Gold mine lab explores dark matter secrets

The biggest mystery in the universe could be found one kilometre underground in a gold mine in country Victoria.

Dark matter is a material that makes up 85 per cent of the cosmos, but exactly what it is and how it works remains unknown.

It's hoped a high-tech laboratory opening on Friday at the Stawell Gold Mine will lead to the detection of dark matter within five years and allow scientists to one day unlock its secrets.

"We don't know what the majority of the universe is made of, so understanding dark matter is understanding the universe," lead researcher Professor Elisabetta Barberio, from the University of Melbourne, said.

"Without the dark matter we would not have galaxies, we would not exist.

"There are many many thousands of dark matter particles passing through us.

"So there is all this universe around us we don't see, and we would like to know what it is."

In the next few months an eight-metre tall steel box weighing 200 tonnes will be installed at the mine, containing cylindrical crystals and liquid which will be used to carry out the study.

A similar SABRE project is also underway at an underground laboratory in northern Italy, to make sure both record accurate results.

"We need to repeat the experiments in the Southern Hemisphere, because we want to eliminate any possibility that the signal is due to noise that has to do with season or has to do with the location where they are," Prof Barberio said.

The Commonwealth and Victorian governments have each put in $5 million towards the $12 million Stawell facility, which will begin major work early next year.

Victorian Regional Development Minister Harriet Shing said it would put Stawell at the centre of cutting-edge science.

"(It) will attract the eyes of the world to this goldfield town and create local jobs while boosting investment opportunities for the region," Ms Shing said.