WESTBUSINESS Wednesday, July 20, 2016

A GOLDEN FUTURE Gold Industry Group to keep sector strong

ᔡ Ben Harvey ony’s formative industries but Cue and finally, and most As world financial markets gold put the fledgling settlement famously, in Coolgardie and Kal- lurch from crisis to crisis, gold’s Students of the history of this on the map. goorlie. status as the ultimate safe-haven State soon realise they will The few pockets of beautiful The Gold Industry Group, a investment is appreciated more become very bored if they have architecture left in owe new voice for what is a storied every day. no interest in the gold mining their existence to the gold mining industry, enters the business and And the favourable drop in the industry. boom of the late 19th century, political landscape at a time of Australian dollar’s value against Agriculture, forestry and first in 1885 in Halls Creek, fol- immense interest in the precious the US greenback has placed the whaling were the Swan River col- lowed by Southern Cross and metal. industry on a secure footing.

GOLD. THE HEART OF . A valuable part of our history and, now more than ever, vital to our future.

goldindustrygroup.com.au

UNITED FOR A STRONG, CONNECTED AND SUSTAINABLE GOLD INDUSTRY. 2 A GOLDEN FUTURE Wednesday, July 20, 2016 For the latest news A GOLDEN FUTURE 3

Safe-haven asset: Perth Mint chief executive Richard Hayes. Hope rekindles gold rush spirit Picture: Danella Bevis

and uncovered the precious There was certainly some- in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Telfer in Buoyed explorers metal for owner Laurie Sinclair. thing there for Creasy, though it the , St Ives near Kambal- The rest is history. Norseman didn’t come easily. He found a da, Jundee, Bronzewing and the are busy chasing Gold’s mine held the mantle of 46oz nugget near Mt Magnet in Agnew and Sunrise Dam oper- Australia’s longest continuously 1976 and an even bigger 86oz nug- ations in the Yilgarn Craton. WA’s next big running gold mining operation get near Laverton the following Brownfields mining has until it was placed under admin- year, a result of years of explor- helped some junior explorers to discovery, writes istration in October 2012. ing thousands of hectares of set up highly profitable oper- Ron Berryman Today, the Eastern Goldfields WA’s outback. But more was to ations from the Eastern Gold- is still one of the world’s great follow. His discoveries of the fields north to Laverton, west to gold regions and contributes Jundee and Bronzewing gold Meekatharra and places nearby A was a slow starter in more than three-quarters of deposits in the Yandal Green- and beyond. the Australian gold Australia’s gold, coming in stone Belt, a region that had been Recent greenfields gold dis- Wmining race, but despite third behind iron ore and petro- neglected for many years, elevat- coveries such as the Tropicana giving Victoria and NSW a leum as WA’s highest-valued ed him to the head of the pro- deposit 370km east-north-east of Prime position for gold advantage 40-year start it overcame this sig- commodity. specting list. Kalgoorlie-Boulder in an area nificant handicap to eventually The explorers of the 20th cen- Joseph Gutnick’s Great Cen- not previously thought to be pro- ᔡ Claire Tyrrell said, and since it was impossible He said the higher gold price claim the title of gold capital. tury had a distinct advantage tral Mines stepped in and bought spective for gold demonstrates for global economies to inflate also led to an increased market Discoveries in Victoria and over the early prospectors with a majority share in the two de- there is still more to come. Prom- Perth Mint chief executive their way out of debt issues, the flow of scrap metal, particularly NSW in 1851, Queensland in 1858 the availability of modern sci- posits in 1991 and two years later inent Kalgoorlie prospector Richard Hayes draws parallels problems remained. from Asia. and Tasmania in 1867 brought ences, training and expertise in snapped up Creasy’s minority Scott Wilson is one believer, with between today’s economy and ”This is a very good thing for Mr Hayes said the Perth Mint substantial economic changes to geology and engineering as well shareholding, reportedly leav- outstanding credentials to sup- the global financial crisis. gold,” he said. “Gold is one of was uniquely placed in the sec- those colonies as eager pro- as modern technology, though ing him $120 million richer. port his convictions. The Gold Industry Group those counter-cyclical assets. tor, because it refined the vast spectors poured in from over- some have been far more astute Mining in the Yandal pro- “If you walk around in the chairman says all this financial “When the rest of the world is bulk of Australian gold. seas and across Australia to than others. duced more than 12 million bush in the Eastern Goldfields uncertainty can only be a good doing well there is a much lower He said feedback from miners chase the precious metal. Powerhouse: One of Australia’s biggest and best enduring gold stories, Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s Super Pit. f one man was to be chosen as ounces of gold in the 1990s and it you’ll find places where there thing for gold. demand for gold. When things in recent months was largely Sixty per cent of the 370,000 the leading gold prospector in is still producing. has been no drilling for a radius “We are starting to see more of start to get tough, especially in positive. immigrants who arrived in Aus- south of Perth, around 1869, and for the government’s £5000 with a population of 16,000, with the 20th century, the accolade he 1990s brought renewed of several kilometres,” he said. I the strains and stresses in the financial markets, investors “It is a bit tough when gold was tralia in 1852 headed for Victoria, though it was proclaimed and reward. The Halls Creek gold many more living in the areas would have to go to Mark Gareth exploration activity in “The old boys were very efficient global economy become visible look for safe havens, and gold around $US1150 and the Austra- which contributed more than a gazetted by the government as a rush was a rush in every sense of surrounding the township. Creasy. WA’s goldfields, with both but technology has improved.” T again,” Mr Hayes said. has proven over hundreds of lian dollar was in the high 80s,” third of the world’s gold output. goldfield it never amounted to the word — it was all over in Nine months later, three Irish- A mining engineer who gradu- major and junior companies Wilson is planning a drill cam- “What happened in 2008 to years to be a safe haven.” he said. “As the Aussie dollar In just two years, its population anything. about three months. men — Flanagan, Hannan and ated from the Royal School of revisiting old mining projects paign on a new area he has 2009, where everybody lost a lot Mr Hayes, who has worked came down and US gold prices exploded from 77,000 to 540,000, It was another 16 years before n that short time hundreds Shea — stumbled across a rich Mines in London, Creasy came using new processing technol- pegged in the Eastern Gold- of confidence in traditional with Perth Mint for 13 years and have slowly risen it has provided making Melbourne the second- the game changed for the better. streamed into the area from find about 40km north of Cool- to Australia as an employee of ogy and exploration techniques, fields, with the help of the State’s financial markets and in the in the precious metals industry welcome relief for miners. biggest city in the British Acting on information provid- the Northern Territory, by gardie, collecting 100oz in just a Rio Tinto Zinc Corporation and plus a better understanding of Exploration Incentive Scheme. It I banking sector, all seemed to for the past two decades, said he “There were quite a number of Empire behind London. ed from an expedition into the boat to Derby and a new port on few days. The discovery at Kal- cut his teeth on the Australian mineralisation to assess brown- is a follow-up to his successful recede into the back of people’s was positive about the future. mines that were placed on care Meanwhile, the WA economy north-west, Charles Hall and Cambridge Gulf, later named goorlie was followed by a series mining scene in Broken Hill, fields and greenfields projects exploration in the minds, but the underlying sover- “The gold price is either close and maintenance and we are was languishing. Jack Slattery set sail in a skiff Wyndham. However, better news of discoveries throughout the though he freely admits that the and establish many new success- when he pegged land 45km north eign and institutional debt prob- to or in record territory,” he seeing those mines come off.” The end of convict transporta- from Roebourne to Derby in was to follow. region. 18 months there was not his most ful operations. of Meekatharra, a discovery that lems remain.” said. “We are certainly seeing Mr Hayes said he had seen tion from May 1865 did not help early 1885, travelling along the In 1887, gold was discovered at And while Paddy Hannan has enjoyable experience. This important period led to is now the centrepiece for Doray Brexit, the US presidential uptake in physical demand for strong interest from overseas and the government desperately Fitzroy River to the Elvire River. Southern Cross, followed in 1889 been immortalised for register- After leaving Broken Hill he the development of leading gold Minerals. His discovery, known election and Australian Federal our products, but a lot of people investors in Australian gold needed something to help make They were quickly rewarded at Ashburton River and two ing the claim with Warden Fin- spent three years in NSW on his projects, including the Super Pit as Andy Well, was only 4m below election were all contributing to are just waiting to see what’s stocks in response to the low the colony economically viable with some small nuggets at a years later at Nannine in the nerty in Coolgardie in June 1893, own, prospecting for opals the surface. global uncertainty, Mr Hayes going to happen.” exchange rate. and stop its workers from chas- place later named Halls Creek. Murchison. Although good, they his partners Dan Shea and Tom before running out of money and He is a vocal supporter of the ing gold interstate. While Hall’s party struck were merely support acts for the Flanagan have never received moving to WA in 1971 where his EIS and believes it has been of In 1861, it offered £2500 for the payable gold it was not the same main event. the recognition they deserved. father was living. great assistance to independent discovery of a payable goldfield for many prospectors who In September 1892, the eco- The story goes that Hannan Following a brief flirtation explorers. Reputation key: Doray within 240km of the Perth Gen- trekked hundreds of kilometres nomic future of WA changed and his two partners came with base metals and emeralds What of the future? United Minerals boss Allan Kelly. eral Post Office, to be followed across parched, barren country- when Arthur Bayley and Wil- across gold at Kalgoorlie, or East he turned his attention to gold Many experienced explorers Picture: Simon Santi some years later by a reward of side to get to the goldfield. liam Ford rode into Southern Coolgardie as it was known then, in 1974. believe history will show that the £5000 for the discovery of a paya- Derby was a 550km trek Cross with 554oz of gold they had by luck rather than prospecting “I was driven to gold for finan- major gold discoveries of the ble goldfield within 480km of any through arid terrain along the found on land later known as Fly expertise. Hannan received all cial survival reasons,” he told 21st century came as a result of voice for declared port in the colony. Fitzroy River and the alterna- Flat at Coolgardie. They regis- the accolades for registering the me in an interview several years geochemistry in regions where But there was a catch. The tive, the Cambridge Gulf dray tered a claim called Bayley’s claim, but in fact he was the only ago. transported cover has concealed prize was available only if the track, was almost 400km Reward with the resident war- one of the trio who was literate, “Gold is a wonderful thing, high-grade deposits from tradi- unique find produced and shipped 10,000 through swampland and rocky den J. M. Finnerty, and one of the which made him the obvious and I say wonderful because you tional exploration. ounces of gold, either alluvial or bushland. world’s last great gold rushes choice to handle the paperwork. can find gold in giant deposits extracted from quartz, to By late 1886 it was estimated began. Within six months the uck was also responsible for where the pay limits are half a England, within two years. there were 3000 prospectors population of WA had ballooned the discovery of gold at gram or something, or you can challenges However, it did elicit some working under terrible condi- by 400 per cent. LNorseman when a tethered find it as a gold nugget. results. The first reported strike tions at Halls Creek, but it never Within a decade Coolgardie horse named Hardy Norseman “There’s something there for ᔡ Claire Tyrrell was at North Dandalup, 75km produced the 10,000oz required became WA’s third-biggest town scraped the ground with its hoof everyone.” Doray Minerals managing direc- tor Allan Kelly believes the gold industry needs a strong voice. “The gold sector is pretty dif- ferent to other sectors,” he said. “We thought there were enough differences that we needed to get together and specifically add- ress issues relevant to gold.” mines that operate around them. He said protecting the reputa- Mr Kelly, a founding member “With iron ore, the towns are tion of WA’s mining sector was a of the Gold Industry Group, said set up to support the iron ore key role for government. the fact the metal was a moneta- mining rather than the other “When you enter any sort of ry rather than physical com- way around.” uncertainty that damages that modity, the relatively small scale Doray in 2010 took its Andy reputation, and that was very of gold mining companies, shor- Well mine near Meekatharra clearly shown when the (former) ter mine lives and the higher from exploration to production Labor government started talk- 1 costs associated with under- in 3 ⁄2 years. The high-grade mine ing about that increase in ground operations set the pre- cemented Doray’s reputation mining taxes, our reputation cious metal apart. and the company went on to take was damaged severely,” he said. He said the industry’s close over the Deflector Gold project Mr Kelly said the level of ties with regional communities from Mutiny Gold in 2014. exploration in WA could rise. also made it unique. Mr Kelly said the mid-tier “Exploration is what gives you “Most gold mines in WA are miner was looking to expand. the ability to extend current within 50km to 100km of an “We want to try to work out mines or find new ones and existing gold mining town — where that third opportunity bring them into production,” he Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie, Leonora, comes from, whether it be from said. “The government needs to Laverton, Meekatharra, Cue, Mt an exploration discovery on one ensure there is a good environ- Early days: An official delegation visits the Fenian gold mine at Meekatharra. Magnet,” he said. of our current projects or we ment for people to go in and “A lot of those communities look to do some sort of a corpo- invest in exploration and keep are intertwined with gold rate transaction,” he said. going.” 2 A GOLDEN FUTURE Wednesday, July 20, 2016 For the latest news A GOLDEN FUTURE 3

Safe-haven asset: Perth Mint chief executive Richard Hayes. Hope rekindles gold rush spirit Picture: Danella Bevis and uncovered the precious There was certainly some- in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Telfer in Buoyed explorers metal for owner Laurie Sinclair. thing there for Creasy, though it the Pilbara, St Ives near Kambal- The rest is history. Norseman didn’t come easily. He found a da, Jundee, Bronzewing and the are busy chasing Gold’s mine held the mantle of 46oz nugget near Mt Magnet in Agnew and Sunrise Dam oper- Australia’s longest continuously 1976 and an even bigger 86oz nug- ations in the Yilgarn Craton. WA’s next big running gold mining operation get near Laverton the following Brownfields mining has until it was placed under admin- year, a result of years of explor- helped some junior explorers to discovery, writes istration in October 2012. ing thousands of hectares of set up highly profitable oper- Ron Berryman Today, the Eastern Goldfields WA’s outback. But more was to ations from the Eastern Gold- is still one of the world’s great follow. His discoveries of the fields north to Laverton, west to gold regions and contributes Jundee and Bronzewing gold Meekatharra and places nearby A was a slow starter in more than three-quarters of deposits in the Yandal Green- and beyond. the Australian gold Australia’s gold, coming in stone Belt, a region that had been Recent greenfields gold dis- Wmining race, but despite third behind iron ore and petro- neglected for many years, elevat- coveries such as the Tropicana giving Victoria and NSW a leum as WA’s highest-valued ed him to the head of the pro- deposit 370km east-north-east of Prime position for gold advantage 40-year start it overcame this sig- commodity. specting list. Kalgoorlie-Boulder in an area nificant handicap to eventually The explorers of the 20th cen- Joseph Gutnick’s Great Cen- not previously thought to be pro- ᔡ Claire Tyrrell said, and since it was impossible He said the higher gold price claim the title of gold capital. tury had a distinct advantage tral Mines stepped in and bought spective for gold demonstrates for global economies to inflate also led to an increased market Discoveries in Victoria and over the early prospectors with a majority share in the two de- there is still more to come. Prom- Perth Mint chief executive their way out of debt issues, the flow of scrap metal, particularly NSW in 1851, Queensland in 1858 the availability of modern sci- posits in 1991 and two years later inent Kalgoorlie prospector Richard Hayes draws parallels problems remained. from Asia. and Tasmania in 1867 brought ences, training and expertise in snapped up Creasy’s minority Scott Wilson is one believer, with between today’s economy and ”This is a very good thing for Mr Hayes said the Perth Mint substantial economic changes to geology and engineering as well shareholding, reportedly leav- outstanding credentials to sup- the global financial crisis. gold,” he said. “Gold is one of was uniquely placed in the sec- those colonies as eager pro- as modern technology, though ing him $120 million richer. port his convictions. The Gold Industry Group those counter-cyclical assets. tor, because it refined the vast spectors poured in from over- some have been far more astute Mining in the Yandal pro- “If you walk around in the chairman says all this financial “When the rest of the world is bulk of Australian gold. seas and across Australia to than others. duced more than 12 million bush in the Eastern Goldfields uncertainty can only be a good doing well there is a much lower He said feedback from miners chase the precious metal. Powerhouse: One of Australia’s biggest and best enduring gold stories, Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s Super Pit. f one man was to be chosen as ounces of gold in the 1990s and it you’ll find places where there thing for gold. demand for gold. When things in recent months was largely Sixty per cent of the 370,000 the leading gold prospector in is still producing. has been no drilling for a radius “We are starting to see more of start to get tough, especially in positive. immigrants who arrived in Aus- south of Perth, around 1869, and for the government’s £5000 with a population of 16,000, with the 20th century, the accolade he 1990s brought renewed of several kilometres,” he said. I the strains and stresses in the financial markets, investors “It is a bit tough when gold was tralia in 1852 headed for Victoria, though it was proclaimed and reward. The Halls Creek gold many more living in the areas would have to go to Mark Gareth exploration activity in “The old boys were very efficient global economy become visible look for safe havens, and gold around $US1150 and the Austra- which contributed more than a gazetted by the government as a rush was a rush in every sense of surrounding the township. Creasy. WA’s goldfields, with both but technology has improved.” T again,” Mr Hayes said. has proven over hundreds of lian dollar was in the high 80s,” third of the world’s gold output. goldfield it never amounted to the word — it was all over in Nine months later, three Irish- A mining engineer who gradu- major and junior companies Wilson is planning a drill cam- “What happened in 2008 to years to be a safe haven.” he said. “As the Aussie dollar In just two years, its population anything. about three months. men — Flanagan, Hannan and ated from the Royal School of revisiting old mining projects paign on a new area he has 2009, where everybody lost a lot Mr Hayes, who has worked came down and US gold prices exploded from 77,000 to 540,000, It was another 16 years before n that short time hundreds Shea — stumbled across a rich Mines in London, Creasy came using new processing technol- pegged in the Eastern Gold- of confidence in traditional with Perth Mint for 13 years and have slowly risen it has provided making Melbourne the second- the game changed for the better. streamed into the area from find about 40km north of Cool- to Australia as an employee of ogy and exploration techniques, fields, with the help of the State’s financial markets and in the in the precious metals industry welcome relief for miners. biggest city in the British Acting on information provid- the Northern Territory, by gardie, collecting 100oz in just a Rio Tinto Zinc Corporation and plus a better understanding of Exploration Incentive Scheme. It I banking sector, all seemed to for the past two decades, said he “There were quite a number of Empire behind London. ed from an expedition into the boat to Derby and a new port on few days. The discovery at Kal- cut his teeth on the Australian mineralisation to assess brown- is a follow-up to his successful recede into the back of people’s was positive about the future. mines that were placed on care Meanwhile, the WA economy north-west, Charles Hall and Cambridge Gulf, later named goorlie was followed by a series mining scene in Broken Hill, fields and greenfields projects exploration in the Gascoyne minds, but the underlying sover- “The gold price is either close and maintenance and we are was languishing. Jack Slattery set sail in a skiff Wyndham. However, better news of discoveries throughout the though he freely admits that the and establish many new success- when he pegged land 45km north eign and institutional debt prob- to or in record territory,” he seeing those mines come off.” The end of convict transporta- from Roebourne to Derby in was to follow. region. 18 months there was not his most ful operations. of Meekatharra, a discovery that lems remain.” said. “We are certainly seeing Mr Hayes said he had seen tion from May 1865 did not help early 1885, travelling along the In 1887, gold was discovered at And while Paddy Hannan has enjoyable experience. This important period led to is now the centrepiece for Doray Brexit, the US presidential uptake in physical demand for strong interest from overseas and the government desperately Fitzroy River to the Elvire River. Southern Cross, followed in 1889 been immortalised for register- After leaving Broken Hill he the development of leading gold Minerals. His discovery, known election and Australian Federal our products, but a lot of people investors in Australian gold needed something to help make They were quickly rewarded at Ashburton River and two ing the claim with Warden Fin- spent three years in NSW on his projects, including the Super Pit as Andy Well, was only 4m below election were all contributing to are just waiting to see what’s stocks in response to the low the colony economically viable with some small nuggets at a years later at Nannine in the nerty in Coolgardie in June 1893, own, prospecting for opals the surface. global uncertainty, Mr Hayes going to happen.” exchange rate. and stop its workers from chas- place later named Halls Creek. Murchison. Although good, they his partners Dan Shea and Tom before running out of money and He is a vocal supporter of the ing gold interstate. While Hall’s party struck were merely support acts for the Flanagan have never received moving to WA in 1971 where his EIS and believes it has been of In 1861, it offered £2500 for the payable gold it was not the same main event. the recognition they deserved. father was living. great assistance to independent discovery of a payable goldfield for many prospectors who In September 1892, the eco- The story goes that Hannan Following a brief flirtation explorers. Reputation key: Doray within 240km of the Perth Gen- trekked hundreds of kilometres nomic future of WA changed and his two partners came with base metals and emeralds What of the future? United Minerals boss Allan Kelly. eral Post Office, to be followed across parched, barren country- when Arthur Bayley and Wil- across gold at Kalgoorlie, or East he turned his attention to gold Many experienced explorers Picture: Simon Santi some years later by a reward of side to get to the goldfield. liam Ford rode into Southern Coolgardie as it was known then, in 1974. believe history will show that the £5000 for the discovery of a paya- Derby was a 550km trek Cross with 554oz of gold they had by luck rather than prospecting “I was driven to gold for finan- major gold discoveries of the ble goldfield within 480km of any through arid terrain along the found on land later known as Fly expertise. Hannan received all cial survival reasons,” he told 21st century came as a result of voice for declared port in the colony. Fitzroy River and the alterna- Flat at Coolgardie. They regis- the accolades for registering the me in an interview several years geochemistry in regions where But there was a catch. The tive, the Cambridge Gulf dray tered a claim called Bayley’s claim, but in fact he was the only ago. transported cover has concealed prize was available only if the track, was almost 400km Reward with the resident war- one of the trio who was literate, “Gold is a wonderful thing, high-grade deposits from tradi- unique find produced and shipped 10,000 through swampland and rocky den J. M. Finnerty, and one of the which made him the obvious and I say wonderful because you tional exploration. ounces of gold, either alluvial or bushland. world’s last great gold rushes choice to handle the paperwork. can find gold in giant deposits extracted from quartz, to By late 1886 it was estimated began. Within six months the uck was also responsible for where the pay limits are half a England, within two years. there were 3000 prospectors population of WA had ballooned the discovery of gold at gram or something, or you can challenges However, it did elicit some working under terrible condi- by 400 per cent. LNorseman when a tethered find it as a gold nugget. results. The first reported strike tions at Halls Creek, but it never Within a decade Coolgardie horse named Hardy Norseman “There’s something there for ᔡ Claire Tyrrell was at North Dandalup, 75km produced the 10,000oz required became WA’s third-biggest town scraped the ground with its hoof everyone.” Doray Minerals managing direc- tor Allan Kelly believes the gold industry needs a strong voice. “The gold sector is pretty dif- ferent to other sectors,” he said. “We thought there were enough differences that we needed to get together and specifically add- ress issues relevant to gold.” mines that operate around them. He said protecting the reputa- Mr Kelly, a founding member “With iron ore, the towns are tion of WA’s mining sector was a of the Gold Industry Group, said set up to support the iron ore key role for government. the fact the metal was a moneta- mining rather than the other “When you enter any sort of ry rather than physical com- way around.” uncertainty that damages that modity, the relatively small scale Doray in 2010 took its Andy reputation, and that was very of gold mining companies, shor- Well mine near Meekatharra clearly shown when the (former) ter mine lives and the higher from exploration to production Labor government started talk- 1 costs associated with under- in 3 ⁄2 years. The high-grade mine ing about that increase in ground operations set the pre- cemented Doray’s reputation mining taxes, our reputation cious metal apart. and the company went on to take was damaged severely,” he said. He said the industry’s close over the Deflector Gold project Mr Kelly said the level of ties with regional communities from Mutiny Gold in 2014. exploration in WA could rise. also made it unique. Mr Kelly said the mid-tier “Exploration is what gives you “Most gold mines in WA are miner was looking to expand. the ability to extend current within 50km to 100km of an “We want to try to work out mines or find new ones and existing gold mining town — where that third opportunity bring them into production,” he Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie, Leonora, comes from, whether it be from said. “The government needs to Laverton, Meekatharra, Cue, Mt an exploration discovery on one ensure there is a good environ- Early days: An official delegation visits the Fenian gold mine at Meekatharra. Magnet,” he said. of our current projects or we ment for people to go in and “A lot of those communities look to do some sort of a corpo- invest in exploration and keep are intertwined with gold rate transaction,” he said. going.” 4 A GOLDEN FUTURE Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Quietly confident: Ramelius Resources boss Timely mine buy gives Mark Zeptner. Picture: Ian Munro Gold Fields extra clout

ᔡ Claire Tyrrell

Successful gold mining is about building a strong asset base, says Gold Fields executive vice- president Australasia Richard Weston. One of the world’s biggest gold producers, Gold Fields acquired Barrick Gold’s Granny Smith, Lawlers and Darlot mines in 2013 and is working to expand them. “We did that when the gold price was low and there wasn’t a big interest in gold,” Mr Weston said. He said being a big producer Still searching: Richard Weston. gave the company some protec- tion against market volatility. advantage of. We believe we can “If you’re a small 20,000-ounce find new ore bodies on our tene- producer you’ve got financing ments so we can develop those at problems and a lot of other a much lower cost than doing New highs ahead things,” he said. mergers and acquisitions.” “But if you’re a producer Mr Weston said government ᔡ Claire Tyrrell reason to think it won’t go high- lion, up $4 million on last year. around 300,000 to 600,000 ounces should focus on infrastructure er. Not that we are overly greedy About 60 per cent of this will or bigger, that gives you a cer- development and take a prag- Ramelius Resources is set to — we are quite happy with cur- be spent on existing projects and tain bulk, it gives you a bit of matic approach to regulation. make 2016 its biggest production rent prices.” Ramelius’ WA pro- the rest on greenfields prospects inertia against market downs “Government has got to year, but managing director jects, Mt Magnet, Kathleen including its Tanami joint ven- and you can take advantage of ensure the mining industry Mark Zeptner is reluctant to get Valley and Vivien, are forecast to ture in the Northern Territory. market ups, which we are doing remains safe and environmen- too bullish. produce 135,000 ounces this Ramelius signed up as a at present.” tally sustainable,” he said. “We are at all-time highs in financial year. Mr Zeptner said founding member of the Gold In- He said exploration was huge- Gold Fields joined the Gold In- terms of the Australian dollar Mt Magnet, its “engine room”, dustry Group to continue boost- ly important to Gold Fields. dustry Group as a founding gold price at above $1800 in would be its focus this year, with ing awareness of the industry’s “We have the largest explora- member after being part of the recent months,” he said. “People targeted production of 65,000oz, importance to the WA economy. tion spend of any gold company Gold Royalties Response Group. start to get carried away with while Vivien was expected to “We didn’t want to be seen as in Australia and we see that Mr Weston said the industry claims of very high prices, but reach a peak of 55,000oz. an industry that you only hear going on for a number of years,” group would play a crucial role the gold price is very volatile. Mr Zeptner said greater reve- from when there’s a problem or Mr Weston said. in educating the public about the “There’s a rise in uncertainty nue allowed Ramelius to boost they aren’t happy about pending “We think we’ve got very good sector, as well as countering any at the moment and there’s no its exploration budget to $10 mil- legislation,” Mr Zeptner said. tenements we want to take future threats to gold royalties.

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