answers.
Why is this town so secretive?
What is the mine gaining from refusing my media requests?
What is life like in this place?
I remain stuck in my own Useless Loop of questions about this tiny town in Western Australia, and I fear I may never get my answers.
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