Date 08/04/2017 Issue Number 38 THE DATUM POST : TODAYS VOICE OF THE APLA WHAT’S INSIDE Table of Contents EDITORIAL ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2 APLA AGM 2017 ................................................................................................................................................................ 3 ALPA UPDATE FOR APRIL 2017 ......................................................................................................................................... 4 The Kalgoorlie Political Forum APLA TREASURERS TORT ................................................................................................................................................... 5 ALPA AND POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT IN WA. ................................................................................................................... 6 Political involvement in WA elections and where to from here By B Fagan MEMBER ACCESS TO COMPANY GROUND ....................................................................................................................... 8 List of Mining Companies offering APLA members acces to their leases ARTICLES SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS............................................................................................................................... 10 Safety and the Prospector. Navigation By F. Roberts NUGGETS OF INTEREST ................................................................................................................................................... 14 SAMUAL.W.PIERCE and “THE SUPER PIT” ....................................................................................................................... 16 The real discoverer of modern Kalgoorlie By C. Edwards TECHNICAL DATA ............................................................................................................................................................ 23 The importance of a "representative sample By B Fagan BRANCH NEWS ................................................................................................................................................................ 27 PERTH BRANCH .............................................................................................................................................. 27 EPSG BRANCH ................................................................................................................................................ 28 GREAT SOUHERN BRANCH .............................................................................................................................. 28 MANDURAH BRANCH ..................................................................................................................................... 28 WESTERN AUSTRALIAN GOLD MINING GHOST TOWNS ................................................................................................. 29 ADVERTISING .................................................................................................................................................................. 31 NEW PRODUCT RELEASE ................................................................................................................................................. 32 The Happy Prospector mobile device FOR SALE OR HIRE ........................................................................................................................................................... 33 Copyright 2016 © Amalgamated and Prospectors and Leaseholders Association. Contact [email protected] Page 1 EDITORIAL Well, another few months have passed and things are never quiet in APLA. Firstly, I’m very pleased and relieved to welcome back our regular Editor, Steve Palmer after his very serious illness. It was touch & go for a while. So, my thanks to Steve on a rapid return. APLA’s political campaign has borne fruit and our detractors now know we are here and with a mission. Bob Fagan’s report is included in this edition and I concur with Bob’s thoughts here. Any new Bill or Regulatory change will now be subject to our scrutiny; they know we are waiting and watching. We will not be ignored or taken for granted. A recent meeting between miners and prospectors in Kalgoorlie with the DMP Environmental Executive reveals a more accommodating attitude than we have seen in the past few years. We may even end up back where we started prior to 2014 where we go back to using the Low Impact Mining Operations (LIMO) forms! We have hopes for our future! The nationwide APLA advertising campaign organised by GoldTalk Leonora has also been a great success. Full credit to Tony and Lisa for obtaining the advertising for us in the Gold, Gem and Treasure magazine for the next 12 months. From the phone calls that I’ve had after just the first month of advertising, APLA has gained at least 20 new members. I’m sure there must be more who simply just used the website to gain membership rather than phone me at 5.00 a.m. from the Eastern States! It’s surprising how many people don’t use the internet! It’s been a busy time for the APLA Treasurer and myself with the annual membership renewals. A high number of members have problems using our website and the internet and these were given personal attention to get them through it. So well done for fixing the problems Kurk. Les Lowe, APLA President Copyright 2016 © Amalgamated and Prospectors and Leaseholders Association. Contact [email protected] Page 2 APLA AGM 2017 APLA’s Annual General Meeting will be held on 16th September 2017 at Hoover House in Leonora. Attendees must advise their branch Secretary before August 16th if they wish to attend. So RSVP is mandatory. This will ensure seating and catering arrangements will meet the numbers. No RSVP means no seat, no BBQ in the evening. We must have the numbers early please. APLA is looking for a new Secretary to take over from September 2016. All positions will be open for anyone wishing to take up the challenge for APLA and its members. Copyright 2016 © Amalgamated and Prospectors and Leaseholders Association. Contact [email protected] Page 3 ALPA UPDATE FOR APRIL 2017 The Kalgoorlie political forum. Submitted by APLA President Les Lowe. Held on the 27th February last, the forum was a joint effort by EGPA, APLA and Goldfields First. It attracted approximately 200 people, including prospectors, miners, local media, DMP personnel taking notes, lawyers, local dignitaries and voters from the Kalgoorlie area. Notably, thirteen political candidates including senior party officials flew up from Perth for the occasion. This was the biggest electoral forum held in Kalgoorlie. With three times the number of candidates, it more than doubled the attendance of the political main event run by the local Chamber of Commerce. APLA’s President attended and we will have a copy of the event on video. The format was as advertised with an excellent Moderator job done by ABC cross media reporter Sam Tomlin. The whole event was very well organised by the EGPA Executive, with a mighty effort from Peta Osborne running the catering and refreshments for 200 people. A big thank you Peta. Every party had a fair & equal chance to get their responses across to the audience. A Q&A session followed with a few curly ones putting some candidates on the spot. Every candidate fully understood our issues and not one negative response was heard. There was support across the board for our concerns. I felt the Liberal candidates put on a very brave show, going against their own Premier and the Liberal Party line on several mining and regional issues. The Nationals put in a good show and continued their support for small miners and prospectors, as did The Greens, Robin Chappell. I felt the Labour candidate did his best to show great support for Kalgoorlie itself but seemed to be compromised and sometimes non-committal on the issues of mining and prospecting at our level. Maybe it was me? Whilst it could be construed that the session had the feel of a “Dorothy Dix” event, it was not simply what was said that was important. As is often the case, it’s what was not said that carried more weight. That much was very revealing. Despite all this, the State Election has now been held but at time of writing the precise numbers are still being counted. We will have a State Labour government and a Labour Mines Minister, of that there is no doubt. But with the incoming Mines Minister rumoured to have heavyweight environmental professionals amongst his staff entourage, we should continue to be very concerned for our future as prospectors. The need to be on guard at all times is even more pressing. We may even find ourselves with a much bigger problem than we had with the previous Mines Minister under a State Liberal government. One strongly rumoured policy concern is the conversion of reclaimed pastoral stations to “A class Reserves”, and nobody can prospect in such areas. The Dept of Parks and Wildlife must be sharpening its pencils. A full morning on the day following the forum was spent with DMP staff in Kalgoorlie discussing various matters of importance surrounding Native Title, Aboriginal Heritage and Excess Tonnage. All things considered it was very full two days and nothing was wasted. Thanks to the Kal guys for arranging everything and turning up for a drink and chat on the final night. Copyright 2016 © Amalgamated and Prospectors and Leaseholders