The Australian Bureau of Statistics' most recent census estimated the population of Laverton in Western Australia's northern Goldfields at 907 people. 

But more than 30 times that number used the mining town's airport last financial year with 29,505 passengers either arriving in or departing from Laverton, about 950 kilometres north-east of Perth.

Shire of Laverton president Pat Hill said increasing mining activity justified more than $5 million in upgrades to the town's airport with passenger numbers expected to trend higher.   

While the Laverton Airport runway was sealed in the early 1990s, it has not had a permanent terminal to welcome the fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workforce to the outback until now.

The shire is spending $2.85 million on a new terminal, which should be completed by the end of the year.  

A further $1.3 million has been committed to reseal the taxiway and parking areas with the same amount spent on upgrading the runway turning nodes.   

"The new terminal will be a good improvement for the airport," Mr Hill said. 

"It needs it, that's for sure."

It is an investment in the town's critical infrastructure, which brought in about $700,000 of revenue through landing fees last financial year, while the shire also sold $80,000 of aviation fuel.

Charter airline Alliance Aviation is a frequent flyer with 12 services a week to support operations at Granny Smith, one of the country's biggest gold mines that has been in production since 1990. 

Lynas Rare Earths, which operates the Mt Weld rare earths mine where work on a $500 million expansion is underway, is another big user of Laverton Airport. 

Mr Hill said the council was negotiating with other companies and talks with Horizon Power about a solar power installation at the airport. 

"In recent years, the amount of fly-in, fly-out workers has really increased," he said.  

"There has also been a lot of interest from other mining companies interested in using the airport, and when I say a lot I mean two or three as their operations get up and running over the next few years. 

"We want them to use it [the airport]. It's good for our town."  

Leonora expansion planned

The neighbouring town of Leonora, where gold was discovered in 1896, is also booming with record prices for the precious metal.  

Leonora has three passenger services and 17 FIFO charter flights a week, which added up to 30,069 passenger movements last financial year.

The numbers are tipped to increase as gold miner Genesis Minerals gears up for a major expansion of its Leonora operations, which it acquired last year for $631 million.

Genesis has been in negotiations for the past year to shorten the Kalgoorlie to Leonora rail line by 8km to accommodate its proposed Tower Hill open pit mine on the edge of the town.

The miner has also acquired the 260-room Leonora Lodge for $7.5 million in anticipation of receiving government approvals while recruiting 166 roles for the proposed restart of its Laverton mill.  

Leinster cuts imminent

While the outlook for Laverton and Leonora is positive, the same cannot be said for their northern neighbour Leinster. 

Hundreds of job losses are expected after mining giant BHP recently announced its Nickel West division will be placed on care and maintenance from October. 

Alliance Aviation operates 24 round trips a week for BHP between Perth and Leinster and the Mt Keith nickel mine in the northern Goldfields.

Alliance chief executive Stewart Tully said the airline was still working with BHP to understand the care and maintenance flight schedule.

The airline has told the ASX its earnings could potentially take a hit of up to $9 million over the next two years.

But Alliance chief financial officer Marc Devine said those numbers were the "worst case" scenario.

"Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays in WA are still the busiest flying days and we have clients who would absorb any of that capacity that is reduced," he said.

"We think Nickel West will wind down a few flights and then we'll able to distribute those to other clients or new clients."