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20TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE EDITION AUGUST 6-8, 2012 

DIGGERS&DEALERS

A NEW ERA 

BEGINS

Diggers&Dealers 4 

20-year anniversary edition 

WESTBUSINESS 

Resources 

vital to WA 

To say it has come 

a long way would 

be a massive 

understatement. 

Confidence in future: Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore. 

■ Norman Moore 

This year will celebrate 20 years 

since the first Diggers & Dealers 

conference. 

To say it has come a long way 

would be a massive 

understatement. It is not just 

the conference that has come a 

long way, but the very region 

this event celebrates — the 

Goldfields. 

Back in 1992, when Diggers & 

Dealers was first held, the 

Goldfields’ resources industry 

was worth $1.9 billion. Last year 

it soared to $8.3 billion, with 

gold alone worth $5.6 billion. 

I have no doubt that the 

Goldfields, and Diggers & 

Dealers, will continue to build 

on this remarkable success. 

However, it is important we 

make the most of these 

opportunities. One way the 

State Government is 

encouraging further investment 

in the industry is with the 

Exploration Incentive Scheme’s 

(EIS) flagship co-funded drilling 

program. 

The State Government has 

extended funding for EIS until 

the end of June 2016 and a total 

of $138.1 million will have been 

committed to exploration 

incentives since its start in 2009. 

It also means the co-funded 

drilling program will continue 

offering twice-yearly funding 

grants. In the last round of 

co-funded drilling, 22 of the 56 

exploration projects to receive 

funding were Goldfields-based. 

Beadell Resources’ Tropicana 

East project and West Musgrave 

prospect have both benefited 

from previous EIS funding and 

it goes to show that there is still 

plenty of gold (and other 

resources) in the Goldfields just 

waiting to be discovered. 

Programs such as EIS will 

ensure the Goldfields continue 

to play an essential part in WA’s 

resources industry, as it has 

done for more than 110 years. 

Another crucial part of the 

industry’s longevity is 

maintaining high safety 

standards. Nowhere is this more 

apparent than in the Goldfields. 

The commitment the 

Goldfield’s mining community 

has shown to the annual 

underground and surface mine 

rescue competitions is just one 

indication of this. 

The State Government is 

committed to improving safety 

in the industry. The reforms we 

have undertaken address how 

the Department of Mines and 

Petroleum, as the regulator, 

works with industry to save 

lives and reduce injuries. 

Twenty years of Diggers & 

Dealers is a tremendous 

achievement and no doubt this 

year’s conference will continue 

to build on that success. 

Crazy idea 

that grew 

There were very 

few forums for 

these activities to 

occur. 

■ Kate Stokes 

Twenty years ago, my late 

husband Geoff had a concept 

where he envisaged the cream of 

the resources industry meeting 

in Kalgoorlie annually to 

promote and discuss activities 

in which companies were 

involved. 

The idea was to create an 

environment where all players, 

from brokers to investors, 

miners, suppliers and 

professionals, could develop 

relationships, do deals and 

generally advance the 

opportunities and dreams that 

many in the resources’ sector 

have. 

It was in some ways a crazy 

idea, as apart from technical 

conferences, there were very 

few forums for these activities 

to occur and as such it required 

enthusiasm and drive to make 

the first Diggers & Dealers in 

Kalgoorlie happen. 

Geoff used stockbroker David 

Reed to help in getting 

companies involved and 

Graham Thomson to assist with 

the logistics. 

The first year about 125 people 

attended. 

This year we will host more 

than 2200 people in Kalgoorlie- 

Boulder. 

Despite current uncertain 

markets, industry enthusiasm 

and the Diggers can-do attitude 

will facilitate an environment 

where the broad industry will 

find deals, raise funds and 

generally advance the positive 

cause that the resources 

industry represents. 

Unfortunately, Geoff passed 

away in 1997 while Diggers was 

still evolving but I have no doubt 

that he would be exceptionally 

proud of the manner in which 

Diggers has been embraced, and 

that the whole industry is 

represented from the 

international mining majors to 

the explorers, the brokers and 

investors, and to the suppliers 

and professionals, all with a 

common goal of promoting their 

industry. That was what Geoff 

was passionate about and that is 

the reason our family remains 

committed to facilitating the 

forum. 

I have no doubt that Diggers & 

Dealers will remain in 

Kalgoorlie Boulder for many 

years to come. 

Proud involvement: Kate Stokes reflects on two decades. Picture: Bill Hatto



WESTBUSINESS 

Why Diggers is the place to be 

■ Peter Klinger 

Business editor 

It’s easy to be critical of some 

aspect or another of Diggers & 

Dealers. Heck, I have been in the 

past — a lack of news thanks to 

continuous disclosure regimes, 

an overly-tight presentation 

schedule and too few world 

mining leaders attending as 

speakers. 

Yet every year I am one of 50 

or so media cohorts who return 

to Kalgoorlie-Boulder because if 

you want to understand the 

mining sector in Australia, you 

need to be at Diggers. 

Nowhere else in Australia do 

you get such a big ensemble of 

mining industry insiders, 

supporters and onlookers as at 

Diggers. An ensemble captive to 

the confines of the conference 

and its surrounding drinking 

holes like nowhere else in 

Australia, or maybe the world. 

It forces networking. It 

demands striking up 

acquaintances. 

It ensures all and sundry are 

on a level footing. Late at night, 

Nowhere else in Australia do you get 

such a big ensemble of mining industry 

insiders, supporters and onlookers. 

in the front bar of the Palace, 

there no longer is a segregation 

between mining company 

bosses, fund managers, 

well-heeled private investors, 

analysts and members of the 

media pack. Friendships are 

struck and relationships 

renewed, seeds are sown for 

deals of the future as well as 

story ideas. 

And that it why attendance at 

Diggers is such a worthwhile 

exercise. 

And which is why each year 

the media room is packed more 

tightly than the year before, 

with local, national and 

increasing numbers of 

international media 

representatives. 

There is another reason 

Diggers is special to many in the 

media. It is here, in the heart of 

the Goldfields, where many of 

us, including me, first got their 

lucky breaks, working and or 

living in Kalgoorlie-Boulder 

surrounded by some of the most 

famous mines in Australia. 

Tania Winter, Neale Prior, 

Ron Berryman, Matt 

Chambers, Michael 

Vaughan, the late but not 

forgotten Kevin Andrusiak, 

Andrew Burrell, Kate 

Askew, Russell Woolf 

and Sarah-Jane Tasker 

to name but a few have 

spent time in the 

Goldfields capital. For 

many of us, Diggers & 

Dealers is a return to 

where it all began. 

Keen supporter: WestBusiness editor Peter Klinger. Picture: Simon Santi 

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Remember 1992 


Way back where it all began 

WESTBUSINESS 

It’s been two decades 

of highs and lows and 

high jinks at the State’s 

premier mining 

conference. Neale 

Prior delves into the 

archives of The West 

Australian and the 

Kalgoorlie Miner for an 

insight into a 

remarkable era. 

After evolving from the 

Diggers’ Bash in 

Kalgoorlie and 

incorporating annual 

Diggers & Dealers awards from 

Perth, the Diggers & Dealers 

conference had a relatively 

humble start in February 1992. 

Australia was just emerging 

from Paul Keating’s recession 

we had to have and the 

reputation of WA business had 

been damaged by the events of 

the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

Yet some green shoots were 

emerging in investment markets 

even as the WA Inc scandal was 

being unravelled at a royal 

commission in Perth. 

Some 200 delegates, including 

six stockbrokers and two 

merchant bankers from 

interstate, attended the event, 

along with international gold 

shares investor Willie McLucas. 

The conference was the 

brainchild of businessman, 

accountant and Palace Hotel 

publican Geoff Stokes. 

The Goldfields spirit of 

irreverence and optimism took 

Stalwart: Ron Manners, here with 

Tamara Stevens of AMEC, gave the 

government of the day a piece of 

his mind. 

Founder: Geoff Stokes and his wife Kate. 

hold from the start at what was 

then called the Diggers & 

Dealers Bash. 

The theme for the conference 

was “let the boom begin”, and 

there was no shortage of 

confidence about which sector 

of society was best qualified to 

lead the nation back to wealth. 

There was broad agreement 

with the sign at the Palace 

Hotel: “If this country has a 

future it depends on the 

continuing mining of gold and 

the control of the country by 

resources men — we can’t trust 

the politicians any longer.” 

Kalgoorlie stalwart Ron 

Manners picked up on this 

theme and the fact that a 

representative of the State 

Government’s Small Business 

Development Corporation had 

only recently visited the 

Goldfields town offering free 

advice on tax and corporate 

affairs. 

“What I find amusing is that 

all this advice is brought to us 

free by our loved State 

Government,” Mr Manners told 

delegates. 

“Yes, the very same people 

who brought us WA Inc, the 

Petrochemical fiasco, the WA 

Development Corporation and 

the Rothwells rescue. The same 

people who have shown cash in 

paper bags is a preferred style of 

doing business.” 

Former Boulder Block Hotel 

owner and racehorse enthusiast 

John Jones won the award for 

the best deal of the year for 

selling the pub to Kalgoorlie 

Consolidated Gold Mines for the 

ever-expanding gold Super Pit. 

KCGM did not want the pub 

but was instead interested in the 

dirt underneath it. 

Mr Jones was already a 

legend for his sale of Jones 

Mining shares worth $15 million 

to Consolidated Exploration 

during a takeover bid that 

spanned the October 1987 

sharemarket crash. 

In addition to the de facto 

recognition of his contribution 

to Mr Jones’ already sizeable 

bank balance, KCGM executive 

Ian Burston was given the 

community contributions award 

for his commitment to the new 

Hannans North tourist mine. 

Mr Manners won the industry 

contribution award for his work 

with the Association of Mining 

and Exploration Companies. 

Winner: John Jones, pictured with Rod Russell and Keith Biggs, won the 

deal of the year award over the Boulder Block Hotel sale. 

There’s nothing like 

a good resources 

boom to kick-start 

our stuffed Aussie 

economy. 

Geoff Stokes 

DIGGERS 

&DEALERS 

LIFTOUT 

Stories: Neale Prior 

Design: Andy Piggford 

Cover: John Henderson 

For up-to-date news from 

Diggers & Dealers 2012 

check out WestBUSINESS 

in The West Australian or at 

thewest.com.au/business



Pollie bashing 

The event took on the 

posher sounding name 

Diggers & Dealers 

Forum. 

But bash was still on the 

menu at one of the event’s 

dinners, with Eltin chairman 

Graeme Smith taking the 

pollie-bashing baton from 

industry stalwart Ron Manners. 

The millionaire mining 

contractor described politicians 

as egotists who had to be 

relegated back to their rightful 

position as “hired help”. 

He claimed politicians were 

the major threat to Australia’s 

growth and particularly the 

growth of the mining industry. 

“It’s one of our few industries 

which is world-class and 

internationally competitive — 

and it’s being forced to look 

outside of Australia, “ Mr Smith 

said. "It’s a ridiculous situation 

and if we allow it to continue it 

will bring the country to a 

standstill and bring 

unemployment to 15 per cent." 

New Liberal Premier Richard 

Court gently hit back at a 

commemorative dinner to 

celebrate Kalgoorlie’s centenary, 

starting his talk by addressing 

the audience as “ladies and 

Survivor: Phil Crabb. 

gentlemen… and Graeme 

Smith”. 

Former Labor minister and 

Eyre MLA Julian Grill was not 

so nice, saying Mr Smith’s 

attack was a “swaggering 

display of arrogance and 

insensitivity” and claiming the 

contractor was the big 

beneficiary of a lack of a State 

royalty on gold. 

“The truth is other WA 

taxpayers are subsidising his 

multimillion-dollar lifestyle in 

the Swan Valley,” Mr Grill said. 

The gold sector was going 

Critic: Graeme Smith. 

through what veteran 

stockbroker David Reed, of 

forum backer Eyres Reed, 

described as a boom to exceed 

the nickel boom of the late 1960s. 

The gold price had headed 

north from about $US300/oz in 

early 1993 towards $US400/oz at 

the time of the conference. 

In line with the rising market 

and after a solid start in 1992, 

the number of Diggers & 

Dealers delegates surged to an 

estimated 500 and the 

conference was moved from the 

Palace to the more spacious 

1993 

That hired help is not your wife or your 

staff — it’s your State and Federal 

Members of Parliament. 

Graeme Smith checking whether anyone had beaten up their hired help 

Hitting back: Julian Grill 

Boulder Town Hall. Most 

companies presenting papers 

were in the transition stage 

from explorer to miner. 

In the spirit of optimism, 

Great Central Mines’ 

exploration boss Ed Eshuys 

vowed to step up the company’s 

$500,000-a-month exploration 

program to fulfil a prophecy by 

New York rabbi Menachem 

Schneerson that Great Central 

boss Joe Gutnick would find 

gold and diamonds. 

Heading towards production 

at its Bronzewing mine, Great 

Diggers&Dealers 

20-year anniversary edition 1994 

WESTBUSINESS 

Central was aggressively 

drilling nearby tenements. 

Spirits were lifted even more 

at the forum’s awards night with 

unlimited amounts of food, beer, 

wine and spirits served up by a 

team of scantily-clad 

Diggerettes. 

The exploration medal was 

won by Great Central for its 

outstanding work at 

Bronzewing. The Contractor’s 

Medal went to Goldfields 

drilling firm Glindemann and 

Kitching, which had set up a 

base at Meekatharra to service 

the Bronzewing discovery. 

The entrepreneurial medal 

went to Phil Crabb, who was 

wiped out in the 1987 crash but 

maintained his links with 

Kalgoorlie-Boulder. 

The company promotion 

medal was won by Mr Manners’ 

Croesus Mining because of what 

was described as its continued 

prominence in the media and 

the way it promoted its 

interests. 

Toecutters 

join party 

You have to get into 

training quite early to go 

the distance. 

David Reed on the gruelling festivities 

It is the measure of an 

event’s growing importance 

when company share prices 

start moving in anticipation 

of what might be going down. 

And that is just what seems to 

have happened with the 1994 

Diggers & Dealers Forum as 

more than 400 brokers, 

investors, analysts, geologists, 

investment bankers, mining 

company promoters and 

regulators descended on 

Kalgoorlie-Boulder. 

Mt Edon Gold Mines 

attributed a rally in its shares to 

market anticipation of 

showcasing its WA gold 

operations at the forum. 

Shares in Plutonic Resources 

flew after corporate manager 

Denis Clarke said the explorer 

could be sitting on a giant 

resource around its eponymous 

mine. For its digging efforts, 

Plutonic won the outstanding 

producer award with Herald 

Resources. 

Not surprisingly, three 

officers from the Australian 

Stock Exchange’s Sydney-based 

surveillance division were 

spotted among delegates at the 

conference. Led by manager Jim 

Berry, the toecutters found 

themselves deeply emerged in 

what must be one of Australia’s 

most fertile breeding grounds 

for scarce information. 

“A regulator can’t shut 

himself off and sit in his ivory 

tower,” Mr Berry said. “He 

needs to know what is going 

on.” It did not take long for the 

Berry crew to swoop, slapping a 

short suspension on Great 

Central Mines after exploration 

director Ed Eshuys had given an 

Watching: Exchange analyst Joann Condon and surveillance 

chief Jim Berry check the markets. 

update on its drilling at 

Bronzewing and Jundee, 

allegedly without first telling 

the stock exchange. 

Some companies had used the 

mid-July conference to release 

their June quarter reports, but 

other had to rely on their March 

quarter reports to make general 

presentations to avoid getting 

up the nose of the exchange’s 

watchdogs. 

This prompted Diggers & 

Dealers organiser Geoff Stokes 

to look at moving the 1995 

conference to August so 

companies could prepare 

presentations based on their 

latest quarterly releases. 

“We don’t want it to happen 

again where a company is 

suspended because everyone 

hears it first at Diggers & 

Dealers, ” Mr Stokes said. 

David Reed, from sponsoring 

stockbroker Eyres Reed, said 

the growing international 

reputation of the forum was best 

summed up by former Delta 

Gold chief executive Peter 

Vanderspuy. “He told me after 

last year’s conference it was the 

best in the world,” Mr Reed said. 

Amid the beer and banter, 

rumours circulated that St 

Barbara Mines boss Ross Atkins 

planned to spend $8 million 

refurbishing his riverside 

Dalkeith mansion, formerly 

owned by Alan Bond. 

On the social side, the 

Diggerettes continued to feature 

in what was turning into one of 

Australia’s top three-day 

swim-throughs. One digger’s 

excessive attention to a 

Diggerette earned him a solid 

right hook and brought a tray of 

glasses crashing to the floor of 

the old town hall. 

On the awards front, nickel 

miner WMC was recognised for 

its mineral development efforts 

and its role in forming the 

Goldfields pipeline consortium. 

Ron Sayers’ Ausdrill was 

recognised for its efforts 

expanding in Australia and 

overseas. Eltin’s Graeme Smith 

was recognised for finding the 

finance for a new student 

amenities building at the WA 

School of Mines.

Our mining future 

starts with 

Australia’s oldest 

mining school. 

For over 100 years, Curtin’s Western Australian 

School of Mines (WASM) has earned a 

reputation globally for excellence in mining 

education and research. 

With campuses in Perth and Kalgoorlie, WASM 

is committed to a sustainable mining future 

by building strong industry partnerships and 

continually investing in new hi-tech facilities. 

WASM is proud of its contribution to the 

minerals and resources sector by creating 

highly sought after graduates with a focus on 

making tomorrow better. 

To find out more, come and see us at the 

Diggers and Dealers Expo in Kalgoorlie from 

6 to 8 August, where you will be able to 

experience our new CYBERMINE 4 simulator. 

Make tomorrow better. 

wasm.curtin.edu.au

Farewell to a g 



Clouds on 

the horizon 

1995 

WESTBUSINESS 

D 

20 

N 

Tpip 

se 

The Diggers & Dealers 

Forum had grown into a 

major event on the 

investment conference 

calendar, with more than 300 

delegates visiting from outside 

WA and helping to swell 

numbers beyond 700. 

And it was not only the 

official presentations at the 

Goldfields Arts Centre and the 

gala closing dinner at the 

Eastern Goldfields Aboriginal 

Advancement Council centre in 

Lionel Street that drew the 

delegates. 

There were unofficial site 

visits, in addition to the 

nocturnal investor relations 

activities conducted at locations 

such as the Palace and 

Exchange hotels. 

The presence of influential 

brokers, analysts and investors 

was being used by companies to 

tell the world that the Goldfields 

was living up to its reputation 

as the premier Australian 

mineral province ripe for 

investment. 

Projects that were up and 

running included WMC’s giant 

Mt Keith nickel project, which 

cost $450 million, and Great 

Central Mines’ $64 million 

Bronzewing gold mine. 

Work had begun on the $400 

million Goldfields to Pilbara gas 

pipeline project and gas-fired 

power stations that had been 

spawned as a result. 

Closer to Kalgoorlie-Boulder, 

well-advanced projects included 

Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold 

Mines’ $115 million Fimiston 

plant expansion and $81 million 

Kanowna Belle underground 

development by North and Delta 

Gold. 

Yet it was not all good news, 

with St Barbara Mines chief 

executive Robin Dean warning 

Native title warning: Robin Dean. 

We work hard during the day at Diggers 

and then we play at night. 

Geoff Stokes on booze not being served at lunch 

companies that concerns about 

native title were causing 

companies to drill in less 

prospective areas not affected by 

potential claims, or looking 

overseas. 

Prospecting legend Mark 

Creasy, who had just banked a 

$117 million cheque for selling 

tenements to Great Central 

Mines, agreed. 

“How can anyone invest when 

you don’t know what’s going to 

Legend: Mark Creasy said uncertainty threatened future investment. 

happen in the future?” he said. 

Australian resources 

companies and investors were 

hedging their bets, with 

emerging enthusiasm for 

exploration in Africa on show at 

Diggers & Dealers. 

After the previous year’s 

two-hour trading stock 

exchange suspension of Great 

Central, mining companies were 

being very coy pre-conference 

about what they would be 

releasing and then were making 

sure market announcements 

were made first. 

With the stock exchange 

watching at close quarters, 

there was no room for slip-ups. 

Companies such as Plutonic, 

Great Central, and Delta Gold 

provided project and 

exploration updates that were 

described by one observer as 

“frequently nothing short of 

breathtaking”. 

Foremost among these was 

Plutonic’s resource and reserve 

update around the Plutonic 

mine, which earned it the 

medal of Most Outstanding 

Producer. 

Claiming the title of 

Australia’s best mining 

conference for Diggers & 

Dealers, organiser Geoff Stokes 

said the number of delegates 

would be capped about 800. 

“What we set out to do and 

what we achieved has been 

quality, not quantity,” Mr Stokes 

said. 

And quality was certainly on 

the menu as well. 

No fewer than four road trains 

brought up essential items 

for the conference, including 

3000 cans of beer and 1080 

bottles of fine wine for the gala 

dinner. The menu also boasted 

crayfish, smoked salmon, 100 

dozen oysters, 20 sides of 

Norwegian smoked salmon, 

30kg of fresh crabs plus beef, 

chicken and 24 wheels of 

Margaret River cheese. 

ch 

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to 

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in 

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Ba 

Go 

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Pr 

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en 

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tim 

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He was known in life as 

an accountant, 

husband, father, 

company promoter, 

director, racehorse owner, 

publican, confidante and 

chairman of the 

Kalgoorlie-Boulder Racing Club. 

Yet Geoff Stokes will arguably 

be best remembered for decades 

as a good bloke and the man 

who put the momentum into the 

Diggers & Dealers juggernaut. 

When he died in February 

1997, Diggers & Dealers was 

already being noticed around 

the world and it had become a 

major forum for industry 

players to pitch their case. 

As Mr Stokes said in 2006: 

“It’s sort of grown from a fun 

thing to a bloody serious thing.” 

Former Diggers & Dealers 

chairman David Reed said 

the late Mr Stokes was a 

major figure in the mining 

industry and instrumental in 

lifting the profile of Diggers & 

Dealers. 

“He was incredibly 

generous. 

Ian Taylor, former MLA 

For his Dad: David Stokes stands in 

for Geoff at the 1996 forum. 

Sa 

los

S 



1996 

WESTBUSINESS 

Native title flak 

s 

s 

Things kept getting bigger 

and the gas was about to 

start coming down the 

Pilbara to Goldfields gas 

pipeline, but there was also a 

sense of worry in the air. 

Diggers & Dealers deputy 

chairman Peter Hawkins, a 

Perth stockbroker, warned in 

his keynote address that the rate 

of gold exploration and 

discoveries would need to 

increase if the Australian 

industry was to keep growing. 

He said with dollars heading 

to Indonesia and West Africa, 

Australia and WA, in particular, 

were now being seen “as a 

second rate address”. 

There was anxiety in the 

industry as it tried to come to 

grips with new native title laws 

and dealing with highly 

complex claims, as well as 

threats from Resources 

Development Minister Colin 

Barnett that the Coalition State 

Government could look at a gold 

royalty after the next election. 

Premier Richard Court quickly 

shot his rocks minister’s idea. 

Native Title Tribunal 

president Justice Robert French 

found himself at the receiving 

end of a free education session 

courtesy of forum veteran Ron 

Manners. During question time 

after Justice French’s talk, Mr 

Manners unfolded a two-page 

question that included a 

comment that a great deal of 

time and effort was being 

diverted from productive 

Without some prompt action from 

Canberra, all Australians will be poorer 

as a result of the mineral exploration 

dollar going elsewhere. 

Ron Manners 

pursuits in trying to understand 

“this unworkable Native Title 

Act”. Never mind such 

important matters, the question 

on the lips of a lot of delegates in 

1996 was: “Where are the 

Diggerettes?” 

Where indeed. Certainly not 

at the forum’s traditional 

welcoming cocktail party on 

Monday night and even more 

conspicuous by their absence at 

the Bash on Tuesday night. 

A furore which erupted in 

some quarters after the 

previous year’s event had 

organisers deciding that it 

would be in the best interests of 

the forum’s image to drop the 

Diggerettes. 

This did not slow the drinking 

at the traditional Diggers & 

Dealers Bash party at the 

racecourse, which ran out of 

beer and wine — necessitating 

the sending of reinforcements 

from the Palace Hotel. 

At the more formal dinner the 

following night, the highlight 

was arguably a 1.5 metre replica 

of a Goldfields headframe made 

by Kalgoorlie College 

hospitality lecturer Glenn Jones 

and his students using 30kg of 

commercial moulding 

margarine. 

Colin Barnett collected the 

forum’s most outstanding 

achievement award on behalf of 

the Ministry for Resources 

Development and Energy, which 

was recognised for its work with 

the development of the Pilbara 

to Goldfields gas pipeline. 

Normandy chairman Robert 

de Crespigny said the pipeline 

project would do to the 

Goldfields what the CY 

Good company: Sons of Gwalia’s Peter Lalor (left) with Ausdrill chairman 

Terry O’Connor and Resources Development Minister Colin Barnett. 

O’Connor water pipeline had 

done for the region. Mr de 

Crespigny, whose group had a 25 

per cent stake in the pipeline, 

said it would deliver long-term 

low cost power. 

And the forum moved into 

cyberspace, with papers 

available online within minutes 

of being presented and punters 

able to register for the 1997 

conference through the website. 

Geoff Stokes was absent 

fighting cancer in Perth, but the 

industry stalwart was keen not 

to miss out on what was 

happening around his beloved 

forum and had an associate 

organise some video footage. 

Highlight: Palace Hotel executive 

chef Alan Thorley and Kalgoorlie 

College lecturer Glenn Jones with 

the margarine headframe. 

good bloke 

In 1901 the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of 

Western Australia (CME) was established in Kalgoorlie. 

Since then, we have grown hand in hand with the 

resource sector. 

Supporting over 200 member companies, CME 

provides an avenue for extensive collaboration on 

industry matters and is dedicated to maintaining WA’s 

reputation as a globally significant resource province. 

www.cmewa.com.au 

Sad loss: Geoff Stokes with a copy of the 1996 Diggers, the last before he 

lost his battle with cancer. 

1488478πJEGT040812



Gold in 

spotlight 

WESTBUSINESS 

Prime Minister John 

Howard was supposed to 

be the headline act but 

had to cancel after being 

hospitalised with pneumonia. 

Some industry figures were 

hoping to get stuck into the PM 

over his government’s 

endorsement of a Reserve Bank 

decision to dump 167 tonnes of 

its gold reserve and Treasurer 

Peter Costello saying gold no 

longer played an important part 

in the world financial system. 

The gold price and stocks had 

plunged, and diggers and 

dealers alike were ropeable. 

Stockbroker and forum 

sponsor David Reed told 

journalists he believed Mr 

Costello’s comments lacked 

foresight and had a big 

psychological effect on the 

industry. 

“The vibes that went out 

internationally were not good,” 

Mr Reed said. 



Mining magnate Joseph 

Gutnick, who called for the 

Government to intervene when 

prices plummeted, said he was 

disappointed the Treasurer did 

not attend the forum and “face 

the music” over the decision. 

Facing the chorus of discord 

instead was Federal Resources 

Minister Warwick Parer, who 

asked delegates to keep the 

Reserve Bank’s sale in 

perspective. 

“The Reserve Bank is a player 

in the market just like everyone 

else,” he said. 

New York-based analyst for 

the Gold Council, George 

Milling-Stanley, told delegates 

that speculators were driving 

down the price by selling gold 

they did not have. 

“I talk to several of the large 

speculators on a regular basis 

and there is no doubt in my 

mind that they are taking 

advantage of the market’s fear of 

Facing the music: Warwick Parer 

addresses delegates. 

Concerned: George Milling-Stanley blamed 

speculators for forcing down the gold price. 

central bank sales to bully down 

the gold price and make huge 

profits, ” Mr Milling-Stanley 

said. The Association of Mining 

and Exploration Companies 

proposed a series of measures to 

assist and promote the industry 

after the “potentially 

catastrophic” selldown. “The 

Australian gold industry is now 

in need of urgent 

encouragement and incentives if 

it is to satisfactorily recover 

Unhappy with gold decision: George Savell, David Reed and Bill Ryan at an 

AMEC press conference. 

There has been no great wave 

of central bank sales in recent 

months but the fear is there. 

George Milling-Stanley 

from this recent setback and the 

long-term problem of a 

downward trend in the gold 

price and the domestic 

economic problems it is facing,” 

AMEC chief executive George 

Savell said. 

Amid the gloom, there was a 

record attendance of 780 at the 

conference but with one very 

notable absence — Geoff Stokes. 

The long-time driving force 

behind Diggers & Dealers died 

from cancer in February. 

With support of industry 

colleagues spurred on by Mr 

Stokes’ fight, industry veteran 

Phil Crabb unveiled plans to 

develop an accommodation 

centre in Perth for cancer 

patients and carers from 

regional and country areas. 

WMC chairman Sir Arvi 

Parbo was chosen as the 

recipient of the inaugural GJ 

Stokes Memorial Award. 

1998 

Gloom not boom 

The mood was subdued, as 

both the gold industry 

and Kalgoorlie’s skimpy 

barmaid culture was 

under siege. 

The ailing gold price, which 

had fallen below $US300/oz and 

was heading towards a 19-year 

low, looked to have taken its toll 

on gold companies. 

Gone was the cautious 

optimism of three years before: 

it was more like 1997 when the 

industry was still suffering the 

affects of the Reserve Bank’s 

decision to dump its gold onto 

world markets. 

An update on the on-time and 

on-budget commissioning of two 

of the emerging laterite nickel 

mines, both in the Goldfields, 

was well received. Centaur 

Mining and Exploration, in 

particular, was applauded for its 

strong focus on cobalt at the 

Cawse project. The existing 

economic environment for 

resources was described at 

different times during the 

conference as “tough times”, “a 

trough”, and “the bottom”. 

Normandy executive 

chairman Robert Champion de 

You can’t promote tourism to come and 

see a hole in the ground. Kalgoorlie is 

about girls. It’s gambling, it’s grog and 

it’s gold. They’re trying to destroy that 

history. 

Exchange Hotel owner Ashok Parekh on the skimpy crackdown 

Crespigny set the tone for the 

with his opening speech. “The 

industry is no doubt under real 

pressure,” he said. 

Mr de Crespigny and other 

delegates pointed to problems in 

the junior sector, with countless 

small companies lacking the 

cash to carry out meaningful 

exploration programs. 

The best stories came from 

the big producers, those with 

low cash costs and good hedge 

books who were making healthy 

profits and pouring some of that 

back into exploration. 

And it was not only the start 

of the markets that was causing 

spirits to sag. Police came under 

fire for cracking down on 

jaywalking and the behaviour of 

skimpy barmaids during the 

forum, with police detaining one 

at the Federal Hotel for exposing 

her breasts on the first night of 

Diggers. “About 800 people from 

all over the world were here 

experiencing part of Kalgoorlie 

culture and they loved it, ” 

outraged Federal Hotel owner 

Alan Hinchliffe said. “The 

police are only doing it because 

it is Diggers & Dealers, they’re 

morons.” 

Premier Richard Court was 

on a political winner when he 

In the pipeline: Richard Court pledges his government’s support for the 

Esperance desalinated water project for the Goldfields. 

vowed the State Government 

would support plans to pump 

desalinated water from 

Esperance to Kalgoorlie. 

Former stockbroker and 

alpaca scheme promoter 

Andrew Forrest finally got 

recognition from the industry, 

winning the dealer of the year 

award for his work financing 

Anaconda Nickel’s $1.2 billion 

Murrin Murrin laterite nickel 

development. And in the shape 

of things to come with Fortescue 

Metals Group, he told 

conference the dinner that any 

dream could come true if it was 

backed by persistence. 

Firm views: Ashok Parekh



Tonics for 

hard times 

WESTBUSINESS 

More than 800 people 

came to the 

Goldfields capital 

again for Diggers & 

Dealers, despite many money 

players being far more 

interested in mining the market 

for technology deals. 

Commodity prices were down, 

pulling rocks out of the ground 

was being written off by 

technophiles as “old economy” 

and the gold price had been 

whacked again by the the Bank 

of England joining the Reserve 

Bank of Australia in dumping 

its gold holdings. 

Gold had hit a 20-year low of 

$US255.50/oz, exacerbating a 

crisis of confidence in the 

industry and a dearth of 

greenfields exploration. 

Industry giant Newcrest 

estimated the number of gold 

miners had fallen to 14 from 44 

since the mid-1990s. 

But Diggers & Diggers 

chairman Graeme Smith said 

the price had bottomed and 

things could only improve. “In 

the next 12 months we will see a 

major turnaround in market 

sentiment,” he said. 

“The Goldfields is alive and 

well and is recovering. All 

answers to the downturn cannot 

be tied to a scientific formula. It 

has to do with opinion, attitude 

and emotions. Sentiment defies 

scientific measurement. ” 

In his keynote address, 

recently retired WMC chairman 

Sir Arvi Parbo said gold mining 

had continued uninterrupted in 

Kalgoorlie-Boulder for 100 years 

and he tipped it would continue 

to be the backbone of the 

economy for many more years. 

“The mining industry has 

slain many dragons in the past 

and companies which survive 

will benefit, ” Sir Arvi said. 

“Gold miners are not strangers 

to hard times.” 

Welcome arrival: Sir Arvi Parbo is met by 

Kate Stokes and Graham Thomson. 

Sir Arvi and my father Allan used to 

frequent the billiard room of the 

Hannans Club playing billiards and 

drinking bullock’s blood, a special brew 

that Sir Arvi designed. 

Diggers & Dealers chairman Graeme Smith 

In recognition of his 

contribution to the WA 

resources sector, former 

Premier Sir Charles Court was 

presented with the GJ Stokes 

Memorial Award by the late 

Geoff Stokes’ son David. 

Nickel had been providing a 

Honoured: Sir Charles Court receives the GJ Stokes Memorial 

Award from Geoff’s son David. 

glimmer of hope despite prices 

being down — thanks to the 

Cawse, Bulong and Murrin 

Murrin nickel projects coming 

on stream and potentially 

making WA the world’s premier 

nickel region. 

And consumption was not 

down either. Graham Thomson 

revealed delegates downed 

580kg of fruit and vegetables, 

700kg of meat and chicken, 1500 

bread rolls, 1800 small pastry 

products, 210 litres of milk, 600 

litres of fruit juice, 300 litres of 

spring water, 65kg of raw rice, 

40kg of noodles, 28kg of olives, 

and 100 continental loaves. The 

busiest booth, besides Nurse 

Nightingale’s stand that 

provided a free supply of 

painkillers and fizzy hangover 

antidotes, was the power hire 

group Aggreko. Its marketing 

department had hired a 

cafe-sized cappuccino machine 

and three women to serve up 

steaming heart starters. 

Unsurpisingly, the cappuccinos 

were far more popular than the 

instant coffee offered elsewhere. 

AMEC Convention 2012 

Explore, Extract, Excel 

4 - 6 September 2012 

Burswood Convention Centre, Perth, Western Australia 

Why attend: 

 

listen to presentations on global economics, commodity forecasts and trends and 

developments in technology 

 

meet leading industry representatives and investors all under one roof 

hear over 25 company updates from leading MD’s and CEO’s of exploration and mining 

companies 

 

visit the exhibition, showcasing mineral exploration, mining companies and service providers 

to the industry 

 

organised by Australia’s peak industry body for mineral exploration and mining. 

Key speakers: 

“ 

This event showcases a 

fantastic line up of speakers 

and with exceptional 

industry backing, this 

convention is the key 

industry event in Australia. 

Peter Buck, Director, 

Antipa Minerals 

” 

The Hon Julia 

Gillard MP 

Prime Minister of 

Australia 

Leigh Clifford AO 

Chairman, Qantas 

Airways Limited & 

Former CEO, Rio 

Tinto Group 

Peter van Onselen 

Contributing Editor, 

The Australian 

Rob Heferen 

Executive Director, 

Revenue Group, 

The Treasury 

The Hon Norman 

Moore MP 

Minister for Mines 

and Petroleum, 

Western Australia 

Grey Egerton- 

Warburton 

Head of Corporate 

Finance, Hartleys 

Craig James 

Chief Economist, 

Commsec 

Chris Hinde 

Editorial Director, 

Intierra Resource 

Intelligence, London 

Proudly supported by: 

Visit www.amecconvention.com.au to register today



P 

Flash dance: AngloGold Ashanti shows off some of its jewellery during its 

Diggers & Dealers presentation. 

Finale: The WesTrac gala dinner to wrap up Diggers & Dealers. 

Write stuff: Kalgoorlie Miner reporter Thomas Nelson 

with some of the pens on offer at the conference. 

Coffee break: Oonagh Lancaster 

and Ron Cunneen. 

Face look: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu’s partner Luke 

Martino and associate director Ashley Pattison. 

Welcome home: Nola Wolski helps find a place for the conference delegates. 

Diggers, Dealers and Doers: An irreverent Christo 

days as Fanny Cracker.

Pick of the pics 15 

WESTBUSINESS 

Ready room: Gophers Ken Jensen, Bob Cable, Allan Francis and Graham Thomson in a quiet moment. 

Casa Tranquila: Questa Casa owner 

Carmel Galvin told of quiet times in 

the bordellos. 

It’s serious work promoting 

ventures and mulling over 

industry challenges, but 

delegates at Diggers & Dealers 

have learnt to make the most of 

a tough gig. 

Copious amounts of food and 

drink have helped the delegates 

make it through the three days 

and at least as many nights of 

work and play. 

Brokers, bankers, miners, 

spruikers and various 

hangers-on have enjoyed the 

best that Kalgoorlie-Boulder has 

to offer, including the cheeky 

Diggers, Dealers and Doers 

Exhibition in 2009 at the WA 

Museum building. 

Tonnes of food are consumed 

each year in pursuit of the new 

big deal, as are unfathomable 

volumes of beer and cartons of 

wine. 

The pubs do very well indeed, 

as did the skimpy barmaids. 

Making friends: Stockbroker Tim Cruise 

with skimpy Alannah at the Federal 

Hotel. 

Tough job but someone… 

Behind the scenes, organiser 

Graham Thomson and his teams 

have put in thousands of hours 

of work each year to build 

Diggers from a relatively small 

gathering in 1992 to one of the 

world’s premier mining 

conferences. 

As the event has grown, 

accommodation has become a 

premium and homeowners like 

Nola Wolski have opened their 

doors to delegates. 

everent Christopher Jordan-Wright relives his 

On duty: Kerena Wright with Citigold chairman John Foley at one of the 

many Diggers & Dealers stands. 

Crowded house: Part of the crowd at least year’s event gather for the 

conference presentations. 

0022_bciron



2000 

WESTBUSINESS 

Bigger and better 

The dot.com boom had 

come and gone, and 

Diggers & Dealers had 

emerged bigger and with 

a proven durability. 

Almost 1000 people signed up 

for the forum, floor space had to 

be increased by 50 per cent to 

accommodate the 76 exhibitors 

and most of the hotels and 

motels in Kalgoorlie-Boulder 

were booked out. District Court 

proceedings had to be called off 

because they could not find a 

place to stay for the judge or the 



court crew. Outgoing Diggers & 

Dealers chairman Graeme 

Smith used his parting speech to 

give some customary free advice 

to politicians, decrying a raft of 

new Commonwealth and State 

legislation that had increased 

the costs of doing business and 

reduced Australia’s 

attractiveness for investors. 

“The Goldfields remains the 

best place to make that 

investment — in spite of our 

lacklustre political 

performance,” he said. 

Removalists Ian Atthowe and Rob Howard carry a mattress into the new 

and fully-booked Yelverton motel. 

There was a notable South 

African presence, including 

Harmony Gold, AngloGold, Gold 

Fields and Impala Platinum. 

Gold Fields used the forum to 

flag a major push into the 

Australian gold sector. The 

company’s exploration boss 

Craig Nelsen said it had a list of 

targets it wanted to approach. 

“I think Australia has some of 

the premier hunting ground on 

the planet, and we think that in 

Australia land is really a huge 

asset,” he said. 

AngloGold chief executive of 

Australasia, Nigel Unwin, said 

the big miner still had an 

appetite for Australian 

companies but ruled out a 

takeover bid for Normandy 

Mining — for the time being at 

least. Long-time forum backer 

David Reed said South Africans 

far outnumbered other offshore 

delegates, in contrast to 

previous years when North 

Americans were more 

prevalent. And with the strong 

turnout, Mr Reed said the forum 

had shrugged off doubts about 

its durability and “made the 

transition from being a child of 

It started off as a Kal show mainly for 

junior WA explorers, but because it’s 

just such a brilliant formula, it’s just 

grown and grown. 

Incoming Diggers & Dealers chairman Brian Hurley 

Looking Down Under: AngloGold 

chief executive of Australasia Nigel 

Unwin 

the boom-time, to an essential 

feature of the industry”. 

Delegates proved they knew 

how to dig deep for a cause, 

raising a staggering $597,000 in 

22 minutes for Kalgoorlie- 

Boulder’s proposed Prospectors 

and Miner’s Hall of Fame. 

Delegates at the annual 

dinner were prepared to fork out 

after key committee members 

threatened to do a “full 

monty-style” performance at the 

dinner. Scared by the promise of 

what might be revealed, 

delegates coughed up the 

$597,000 towards the $21 million 

construction, which was set to 

open in October 2001. 

Dave “Shorty” Ryan from 

Aggreko scooped the unofficial 

award for the best promotional 

stunt to follow on from the 

previous year’s hit — the 

cappuccino machine in his 

firm’s booth. His 2000 gimmick 

was to bring big game fishing to 

the Goldfields — or at least a 

virtual reality version of the 

ocean pursuit. 

Mr Ryan spent about $15,000 

on the arcade game with the 

big-screen TV and life-size game 

fishing rod. 

2001 

MP gets 

message 

While it is probably an 

exaggeration to call 

it a politician-free 

zone, Diggers & 

Dealers organisers have always 

tried to control the access of 

MPs to the forum’s functions 

and festivities. 

Ambitious new State Member 

for Kalgoorlie, Matt Birney, fell 

foul of the loose “no pollies” rule 

and was promptly given his 

marching orders by organiser 

Graham Thomson. 

When the Liberal MP pointed 

out he was a delegate for the 

local Chamber of Commerce, Mr 

Thomson bellowed: “I don’t 

care, you’re a politician and 

you’re not welcome here. Get 

out.” 

Labor Federal candidate Paul 

Browning was also peeved about 

being excluded, pointing out the 

forum’s admirable history of 

pollie bashing. “It’s outrageous 

they have this dinner where 

speakers can attack politicians 

but they don’t give us a chance 

to respond, ” Mr Browning 

thundered. 

That said, new Labor Premier 

Geoff Gallop was invited to 

attend the main dinner, and 

escorted to his seat by the 

hardhat-wearing Thomson and 

gave the keynote speech. 

Rationalisation of the 

Australian gold industry was 

put firmly on the agenda at the 

conference when two of the 

world’s biggest companies 

signalled they were ready to go 

shopping. Second-ranked 

Barrick Gold Co and fifth-placed 

Placer Dome were both keen to 

add to their Australian assets. 

Homestake Mining’s 

Australian managing director 

Greg Lang said his group’s 

recent $4.7 billion merger with 

Barrick Gold gave it $US900 

million in corporate firepower. 

In another shape of things to 

We have instigated a process where we 

talk to all of our banks quite regularly 

and have very good relations and at 

this stage don’t see any problems. 

Sons of Gwalia chief executive Mark Cutifani 

You’re welcome: Graham Thomson escorts Geoff Gallop to his table at the 

Diggers & Dealers dinner. 

come, Sons of Gwalia’s 

out-of-the money hedge book 

also came under focus, with 

chief executive Mark Cutifani 

saying the Perth-based company 

was in constant contact with its 

bankers and had not come 

under pressure. “It’s probably 

like a few players, when the 

exchange rate changed, or 

moved, we had more foreign 

exchange than we would have 

liked and we had discussions 

with our banks as part of that 

No pressure: Mark Cutifani. 

process and we are working 

through that and restructuring 

as we go,” he said. 

Mr Cutifani refused to reveal 

the mark-to-market value of the 

currency hedge book but 

analysts predicted it could be as 

much as $650 million. 

Aggreko continued to be 

arguably the most popular 

booth, thanks to the cappuccino 

machine that first made its 

appearance two years earlier. 

“On the first morning of Diggers 

you saw 500 Aggrekos running 

around the place,” resources 

manager David Ryan said. 

Phil Crabb’s diamond hopeful 

Thundelarra Exploration also 

got plenty of attention with its 

promise to part with a bottle of 

Grange for the person who could 

come up with the closest guess 

for the weight of a parcel of raw 

diamonds from some of its 

Kimberley properties.



2002 

WESTBUSINESS 

Exploring 

key theme 

Optimism was returning 

to the mining sector 

and more than 1000 

delegates plus 100 

exhibitors descended on the 

conference. 

With the gold price up on 2001 

and sitting just above 

$US300/oz, Newmont president 

Pierre Lassonde set the tone on 

the first day when he predicted 

happy times ahead. Mr 

Lassonde tipped the price would 

be as high as $US350/oz range 

over 18 months as producers, 

including Newmont, unwound 

their hedge books. “We take our 

role of number one in the 

industry very seriously — we 

are always a leader, ” he said. 

Speaking almost six years 

before the global financial crisis 

would rock financial markets, 

the charismatic French- 

Canadian said gold would also 

be boosted by the “dislocation” 

in the US economy and the 

corresponding impact it would 

have on the gold price due to a 

weaker US dollar. 

“Gold is the ultimate reserve 

currency, ” he said. 

And with the nickel price 

having enjoyed some rises in 

recent months and the outlook 

for 2003 positive, attention also 

turned to nickel companies with 

strong assets. A key conference 

theme was exploration, with the 

point being made that even a 

gold price of $US500/oz would 

not be much good to WA if there 

were no new mines to exploit it. 

Diggers & Dealers chairman 

Brian Hurley pointed to 

exploration expenditure having 

been slashed more than 60 per 

cent over the five previous years 

and warning of a danger that 

new ore bodies would not be 

discovered to replace ageing 

mines. “This great nation needs 

a growing and vibrant mining 

industry, ” Mr Hurley said. 

There’s an old 

saying around here 

that a bad day in 

Kalgoorlie is a 

good day 

anywhere else. 

City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder chief 

executive Ian Fletcher 

“A vibrant mining industry 

needs an active exploration 

industry.” 

Sandy Gray, a director of 

Victorian equipment group 

Gekko Systems, summarised 

some of the key reasons for so 

many industry players making 

the journey from near and afar. 

“At the end of the day it’s good to 

meet and know the guys who 

sign the cheques, ” Mr Gray 

said. “All the cheque signers are 

here. It’s good fun, too. 

Something always happens at 

Diggers.” Late night boozing 

and carousing (known in 

corporate parlance as 

“networking”) are as much a 

part of the forum as the formal 

activities, but the unofficial 

Upbeat: Pierre Lassonde from Newmont Mining Corporation. 

nightshift is known to result in 

upset stomaches, headaches and 

generalised fatigue. But there 

was some unusual and 

unexpected gastrointestinal 

activity before the main dinner 

on Wednesday night, with 

organisers receiving 

confirmation that 16 delegates 

had fallen sick during the 

conference. 

A Health Department 

investigation later found out 78 

delegates became sick, but the 

source of the outbreak was not 

determined and a City of 

Kalgoorlie-Boulder official 

wrote to the Palace Hotel, a 

long-time provider of food to the 

event, giving an assurance its 

food had been ruled out. 

Golden future: Brian Hurley, Kate 

Stokes and Suzanne Morrin with 

some of the precious stuff. 

Government of Western Australia 

Department of Mines and Petroleum 

As West Australians we know 

how important the resources 

sector is to this State 

We know the importance of safety and that every person working in the resources 

sector should come home safely. 

We know that when a mine closes, the environment should be rehabilitated so that 

in time you may never even know a mine was there. 

And we know there are still untapped resources across this vast State of ours. 

The Department of Mines and Petroleum knows this too – which is why it plays a 

vital role in regulating safety and environmental standards across the industry. 

It is also why the State Government is providing more than $130 million in funding 

for the department’s Exploration Incentive Scheme to encourage investment in 

exploration across the State. 

For more information about the department and these programs go to 

www.dmp.wa.gov.au



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WA’s resources sector 

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dark years of falling 

metal prices, 

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gold sell downs. There was a 

sense that good times were 

coming again. 

Reflecting the resurgent 

confidence, organisers gave the 

conference a Las Vegas feel that 

included a replica sphinx and an 

operational mini-casino at the 

front of the big marquee in the 

Goldfields Arts Centre car park. 

Coordinator Graham 

Thomson said the vibe was 

more upbeat than it had been in 

a long time, with attendance 

approaching 1100 delegates. 

“The whole attitude of people 

was the best it has been for the 

past four or five years,” he said. 

Diggers is all about making an 

impression and Canada’s Robert 

Friedland, the world’s richest 

prospector and discoverer of the 

Voisey’s Bay nickel project, did 

just that when he jetted into the 

Goldfields on the Sunday before 

the conference. Those who 

touched down subsequently 

couldn’t help but notice Mr 

Friedland’s impressive 

Gulfstream jet, parked on the 

tarmac at Kalgoorlie airport. 

As they say: If you’ve got it, 

flaunt it. But arguably a bigger 

impression was made by 

another visiting Canadian, 

Newmont Mining boss Pierre 

Lassonde. 

At the 2002 conference, when 

the price had only just managed 

to poke its head above 

$US300/oz after years in the 

doldrums, Mr Lassonde boldly 

predicted that it was “only at 

the beginning of a gold bull 

market”. That year, he said, he 

was “fully confident we will see 

$US350/oz sometime in the next 

18 to 24 months but we’ll 

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prices”. Some saw his prediction 

as overly optimistic, but less 

than six months later the gold 

price hit $US350/oz, peaked at 

Gold prophet: Robert Friedland 

$US389/oz in February and had 

settled just back in the mid-300s. 

So gold pundits hung onto Mr 

Lassonde’s every word at 

Diggers in 2003 as he forecast 

the bullion price could reach 

$US450/ozwithin a year. 

“We continue to be very, very 

bullish on the US dollar gold 

price, ” he said. 

With four years still to go to 

the global financial crisis, he 

stuck by his gloomy outlook for 

the US and its greenback. “The 

fact is the US cannot afford to 

have a $US550 billion ($843 

billion) deficit year in, year out. 

It is unsustainable,” he said. 

Industry veteran Joshua Pitt 

had wasted no time putting his 

name to two new mining 

ventures after the recent $150 

million takeover of his company 

Dalrymple Resources by 

LionOre Mining International. 

And there is no better place to 

start promoting new floats than 

among the movers and shakers 

at the annual mining conference 

in Kalgoorlie. 

Mr Pitt, who listed the Golden 

Grove polymetallic discovery 

among his mining 

achievements, was looking to 

raise more than $10 million for 

Red Metal, a float of the 

Australian exploration interests 

of major US copper producer 

Phelps Dodge. He and his 

Ke 

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High score: Geoff Lowdon gets in some cricket practice on the 

pre-conference flight to Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

2003 

19 

WESTBUSINESS 

feel as good times head back 

Key players: Ross Ashton, Chris Bonwick, Peter Tomsett, Kate Stokes and David Reed 

Glistering glee: Andrew Forrest with the gold bar 

from Siberia Mining’s first pour the following year. 

s. 

r 

. 

y 

o 

e 

n 

When we first started going, it was full 

of hype and people were saying and 

doing outrageous things. You’ve got to 

come across professionally these days. 

Heron Resources managing director Ian Buchhorn, whose firm has 

had an exhibition booth at Diggers since 1997 

Dalrymple partner Neil 

Tomkinson were also on the 

board of float hopeful Traka 

Resources, which was looking to 

raise up to $4 million to explore 

a swag of tenements in the 

Ravensthorpe area. 

There was some swagger 

among the promoters again. 

Despite its name, 

Independence Gold had become 

a nickel miner after buying the 

Long mine in Kambalda from 

WMC and its chief executive 

Chris Bonwick unveiled plans to 

turn his outfit into the next 

great Australian mining house. 

Independence Gold shares 

had been going well in 2003, 

having increased from 31¢ to 

above 45¢ at Diggers time in 

August. But according to Mr 

Bonwick, it was far from too late 

to get on board and he showed a 

graph with Independence shares 

rising to $10. 

Session coordinator David 

Reed, a man who had watched 

the sector through many rises 

and falls, said at the end of Mr 

In step: The forum logo. 

Bonwick’s presentation: “Chris, 

it’s good to see mining 

promoters haven’t left us 

altogether.” 

Spot on, Mr Reed. Not only did 

they have Mr Friedland at 

Diggers, the man who would 

arguably become the greatest 

mining promoter of the decade 

was also there. 

Andrew Forrest was back — 

two years after being run out of 

Anaconda Nickel — applying 

his silver tongue to iron ore 

hopeful Fortescue Metals Group 

and Goldfields explorer Siberia 

Mining. In the heat of Diggers, 

shares in the gold play surged 

after Mr Forrest unveiled a deal 

with Placer Dome for the 

Forrest company to take over 

the international giant’s Lady 

Ida and Sand Queen prospects, 

about 70km north of Kalgoorlie. 

“We don’t have any crocodiles 

in the creek like we did at 

Murrin Murrin, ” Mr Forrest 

said, addressing the technical 

difficulties that plagued the 

laterite nickel project. “The 

resources are in close proximity 

to gold processing plants with 

excess capacity, existing 

infrastructure, gold processing 

mills and haul roads. This 

means the resources will be 

promptly developed.” 

Investors also had a hint of Mr 

Forrest’s grand vision for the 

Pilbara. 

The future billionaire had 

outlined plans to become the 

“third force” in iron ore with a 

$1.2 billion railway and port 

plan, which was backed by his 

true believers but pooh-poohed 

by many sceptics in the media, 

investment community and 

rival mining outfits. 

He would turn out to be right 

and he, not Mr Bonwick, would 

go on to create Australia’s next 

great mining house in 

Fortescue. 

Mr Forrest had realised the 

massive export potential to the 

growing Chinese economy and 

its demand for natural 

resources, including Fortescue’s 

then-stranded iron ore deposits.. 

In a sign that Diggers was 

moving with the times, oil and 

gas giant Woodside Petroleum 

was named Digger of the Year 

for its China LNG contracts, the 

fourth production train upgrade 

of the North West Shelf and its 

commitment to exploration, 

development and marketing. 

It was the first time an oil and 

gas company had been 

recognised at the mostly hard 

rock-focused conference. 

The resources sector was 

clearly heading into a new era. 

s 

Limited



China seen 

as big hope 

The Robert Friedland 

juggernaut again blasted 

into Kalgoorlie on his 

Gulfstream jet and 

predicted boom times ahead for 

mineral commodities. 

The dapper American, head of 

Canadian miner Ivanhoe Mines 

and the discoverer of the 

massive Voisey’s Bay nickel 

deposit, was quick to dismiss 

the “greatly exaggerated” 

reports of China’s government 

putting on the brakes to take the 

heat out of its runaway economy. 

Finalising plans for a copper 

mine in Mongolia, Mr Friedland 

said China would have a 

massive demand for metals 

including copper, nickel and 

platinum. “It’s very clear to our 

view that the Australian 

industry will participate in 

another 30-year to 40-year super 

cycle driven by China,” he said. 

While booming China was 

delivering opportunities for 

Australian miners, some in the 

industry still had the distinct 

feeling our politicians were not 

doing enough to encourage 

exploration. 

Diggers & Dealers chairman 

Brian Hurley repeated calls for 

all mining companies to stop 

political donations until more 

was done for the industry. 

“Between Native Title, the 

conservation mafia and the 

heritage nazis, it has become a 

veritable quagmire to get on the 

ground and do anything,” Mr 

Hurley said. 

Exploration legend Roy 

Woodall said the Federal 

Government had ignored 

introducing exploration 

incentives, such as flow-through 

shares, because “they did not 

know the benefits”. 

Resources Minister Ian 

MacFarlane hit back, labelling 

the attacks as a cheap shot: “I 

don’t conduct policy discussions 

It is an excuse for a 

booze-up and a 

meeting of the 

blokes but 

everyone is very 

serious now. 

Questa Casa brothel owner 

Carmel Galvin on Hay Street’s 

flagging trade 

through the newspapers, I’m 

surprised they do.” 

With a record 1300 delegates 

in Kalgoorlie-Boulder for the 

forum, the city’s hotels and 

restaurants were doing their 

customary brisk trade. 

But Kalgoorlie’s Hay Street 

brothels were deserted, and the 

madams were blaming skimpy 

barmaids and adventurous 

wives and girlfriends. It will 

come as little surprise to many 

that the madams were pointing 

the finger at the skimpies who, 

by all accounts, were even 

skimpier than usual. 

Also struggling was gold and 

tantalum miner Sons of Gwalia 

Class: Captain Rex Majnarich inside Robert Friedland’s private jet. 

under diminishing reserves and 

a chronically ill hedge book. 

But showing the admirable 

initiative that makes WA’s 

mining industry great, the Sons 

of Gwalia crew used a Diggers 

pitch based on the strong nickel 

sector. New Gwalia chief John 

Leevers said the company had 

begun reviewing the nickel 

potential of its holdings around 

Southern Cross and Leonora. 

“We’re in serious discussion 

with a number of parties,” Mr 

Leevers said. Less than six 

weeks later, he fronted the 

media to reveal that Gwalia had 

gone into administration with 

debts exceeding $700 million. 

Exploration incentive call: 

Roy Woodall. 

WESTBUSINESS 



2005 

Boom-time buyers beware 

Boom times were here 

again — and more than 

1300 delegates descended 

on the Goldfields Arts 

Centre to hear and sell stories of 

opportunity. 

Miners outnumbered 

financiers and bankers, who had 

to fight harder to get deals. 

LionOre Mining chief 

operating officer Glenn Jardine 

said small to medium sized 

companies were finding it easier 

to finance projects, reducing the 

need for them to seek backing 

from bankers. “They are not 

looking for deals as much at the 

moment,” Mr Jardine said. 

Presenters, most of whom 

talked about projects that were 

about to go into production, were 

offering prospects that had been 

developed in and around existing 

mines or on ground that had 

already been explored or mined. 

However, explorers still faced 

difficulties raising capital to 

carry on with their greenfields 

exploratory efforts. 

After copping a bruising at the 

hands of Danny Hill and Swiss 

predator Xstrata, veteran 

promoter Roderick Smith was 

back spruiking plans to revive 

Our mines cannot 

operate as islands 

of affluence in a 

sea of despair. 

Bruce Harvey, Rio Tinto’s chief 

adviser on Aboriginal and 

community relations 

the seemingly cursed 

Windimurra vanadium project. 

Six junior miners took to the 

stage as part of the Duelling Drill 

Rigs in which companies were 

given 15 minutes each to promote 

their business. Consolidated 

Minerals chief Michael Kiernan 

said BHP Billiton had a much 

better relationship with junior 

miners than did long-time nickel 

major WMC, which was recently 

been taken over by BHP. 

Like other junior nickel 

miners in the Goldfields, 

ConsMin had an agreement with 

BHP Billiton’s Kambalda nickel 

concentrator to treat the 

Roderick Smith 

company’s ore. Mr Kiernan, 

whose company also supplied 

manganese and chromite, 

predicted the market would 

remain buoyant because of a 

second wave of demand from 

China, as hundreds of millions of 

people left rural areas of the 

Asian country to take up 

opportunities in the city. 

“That will create significant 

demand once again for steel, 

nickel and copper, ” Mr Kiernan 

said. 

Buoyant forecast: ConsMin’s Michael Kiernan. 

Yet the boom in Chinese 

demand and in project 

development was starting to 

create problems. 

Fortescue Metals Group boss 

Andrew Forrest revealed WA’s 

critical labour shortage could be 

the biggest obstacle to his 

company meeting a tight 

schedule for its $2 billion-plus 

Pilbara iron ore venture. 

The emerging iron ore 

company was working on a 

24-month schedule to build a 

255km railway from Port 

Hedland to its Cloudbreak 

deposit, but the availability of 

labour could determine whether 

a 2008 start was more realistic. 

“It is the major determinant of 

that timetable, ” Mr Forrest said. 

Broking firm Tolhurst Noall 

has provided the proof that the 

hefty cost of getting a contingent 

to present on stage at Diggers 

was worth every cent for 

corporates wanting to spruik 

their wares. 

According to some number 

crunching by the firm, the share 

prices of the Australian-listed 

companies that presented at 

Diggers went up an average of 6 

per cent during the conference. 

That meant a tidy $8.4 billion 

was added to their combined 

market values during the gabfest 

— including a hefty $6.4 billion, 

or 8.5 per cent, rise for BHP 

Billiton. 

But also a word of warning 

from the broker to investors: Be 

wary of picking up 

post-conference buy 

recommendations. “As the 

Kalgoorlie pubs empty out, so 

does the hype,” Tollhurst Noall 

said.



2006 

WESTBUSINESS 

Takeover 

talk in air 

Takeover talk was all the 

rage as the resources 

boom entered its third 

year. 

Canadian giant Teck Cominco 

put Australia’s best 

up-and-coming miners on notice 

they were on a hit list of likely 

targets in the event its $23 

billion takeover bid for nickel 

producer Inco failed. 

President Don Lindsay told 

the forum his company had a 

long list of alternative targets 

ready and waiting. 

Mr Lindsay, having attended 

eight of the previous 10 Diggers, 

said the forum gave him a 

chance to catch up with people 

and learn what companies were 

up to. “You never know when a 

joint venture might come up and 

if the project is right, you want 

them to choose you,” he said. 

There was talk of 

consolidation among WA’s 

emerging iron ore players, and 

Aztec chairman Ian Burston 

was eager to show he was ready 

to fight to get the best deal for 

shareholders in the wake of a 

takeover bid from Mt Gibson 

Iron. 

He donned a giant pair of 

Aztec-emblazoned boxing gloves 

that had been sent to him by 

“some villain”. 

Gold was also a hot topic after 

rallying beyond $US600/oz. 

Reflecting on Diggers themes 

over the past decade about a 

shortfall in greenfields 

exploration in Australia, one of 

the world’s biggest gold miners 

told delegates that a dearth of 

new major gold discoveries 

would help keep the bullion 

price up. 

Gold Fields executive vice 

president Terence Goodlace said 

the discovery drought, 

combined with jewellery and 

investment demand, would help 

keep the precious metal around 

Great geologists do 

great work, work 

hard and when 

they find 

something they 

jump up and down 

on my desk to let 

me know. 

Teck Cominco president Don 

Lindsay 

$US630/oz for a while, but it 

would eventually settle back to 

around $US475/oz. New 

Newcrest Mining boss chief Ian 

Smith was more gung ho, saying 

that it was possible the gold 

price could reach $US1000/oz in 

the long term. “That is within 

the realm of possibility, ” Mr 

Smith said. It turned out he was 

right. Gold never went back 

below $US560/oz and it would 

take just 18 months to nudge 

beyond $US1000/oz and a global 

financial crisis to keep it 

seemingly permanently up 

there. For the 2006 forum, 

accommodation was at a 

premium with 1500 delegates 

Special opening: Bill Hicks outside his Australia Hotel. 

Veteran: Don Lindsay, 

attending. The Goldfields Camp 

School threw open its doors to 

house some of the people 

involved behind the scenes and 

the 108-year-old Australia Hotel 

got a new lease of life thanks to 

Diggers. Bill Hicks, who bought 

the historic pub on the corner of 

Hannan and Maritana streets in 

1970, put the hotel on the market 

in 2004 but decided to reopen it 

to offer special events 

accommodation. 

There had been talk in recent 

years about nocturnal activities 

at Diggers becoming less bawdy, 

but delegates at the Palace Hotel 

got a reminder that the old 

Goldfields heart still beats when 

a trio of skimpies removed their 

tops. 

They were able to overcome 

the usual liquor licensing 

conditions that barred such 

displays thanks to the pub’s 

cabaret licence. 

WHERE CAREERS 

BEGIN.



Battle spills over 

2007 

WESTBUSINESS 

Those pesky market 

regulators seemed to 

have put a stop to 

headlinegrabbing 

news being announced 

at Diggers, with most 

presentations sent to the stock 

exchange before being delivered 

to delegates. 

It was left to the human 

headlines of Michael Kiernan, 

Pierre Lassonde and Andrew 

Forrest to provide the few sound 

bites to emerge from the 

three-day talkfest. 

A battle between Territory 

Resources boss Mr Kiernan and 

former BHP-Billiton supremo 

Brian Gilbertson for control of 

Mr Kiernan’s old play 

Consolidated Minerals spilled 

over to the forum. An 

anonymously penned cartoon 

was handed to media types 

showing Consolidated Minerals 

managing director Rod Baxter 

providing an armchair for Mr 

Gilberston, and chairman Dick 

Carter serving the drinks. Mr 

Kiernan denied he or his 

retinue were behind the stunt. 

He then surprised observers by 

threatening at Diggers to shelve 



I always look from a mergers and 

acquisitions point of view like a little 

piranha. Monarch Gold chairman Michael Kiernan 

Territory’s proposed $1 billion 

bid for ConsMin, something he 

did a month later. 

Mr Forrest signalled he was 

not looking to cash in his $3.2 

billion stake in Fortescue 

Metals Group, and rejected 

suggestions his holding of 36.5 

per cent in the iron ore project 

developer would hinder its 

growth prospects. To the 

contrary, the paper billionaire 

argued, dominant shareholders 

could foster growth. 

“We can keep the register 

stable and keep the dream alive 

for all of those people who’ve 

joined us believing that they are 

going to play a critical part in 

the future independence of a 

major Australian (company),” 

Mr Forrest said. 

Stock rout 

on day one 

The clouds were well and 

truly gathering thanks to 

the unravelling of 

complex debt 

instruments in America. Share 

prices had fallen and diggers 

and dealers alike were getting 

nervous even before descending 

on Kalgoorlie-Boulder for the 

conference. 

The usual hangovers were 

made worse by a sharemarket 

rout on the opening day of 

Diggers & Dealers. 

The woes seemed to put a 

serious dent in the confidence 

and joviality of the 1700 

delegates, with Kalgoorlie’s 

pubs nowhere near as buzzing 

as they were the year before. 

As one small-stock promoter 

mumbled: “If you don’t have 

cash now, you are in trouble, 

because capital raisings just 

aren’t going to happen any 

more.” 

But we can never forget that 

there is always some gold, or at 

least some bullion price rises, at 

the end of the rainbow. Gold 

industry watchers felt the 

six-year-old prophecies of 

Newmont Mining sage Pierre 

Lassonde about US’s mounting 

debt problems, the erosion of the 

greenback and the resurgence of 

gold were all coming true. 

Lihir Gold general manager of 

corporate development Graham 

Folland echoed forecasts that 

gold would break US$1000/oz 

before year’s end or early in 2009 

and pointed to the interesting 

times ahead. “Some weird 

things are going on in the world 

and it wouldn’t blow me away if 

it happened, maybe before the 

middle of next year, ” Mr 

Folland said. 

And there was a feeling there 

was still plenty of growth to 

come in the new economic 

frontier of China, despite fears 

of a downturn in America and 

the potential knock-on effect to 

global confidence. 

Mr Lassonde, the Newmont 

Mining chairman who had 

predicted America’s emerging 

debt woes, said gold’s time was 

coming and predicted it could 

reach $US1000/oz. He pointed to 

parallels with the bullion bull 

market that lasted from 1966 to 

1980. 

“This bull market will last a 

full generation — that’s 20 years, 

” he said after being given the 

GJ Stokes Memorial Award for 

services to the industry. 

“In my mind the two 

commodities that will perform 

best in this cycle are the same 

ones that did the best in the 

1970s and that’s oil and gold.” 

Fortescue was named dealer 

of the year. 

For the third year running, 

The equities 

market is difficult 

at the moment so 

people no doubt 

want to know 

what’s going on. 

Commonwealth Bank WA 

general manager Wayne 

Zechalich 

Howard Balloch, an 

investment banker and former 

Canadian ambassador to China, 

said the Middle Kingdom was a 

“Superman in a Supercycle” 

and Australia was well-placed to 

meet its “super” demands. 

Mr Balloch, a member of the 

World Economic Forum’s 

council on the future of metals 

and mining, said Chinese 

domestic demand would 

continue to drive infrastructure 

and urbanisation, and therefore 

the need for natural resources. 

“The supercycle will not end,” 

he said. 

Facing a hostile takeover bid 

from BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto 

Iron Ore chief Sam Walsh said 

Comic moment: The anonymous cartoon doing the rounds over the 

Consolidated Minerals battle. 

the historic Lockheed Super 

Constellation aeroplane 

“Connie” flew in for Diggers. 

Registered in 1956, Connie 

was one of only three of the 

historic Lockheeds in Australia. 

Carrying 29 passengers, the 

former US military aircraft 

brought mining chief executive 

officers from a number of 

Australia’s biggest mining 

corporations, including CBH 

Resources, Direct Nickel and 

Nautilus Minerals, as well as 

Sydney Mining Club personnel 

and media representatives. 

Forum chairman Brian 

Hurley stepped down after seven 

Bullish: Howard Balloch. 

his company could maintain 

annual growth of 8.6 per cent for 

14 years and was pushing to 

produce 320 million tonnes of 

iron ore by 2012, almost double 

its 2007 production. 

By early 2009, the BHP 

takeover would be seen off but 

the debt-ladened Rio would also 

be laying off staff, closing two of 

its iron ore mines and cutting 

back on capital expenditure 

programs in the face of falling 

metals prices. 

China would still grow long 

term, but short term there was 

plenty of pain to be endured. 

Timing is everything in 

business and the dealers award 

for 2008 went to Kerry 

years, handing over to industry 

veteran Barry Eldridge. 

Mr Hurley said his last 

conference, with a record 

attendance of 1700 delegates, 

had a very upbeat mood. 

“I’m going out on a real high,” 

he said. 

Mr Eldridge said organisers 

would try to continually 

improve the revered event. “It 

had a good feel about it and that 

probably reflects the health of 

the resource industry,” he said. 

“People think this 

commodities boom is a 

paradigm shift and they are 

feeling bullish about things.” 

2008 

Dealers’ winner: Kerry Harmanis. 

Harmanis, who signed a $3.1 

billion deal for Xstrata to take 

over his Jubilee Mines in 

October 2007 — just before the 

bottom started falling out of the 

share market. 

St Barbara Mines boss Ed 

Eshuys was supposed to have 

presented on the opening day of 

Diggers but got the pundits 

guessing when he was a late 

withdrawal. 

Amid a falling share price, Mr 

Eshuys was under pressure 

after a disastrous $120 million 

right issues and within weeks 

would reveal he had been forced 

to sell down his stake to meet 

margin calls. 

We lived in interesting times.



WESTBUSINESS 

Reassurance in short supply 

If resource industry players 

were hoping for optimism 

after a tough year, they 

would have been 

disappointed with the keynote 

speaker. 

Nouriel Roubini, the New 

York economist who famously 

predicted the global financial 

crisis, warned Australia’s 

mining industry the recovery in 

commodity prices would be 

“bumpy and volatile” and could 

falter towards the year’s end. 

Professor Roubini, nicknamed 

Dr Doom for his pessimistic 

worldwide economic outlook, 

said he saw some potential light 

at the end of the tunnel. 

“It’s not going to be a linear 

recovery,” Dr Doom said. “The 

road ahead for commodity 

prices is going to be bumpy and 

volatile but the trend should be 

towards higher prices but with 

the risk of correction if there 

are negative surprises on the 

pace of recovery, especially in 

more advanced economies.” 

Despite this, the mood of the 

conference seemed to be better 

than the year before when 

financial markets were heading 

This year the mid to small caps can get 

cash from the stockmarket and that’s 

evident in the booze being consumed at 

the bar. Resources journalist Matt Chambers 

into a tailspin that ended in 

March 2009. By the time of the 

August conference, the 

Australian sharemarket was 

recovering and had enjoyed a 

month of solid gains. 

Heron Resources managing 

director Mathew Longworth 

said the 2009 forum was 

certainly more upbeat. 

Mirabela Nickel managing 

director Nick Poll said it had 

been a tough year, especially for 

his sector. “The quality players 

have survived and I think we’re 

hearing a lot of good things from 

them,” Mr Poll said. In addition 

to the mixed messages about the 

fiscal outlook, the conference 

also received a reminder that 

mining was a dangerous 

business. 

BHP Billiton iron ore 

president Ian Ashby labelled the 

company’s safety record 

“abysmal” after five people died 

at the group’s WA operations in 

nine months and the mining 

giant came under close scrutiny 

from the State Government. 

Mr Ashby warned that 

complacency, driven by 

arrogance, had crept into all 

levels of Australia’s workforce 

and said “some of that is quite 

manifest in the Pilbara”. It had 

implemented a new risk 

management plan addressing 

issues including mixing heavy 

and light vehicles, isolation, 

Close up: The returned nuggets with Barrick Gold’s Nick Cernotta and 

Det-Sen. Sgt Dom Blackshaw. 

lifting operations, working at 

heights, and electrical.. 

“If these risks are not 

properly controlled, they will 

kill — we’ve had that 

experience, unfortunately,” Mr 

Ashby said. On the operational 

front, he was quietly confident 

after a tough year, saying iron 

ore sales were stable and the 

long-term fundamentals of the 

market were strong, 

particularly with Chinese 

growth and economic stimulus. 

The Gold Stealing Detection 

Unit used Diggers to return two 

gold nuggets, weighing 343g and 

295g, which were stolen from 

Barrick Gold’s Darlot operation 

in 2008. 

The returned nuggets were 

evidence in District Court 

proceedings. 

“We thought Diggers & 

Dealers was the perfect 

opportunity to give the nuggets 

back to Barrick, ” gold squad 

boss Dom Blackshaw said.



Mining tax 

raises heat 

2010 

WESTBUSINESS 

The rather rubbery 

no-politicians edict for 

Diggers & Dealers was 

relaxed to allow Federal 

Opposition high-flyer Julie 

Bishop to mingle with the 2200 

delegates inside the giant 

marquee in the Goldfields Arts 

Centre carpark. After all, a 

Federal election was less than 

three weeks away and the 

Liberals and parts of the mining 

sector were mounting a rearguard 

action against Prime Minister 

Julia Gillard’s proposed minerals 

resource rent tax (MRRT). 

That tax was devised with 

mining giants Rio Tinto, BHP 

Billiton and Xstrata after Ms 

Gillard deposed Kevin Rudd in 

the face of a widespread industry 

campaign against his broader 

mining super profits tax. 

Never one to let a chance go by, 

Ms Bishop said she was at 

Diggers to listen and show her 

“support to the sector”. 

Billionaire Andrew Forrest, 



who had claimed the MRRT 

would make it impossible to 

secure finance for billions of 

dollars for Fortescue Metals 

Group projects, offered a gift of 

Fortescue shares to the delegate 

who could come up with the best 

anti-tax slogan using the MRRT 

acronym. 

GE Capital’s Justin Van Anst 

won the $5000 prize for his entry: 

Monster Rort Rushed Through. 

The six runner-up slogans were 

Marxist Revenue Reduction 

Theory; Mining’s Road to Ruin 

Tax; Massive Regional 

Redundancies Tax; Making 

Resources Revenue Temporary; 

Marking Recovery into Recession 

Tax; and Modern Robinhood 

Robbery Technique. 

Diggers chairman Barry 

Eldridge used his opening 

address to describe the MRRT as 

economic terrorism and broke 

with tradition by urging all 

delegates to vote Liberal. 

“It is not unreasonable to 

Chatting: Julie Bishop and Peter Muccilli. 

This is our inheritance and the 

inheritance for our children and their 

children – it should not be squandered. 

Ecology, Social Justice and Aboriginal Party candidate Geoff Stokes 

consider that the more extreme 

portions of the initial proposal 

may well be reintroduced if these 

people are re-elected, ” he said. 

Their views clearly did not have 

unanimous support outside the 

confines of the arts centre, with a 

bloke named Mick Lewis 

summarising proceedings this 

way in the Kalgoorlie Miner’s 

famous street vox pops: “All the 

fat cats in their fine suits 

spruiking their Liberal views… 

just front up and pay big taxes 

like the rest of us.” 

And Ecology, Social Justice and 

Aboriginal Party candidate Geoff 

Stokes questioned why taxpayers 

Gripes of wrath: Forum chairman Barry Eldridge. 

across Australia should pay for 

the roads, hospitals, schools, 

police and other services needed 

by mining projects. “These big 

miners say they deserve it 

because they work hard — they 

mean we work hard for them to 

take the profits home,” he said. 

For the record, Labor kind of 

won the election, got its MRRT 

through Federal Parliament but 

Fortescue still managed to raise 

billions for its expansion ahead of 

the tax coming into effect last 

month. A notable absentee in 2010 

was veteran Mark Ashley, who 

was trying to wrap up a capital 

raising that could provide his 

Apex Minerals a lifeline to turn 

around its struggling Wiluna gold 

mine. 

2011 

Ill will boils over 

The hostility between the 

Federal Government and 

big chunks of the 

resources industry 

spilled over again into Diggers 

& Dealers. 

Julia Gillard’s proposed 

carbon tax had added to the 

ill-will built up in 2010 when the 

Prime Minister and her ousted 

predecessor Kevin Rudd moved 

to impose extra costs with the 

Mining Super Profits Tax and 

the subsequent Minerals 

Resource Rent Tax. 

Gone was any pretence of 

Diggers being a politics-free 

zone, with chairman Barry 

Eldridge blasting Labor’s 

alliance with the Greens and 

repeating then Woodside 

Petroleum chief Don Voelte’s 

suggestion that Treasurer 

Wayne Swan just “does not get 

it”. “The extreme idealistic but 

frankly superficial policies that 

now have political substance 

while we have a hung 

Parliament have to be one of the 

most worrying long-term issues 

Australia and the resources 

sector has faced,” Mr Eldridge 

said. “Heaven help us in the 

Can we trust the Prime Minister? 

Absolutely not. 

Silver Lake Resources managing director Les Davis 

next period with the influence 

that this extreme balance of 

power may have on our industry, 

with the Government having to 

allow the Greens to punch well 

above their political pedigree.” 

American economic 

commentator and former White 

House adviser Todd Buccholz 

warned the carbon tax was 

likely to drive mining 

investment offshore, saying a 

carbon tax and environment 

standards imposed in California 

drove jobs out of that state. “I 

don’t quite understand the 

motivation,” he said 

Despite apparently being 

under-loved and under siege, the 

industry could still manage to 

party in style. A crack team of 

chefs and caterers from Perth 

was brought up to keep the 

miners, money-men and media 

fed and watered over the 

three-day event, as well as 

looking after the major 

functions each night. 

At the WesTrac gala dinner, 

delegates went through 9000 

pastries, 450kg of lamb, 5000 

prawns and 1500 scallops. 

Earlier in the conference, 

Alacer chief executive Edward 

Dowling injected some extra 

controversy into proceedings by 

using his presentation to raise 

what he said were serious 

concerns about safety at the 

Frog’s Leg joint venture. He 

suggested partner La Mancha 

was developing the mine too 

quickly and not spending where 

it should. 

La Mancha Australia general 

manager Rod Johns said the 

Carbon tax critic: Todd Buchholz during his keynote address. 

criticisms had come as a 

“complete surprise”. 

“We’ve never had any 

indication (before now) from 

our joint venture partners or 

anyone that we run unsafe 

operations, ” Mr Johns said. 

“We can see no factual basis for 

any of these claims.” 

With 2250 delegates expected 

for the conference, 

accommodation was again at a 

premium and the bumper 

crowds left the city’s 

accommodation stretched to 

breaking point. Businessman 

Ashok Parekh reopened the 

Australia Hotel, recently bought 

from the Hicks family, in time 

for Diggers and the hotel’s 32 

rooms were all taken. 

Long-serving and 

highly-respected mining 

executive George Jones was 

recognised with the prestigious 

GJ Stokes Memorial Award. 

Mr Jones was rewarded for a 

remarkable career and his 

leadership in retaking the helm 

of Sundance Resources after the 

air crash tragedy the previous 

year took the lives of Sundance 

directors and part of the 

company’s management team. 

“Recognition of achievement 

is properly due to individuals 

who can demonstrate corporate 

success on multiple occasions, 

show active leadership and 

contribute to the community 

generally, ” Kate Stokes, wife of 

the late Geoffrey Stokes, said.

Diggers&Dealers The programme 25 


Monday August 6 

9:00 am Welcome by forum chairman Barry Eldridge 

9:15 am Keynote address: Rodrigo de Rato 

10:15am 

10:45am 

11:15am 

11:40am 

12:05pm 

1:00pm 

1:30pm 

1:55pm 

2:20pm 

2:45pm 

3:15pm 

3.40pm 

4:05pm 

Morning tea 

Cliffs Natural Resources: Joseph Carrabba, president 

Doray Minerals: Allan Kelly, MD 

Hot Chili: Christian Easterday, MD 

Lunch break 

Newmont Asia Pacific: Jeff Huspeni, senior VP 

Sandfire Resources: Karl Simich, CEO and MD 

Silver Wheaton: Neil Burns, VP technical services 

Beadell Resources: Peter Bowler, MD 

Afternoon tea 

Nautilus Minerals: Steve Rogers, CEO 

Mincor Resources: David Moore, CEO and MD 

Evolution Mining: Jake Klein, executive chairman 

4:30 pm Gold Road Resources: Ian Murray, executive chairman 

4.45pm 

5:00pm 

5:15pm 

5:30pm 

to 8:30 

Iron Ore Holdings: Alwyn Forster, MD 

Kasbah Resources: Wayne Bramwell, MD 

Ventnor Resources: Bruce Maluish, MD 

The Nex Metals Explorations cocktail party — 

Sponsors’ marquee 

SOURCE: Diggers & Dealers website 

http://www.diggersndealers.com.au 

Tuesday August 7 

8.30am 

Ivanhoe Australia: Mike Spreadborough, COO 

9:00 am Integra Mining: Christopher Cairns, MD 

9:25 am Independence Group: Chris Bonwick, MD 

9:50am 

Reed Resources: Luke Tonkin, MD 

10:15 am Kingsgate Consolidated: Gavin Thomas, MD and CEO 

10:40 am Morning tea 

11:05 am Centaurus Metals: Darren Gordon, MD 

11:20 am Focus Minerals: Campbell Baird, CEO 

11:35 am Trafford Resources: Ian Finch, MD 

11:50 pm ABM Resources: Darren Holden, MD 

12:05 pm Cobar Consolidated Resources: Ian Lawrence, MD 

12:20 pm Lunch break 

1:20 pm Barrick (Australia Pacific): Mike Feehan, reg. pres. 

1:50 pm Bathurst Resources: Hamish Bohannan, MD 

2:15 pm Silver Lake Resources: Les Davis, MD 

2:40 pm Afternoon tea 

3:10 pm Saracen Mineral: Guido Staltari, exec. chairman 

3:35 pm Intrepid Mines: Bradley Gordon, CEO 

4:00 pm Panoramic Resources: Peter Harold, MD 

4:25 pm OceanaGold: Mick Wilkes, CEO & MD 

4.50pm 

5.30pm 

to 8.30 

Ramelius Resources: Ian Gordon, MD 

The Runge traditional bash — Sponsors’ marquee 

Wednesday August 8 

WESTBUSINESS 

9:00 am Fortescue Metals Group: Nev Power, exec. dir. 

9:30 am Troy Resources: Paul Benson, MD & CEO 

9:55 am Western Areas: Dan Lougher, MD 

10:20 am Morning tea 

10:50 am Gold Fields Australia: Timothy Gilbert, VP 

11:15 am Endeavour Mining: Mark Connelly, exec. dir., COO 

11:40 am BC Iron: Mike Young, MD 

12:05 pm Lunch Break 

12:40 pm AngloGold Ashanti: Mark Cutifani, CEO 

1:10 pm Ampella Mining: Paul Kitto, MD & CEO 

1:35 pm Northern Star Resources: Bill Beament, MD 

2:00 pm Atlas Iron Limited: Ken Brinsden, MD 

2:25 pm Afternoon tea in the forecourt 

2:50 pm Newcrest Mining: Colin Moorhead, GM, minerals 

3:20 pm MacPhersons Resources: Morrie Goodz, MD 

3:45 pm Alacer Gold: David Quinlivan, Pres. & CEO 

6:30 pm 

to 12am 

The WesTrac Gala Dinner — Sponsors’ marquee 

Ultimate diggers: The Kalgoorlie Super Pit. 

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Flying 

start to 

new life 

Fun 

times 

for all 

■ Warren Gilman 

■ Ashok Parekh 

My first trip to Kalgoorlie was in 1997. CIBC 

was considering acquiring Eyres Reed and, 

since Eyres Reed was the only broker with a 

branch office in Kal, it was a natural spot 

for some due diligence combined with 

intelligence gathering. 

I was based in Toronto at the time and a 

commute from Toronto to Kal back then was 

an exercise in patience and stamina. 

The most efficient itinerary involved a 

30-hour journey and 12-hour time difference 

from Toronto to Anchorage to Sydney to 

Perth to Kal. So when I landed at Perth 

Airport at 6am I expected to be a little worse 

for wear on our brief hop from Perth to Kal. 

I was met at the airport by David Reed, 

chairman of his eponymous firm, and a 

highly-regarded research analyst. David 

had engaged a small charter to take us to a 

couple of drill sites along the way to Kal and 

then attend the 6th annual Diggers & 

Dealers conference. 

Of course I had heard all the stories 

around the infamous Diggers and was 

looking forward to what I expected to be a 

unique professional and cultural 

experience. I had been warned that the pace 

could be quite challenging and that I should 

conserve my strength for the marathon 

sessions that lay ahead. 

I needn’t have worried. The training and 

Much later: Diggers chairman Warren Gilman 

takes in the groundbreaking 3D presentation 

by Focus Minerals in 2010. 

preparation adopted by the analyst in our 

party involved an all-night bender which 

officially terminated with my arrival at 

Perth Airport that morning. 

Unfortunately for my new analyst friend, 

the flight to Kal was unusually turbulent 

and this, given the rather small plane, 

ensured whatever stomach contents my new 

colleague had upon boarding the flight, he 

most certainly deplaned without. 

We celebrated our arrival at the drill rig 

with beers for breakfast and WA in turn 

welcomed our arrival with a light snowfall 

in the desert which ensured that our liquid 

breakfast remained chilled. 

In contrast to my eventful arrival in the 

Goldfields, my ensuing Diggers experience 

and indeed all 14 of my subsequent 

participations at Diggers since, have been 

highly professional and entirely enjoyable 

affairs. This is a testament to the dedication 

and commitment of the Diggers team 

comprised of the owners, organisers, 

management, sponsors, volunteers and the 

Kalgoorlie and Boulder communities 

themselves who all pitch in every year to 

stage the world’s best mining conference. 

I owned the Exchange Hotel for 13 

years, which I sold four years ago in 

2008, and have owned the Palace Hotel 

for the past eight years. The Palace is 

the centre of the social life at the 

Diggers as it was previously owned by 

the Stokes Family which owns and 

runs Diggers and Dealers. 

Over the years I have spent a lot of 

time with the delegates socially. 

I have had great times also with 

many people in the media including 

Peter Klinger, Barry Fitzgerald, Ian 

Howarth and many others. 

Two years ago I was asked by the 

staff of the Palace to contact a delegate 

who left something behind in a room. 

When I arrived at the hotel I was 

presented with a glass which had false 

teeth in it, which the delegate had 

forgotten. I had to ring him up to come 

and collect them. 

Several years ago the president of 

Newmont Mining, Pierre Lassonde, 

the key speaker, arrived in Kalgoorlie 

with no luggage, which Qantas had 

lost. 

It was a Sunday and no shops were 

open, so a local Bill Cavazzi who owns 

a menswear shop was called in and 

organised a suit for him, and was 

Back then: Ashok Parekh outside the 

Exchange Hotel in 1999. He sold the pub 

in 2008 but still owns the Palace. 

rewarded with a carton of beer. He did 

not realise the suit was a “polyester” 

one and had to ask all of the smokers 

at Diggers to stay away from him in 

case his suit caught fire. 

The funniest bloke I have ever met 

at these events who would have all of 

us in stitches of laughter was Mark 

Ashley ex-Apex. 

One delegate who was staying at a 

house went home less than sober and 

went to the fridge and grabbed a beer, 

stripped down to his underwear and 

proceeded to watch TV. 

A woman came out and demanded 

to know what he was doing in her 

home. Wrong house. 

Thommo, the organiser of Diggers 

and Dealers told me that in 2003, after 

the first night at Diggers & Dealers, 

the chairman David Reed on the 

second day announced before the 

session that the delegate who 

proposed to the barmaid at the Palace 

Hotel the previous night should come 

and see him during the tea break so 

they could organise the wedding. 

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