Telfer discovery

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Jean-Paul Turcaud : original discoverer of Telfer

The majority of the following information is excerpted from 
The Golden Rule: Gold and intrigue in the desert - The true story of the discovery of the Telfer gold mine
by Bob Sheppard, President of the AMLA (Aust Miners Leaseholders Assoc) 

Telfer Australia's biggest gold mine

In March 2002 Newcrest reported that drilling had revealed Telfer contained a resource of 26.2 million ounces of gold, On 19 September 2002 Newcrest managing director Tony Palmer told ABC radio that once finance had been raised production would resume with 14 million tonnes of ore being mined each year. Telfer will be larger than Kalgoorlie's Golden Mile and as such it will be Australia's biggest gold mine. (p259)

"Newcrest also announced a reserve of 740,000 tonnes of copper metal. Perhaps Turcaud's conviction that Telfer was a huge base metal deposit is about to be realised. (p259)

Formerly owned by the North American company, Newmont Proprietary Ltd [Newmont] and the Australian giant Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd's [BHP] subsidiary, Dampier Mining Company under a joint-venture agreement, the mine is now controlled by Newcrest Mining Ltd. In 1987 Newmont floated a new company in Australia, Newmont Australia Ltd, with the proceeds going to the parent company. Dampier Mining Company became BHP Gold Mines Ltd. Newcrest Mining Ltd was formed in 1990 when Newmont Australia and BHP Gold Mines merged. (p8)

The Great Sandy Desert  
"Is as its name implies: a great sandy desert. It is a barren, arid and huge expanse of desert with very few people living within an area of 267,250 sq.km. It is an area bigger than the UK and contains a transient population of mine workers, mineral explorers, Aborigines, scientists, and pastoralists and is visited by occasional desert survivalists keen to test their endurance. (p8)

"In a book written by Dr David Tyrwhitt, 'Desert Gold: the discovery and development of Telfer' he and fellow geologist Ronnie Thomson, are regarded by Newmont as the official discoverers of Telfer. Tyrwhitt makes no mention in 'Desert Gold' of Newmont's early joint venture partner in the Paterson Range, the Boral subsidiary Narla Minerals NL, a company which appears to have been an important part of the initial exploration process. (p10)

Prospectors usually discover goldmines 

"The figure of 80% of Australian gold mines discovered by prospectors sounds amazing but it is a fair estimate of the success of our pioneering prospectors ... Prior to the 1998 Gold Roundtable APLA did some basic research into the discovery process of the operating gold mines in WA. In nearly all cases a prospector was a major component in the discovery process but it appeared there were at least two very important exceptions - Telfer in the very remote Great Sandy Desert and Boddington in the State's South-West." (p6)

Boddington Gold Mine is located approximately 17 km NW of Boddington which is 120km SE of Perth in Western Australia. It produces approximately 10,000kg of gold pa which is transported to the Perth Mint for refining. 

"The corporate versions of the Telfer discovery are very different when compared with Turcaud's version."  (p9)

Culture of trust 

"While working with ASARCO [early 1970] Turcaud not only learned about the value of gossans but he also became aware of the value of trust that existed between prospectors and mining companies. The discoveries and advice of prospectors were highly thought of by the mining companies in the region and Turcaud had heard of the experiences of other prospectors who had done successful handshake deals with companies. He recalled the prospectors at the Star of Mangaroon had worked successfully with companies and he knew of another prospector who had proposed a zinc show near Gascoyne Junction to a company. (p18)

"Turcaud was also spurred on by the stories of mineral discoveries he heard around exploration camps and outback towns. He knew of the well-publicised discovery made by John Morgan and George Cowcill at Red Hill in the mid-1960s. Cowcill had found some specimens he believed were uranium near Red Hill in 1954 and after having them analysed at the School of Mines in Kalgoorlie, which at the time offered a free analysis service for prospectors, it was discovered they contained significant quantities of nickel. In conjunction with his friend Morgan, the samples were shown to Western Mining Corporation's (WMC) Roy Woodall in 1964. WMC was keen enough to look at the prospect and as a result of their work the rich Kambalda nickel deposit was discovered. In mid-1967 Cowcill and Morgan received $25,000 each as a reward for their discovery even though they had never marked out and applied for any mining tenements in the Kambalda area; such was the value placed on their work. The prospectors had been told if a mine was developed they would get paid but "if there was not enough nickel to justify a mine they would get nothing." (p19)

"There were many more stores of discoveries that were talked of around the campfire at night. They provided Turcaud with the incentive he needed to eventually go it alone and he was comfortable with the way prospectors and companies worked together when necessary.

"Indeed, many companies went out of their way to help and encourage prospectors like Turcaud and for some it was part of a deliberate policy. In Paul Johnson's 'History of Consolidated Goldfields' he interviewed Renison Goldsfields Consolidated Ltd's Hilmer Giessler who clearly stated his philosophy towards dealing with prospectors:

"Farm-in or joint ventures is a quite popular form of exploration. A little chap or even a large company may not wish to spend big sums on development, so they take thirty percent, say, and the rest is done by a big mining company ... Individuals who make interesting discoveries will tend to go to the company with the best reputation - that's one reason its important to keep up the effort." (p20)

One of the companies Turcaud approached was Western Mining Corporation and as with Anglo American there was no agreement signed between the prospector and the company.
"The two parties had a "handshake" arrangement that didn't require discussion. Reid, at Leonara, had a policy he believed was widespread within WMC, that the company would peg one tenement for the prospector in an area shown to WMC and this would give the prospector a bargaining chip. Reid believed WMC was committed to looking after the locals where possible." p90 

The new breed of company

But corporations weren't always to be so fair minded and trusting. In the 1960s a new breed of company emerged. 

"The mineral boom of the late 1960s had brought with it a new breed of corporate men with a "take no prisoners" and "don't stop for casualties" mentality which was fast becoming necessary for survival in the highly competitive world of mineral exploration. As a result of the prestige involved in making a major discovery, many of those subsequently involved with the Telfer project have been reluctant to concede Turcaud had even played a minor role in the discovery process. 

"From the moment he drove out of the Great Sandy Desert, Turcaud was to set in motion a process which left him powerless and disillusioned, eventually destroying his belief that his corporate counterparts would treat him fairly." (p59-60) 

See The Corporation: Pathological pursuit of power  

Jean-Paul first to find mineralisation in the Paterson Range

Turcaud presented some samples to the Government Chemical Laboratory (GCL) which came from the main gossans of the Paterson Range and also a sample from Lake Waukarlycarly. He later lodged a further three specimens described as originating from the rather remote areas in the Paterson Range in the eastern Pilbara.

Until Turcaud's discovery of mineralisation in the Paterson Range, it was considered lacking in valuable minerals. The most recent government publication 4-miles to the inch, described the area as having "No metallic deposits". Curator Bridge remembers talking to Turcaud about the samples and he also recognised their importance. 

"Jean-Paul Turcaud was the first prospector to report finding anything out there. Up to that time there was no record of any base metal or interesting mineralisation in all of the Mines Department records that I was aware of." (p68-9)

Discovery of gossans at Telfer site

On Jean-Paul's trip to the Paterson Range he had made a major discovery of gossans:

"It is the thing that all prospectors are looking for as he most valued indication of a sulphide ore body. For example the gossans which led to the discovery of Kambalda nickel mine were only a few feet long, those in the Paterson Range by comparison were enormous." (p56)

Turcaud did not know that the gossans at Pascale Hills would eventually become the Telfer mine and produce over $2 billion of gold [2002 value] in a little over two decades. All he knew was he had made an important discovery of mineralisation in an unknown region. (p56)

"The Pascale Hills dome (this is why I called it "Hills") was strewn all over by huge cherty crystals whose origin was either pyrites of chalcopyrites crystals. As it is usual with weathered gossans, the original boxwork has been weathered out the then infiltrated by replacement material which exactly copies the original crystals. Whole books have been written on gossans and on that subject I was at an excellent school with Mike Kriewaldt of ASARCO and prospectors John Abbots and Bert Chapman.

"Now at the Pascale Hills the largest crystals were in size up to one inch (and over) on the edge and these were all over the place. You could have filled the back of a Landrover in less than five minutes with the loose ones. This was an exceptional sight by all standards and Mt Balthazar which looked a bit like a dyke had some very large ones, too, but those weren't loose and easy to pick up like on Pascale Hills."

"When I got out the Paterson Range I thought I had found a very large copper deposit, another Mt Isa. The area I considered of interest and prospected as best I could was about 20 by 40 miles." (p57)

Turcaud did not consider the area he had discovered as being an important goldfield at that time, but later recalled, "Australian history of mining abounds in cases where the original discoverer did not realise the main interest in the samples he had brought for appraisal, eg Mt Isa, Broken Hill, Kambalda etc. But since I had worked at Mt Isa, I was quite aware gold could be an interesting bonus." p57-8

Turcaud pin-pointed Telfer site 

Jean-Paul approached Western Mining Corporation. On 24 March 1971 a senior geologist for WMC, David Barr,  looked at JPT's maps and noted 5 areas of interest, one of which was site 3, now Telfer.

"Of all the information recorded the most significant in the WMC report were the co-ordinates that were given of Pascale Hills; later to become the Telfer gold mine. This small range of hills was labelled by Barr as site 3 with the co-ordinates of 537000E and 2287000N. A simple step of converting the grid references on the Paterson Range map in use at the time to latitude and longitude reveals the location given for the gossans at Pascale Hills were 21^o43'S and 121^o12'E, identical to the co-ordinates given for the Telfer dome in the 'Travellers Atlas of Western Australia' compiled by the WALSD in 1978.

"The Telfer dome is not a small structure either, and those who wish to be pedantic about the accuracy of Turcaud's navigation should perhaps consider that D.Z. Royle, who was one-time exploration manager for Newmont Australia Ltd, reported in 'An Exploration Case History in the Telfer Mine Corridor', "The Telfer Dome is about 10km long, 4km wide and trends at 300^o." (p88)

Newmont aware of Turcaud's discovery from start

Turcaud ran into Bill Brooks at the local store, a Newmont consultant at the end of October 1970, who invited Turcaud back to Newmont for his first real meal since leaving the Paterson ranges. Turcaud made a conscious decision to disclose his find to Newmont because he thought they would be reputable and big enough to handle his find. (p62)

In 1987 Turcaud wrote about the meeting:

"There is in Australia an unwritten law of trust relationship between mining companies and small prospectors, and mining companies are very meticulous to maintain that trust. Never was it that any papers were signed when I took mining companies to the Paterson Range or offered the show to them, and at all time I dealt only with one man in trust. So my first decent  meal once out of the Paterson Range was as a guest of Newmont Mining Corporation in Marble Bar. 

"I talked in trust with Mr Bill Brook, Newmont Mining Exploration manager [Brook was in fact a consultant not manager] about my discovery - I said I was counselled by the South Perth consulting firm of Berven and Schiller and Associates and would Newmont be interested in going all the way to the Paterson Range in case they were not? He said for sure but not now during the summer since it was too hot to go into the Great Sandy Desert and furthermore his company, Newmont, had its plate full right up to February next year." (p63)

Companies Turcaud approached

1. Late October 1970. Newmont - they had other work on and weren't interested until after summer.

2. 10 November 1970. Turcaud bumps into Brook and WA Manager of Newmont, Dr D. Tyrwhitt, at Marble Bar Airport and is introduced to Tyrwhitt for the first time as "the prospector Brook had been telling him about".

3. End of November 1970 Turcaud returns to Perth to see results of his samples which he'd previously sent to get assayed.

4. Berven and Schiller line up a meeting with Day Dawn Minerals Ltd in Perth. 
"As Day Dawn was later to become a player in the discovery of the Telfer gold mine, Turcaud believes that the information he had provided in his meeting with Day Dawn played an essential part in the discovery process. However, in late 1970 the company was just another of a long list of explorers who rejected his information." (p67)

5. November 1970. Turcaud presents some samples of gossans to the Government Chemical Laboratory (GCL). "Turcaud's samples were deemed significant enough to be included in the State reference mineral collection." (p69)

6. November 1970. Turcaud approaches Hawkestone but they were too busy to get involved. (Hawkestone was a partner in a joint venture with Newmont known as the Pilbara Joint Venture) (p70)

7. Turcaud approached Union Miniere who was interested until they learnt of the location, east of the Oakover River. An agreement with Anglo American was that they not touch this region as each company had a separate "sphere of influence". (p70) 

8. Turcaud approached Anglo American, who agreed to send a team to the Paterson Range as soon as possible after Christmas. 
January 1971. Team put together and Turcaud meets them at Marble Bar Airport for a 10 day trip to Paterson Range. (p70). 
Soil samples taken of Parallel Range (not rock samples) and Pascale Hills. Samples didn't show any value and project abandoned. (p82)

9. February 1971. Turcaud visits Brook of Newmont with maps and samples, but after Brook talks with Tyrwhitt says Newmont not interested.

10. March 1971. Turcaud approaches Western Mining Corporation. Turcaud points out 5 areas of significance including Pascale Hills (Telfer). WMC's David Barr organises an expedition. This time rock samples were taken. Amounts of copper showed up but not high enough to be feasible. (p96)

11. June 1971. Jean-Paul ready to call it quits and takes his rock samples to CGL.

Meanwhile . . .

June 1971. Philippe Koehn of Day Dawn looks for aerial photos of the Patterson Range at GCL. Taken from 25,000 feet in June 1953, the photos only showed detail of major features. Koehn preparing for a trip to Paterson Range.

People who claimed to have a part in Telfer discovery 

Dear Sir,

This is not the whole story... it 's  a bit more complex.
http://www.tnet.com.au/~warrigal/grule.html
http://users.indigo.net.au/don/tel/index.html

*The fact that I approached Newmont Mining Co for assays to carried on my approx 100lbs of GOSSANS samples.
( if as I believe,  you do not know what Gossans are, these are in fact the surest surface indication of deep sulphide deposits )

*The fact is that I presented the huge show to Newmont ( approx 2400 km² ) as a Copper / Gold mine and not the opposite.

*The fact is that there is a supposed relation of trust between Mining Prospectors & Mining Companies which implies that against appraisal of the show, priority is given to the company spending money on assays for a first option on pegging the ground ( in fact that trust relationship is a bait used by company such a Newmont / Newcrest & BHP ).

*The facts are that,  to go around that Mining Prospectors-Mining Companies trust relationship, Newmont used to smoke screen companies Narla & Day Dawn which were sent behind my back to carry on the pegging in the Great Sandy Desert & carry on as well 1 million $ of work.on then Telfer Mine to be *The facts are the said Narla & Day Dawn after having done all the initial probation work decided to sell the lot to Newmont at a loss for a huge 15 000 $ and then immediately folded themselves on the pretence of unacceptable loss.

*The facts are ( since a discoverer was needed indeed ) the official discoverer became Dr Tyrwhitt the CEO of Newmont and alternatively Thomson a senior geologist and even Searls the Austrailia President of Newmont. Tyrwhitt that miserable bag of manure, pretended officially in a book written on Newmont 's funds ( "Desert Gold") that he had discovered  Telfer Mine from his aeroplane and landed in the desert near by to take samples (sic)

*The facts are the Newmont paid over 11 millions of $ to peg the ground of the extensive deposit, and paid as well the WA political class to prevent a Royal Inquiry into their crimes required by Attorney General Evans *The facts are that I spent a considerable amount of time and intelligence decoding and uncovering the way the Mining Criminals of Newmont / Newcrest & BHP had proceeded. Those Criminals indeed as soon as I tracked one of the scheme,  immediately dropped him down : So it was for Brook, Thomson, Tyrwhitt, Searls and finally Malozemoff the Newmont Chairman decided to change the name of the company in Australia and call it Newcrest ... to cut short of the bad publicity I had made on the Mining Criminals.... but soon
after Malozemoff carked it and it did not stop the battle for truth to continue

*The facts are that I manage to drag from the Mining Criminals an indenture signed in NY and amounting to 25000 $ for the Discovery of Telfer Mine.  I would have signed for only One Dollar.

*The facts are that I had to give 40% to the lawyer ( who went to work for Newmont afterwards ) and what I cleared does not pay a tenth for all I spent in that prospecting venture. 

*The facts are for finding the Telfer Mine I received NOT A THANKS NOR A CENT

... but when knows Australia as I know it, something of the kind is quite understandable.

--
Jean-Paul Turcaud
Exploration Geologist & Offshore Consultant
Mobile +33 650 171 464

Founder of the True Geology

~~  Ignorance Is The Cosmic Sin, The One Never Forgiven  ~~

. 

Links

Newmont Mining Corporation and the Telfer gold/ copper mine -  Discovery and Ownership
http://users.indigo.net.au/don/ore/telindex.html

Don Findlay's website supports Jean-Paul Turcaud's claim of rightful ownership - as the discoverer of the mineralised samples and gossans that led to the acquisition and development of the prospect that came to be known as Newmont Mining Corporations' Telfer Gold/ Copper Mine.

More writings in Jean-Paul's word of his discovery of Telfer, Nifty and Kintyre mines and explanation of how he finally uncovered the swindle where he and certain shareholders got ripped off.  - from this link.

Anglesea's dog, Sunny  does not even know to spell his own language.
The beastly thing does not further the difference between lies & truth
since Anglesea, his clueless master, does not know it either.

Regarding the dudes' claims regarding what they know of my Great Sandy
Desert different mineral deposits discoveries, the Telfer now deposits
was rightly seen by myself as Primary Gossans deposits of the Mount Isa
type with then copper & gold occurrences ... extending at the time over
2400 square km, and in relation indeed with the other two major
deposits found in the GSD which were Nifty (Cu)  & Kintyre (U)
The greatest Mining companies of the time were contacted by myself on a
trust basis to assay and then take option on the show and in that order
Newmont, De Beers / Anglo American and BHP/ WMC. I took two parties to
the GSD with enough to  peg 100 claims,  but for those Mining Criminals
with my 1% free carried interest I was the figure which was out of
place in their equations ! Indeed as I learnt it years later Newmont
(Newcrest now ) WMC ( BHP now) and Anglo American (De Beers) were in a
joint Kalgoorlie venture !

I collected by working from day to dawn alone in the GSD over some 12
000 square miles some 200 pounds of Gossans samples from the main
deposits to those Mining Criminals for appraisal and my offer in trust
of 1st option then. Anglo brought back about 600 kg in some 10 000
samples ( the Anglo party was 7 geologists & Corporate Mining
Prospector strong indeed + my goodself ) as for the WMC party which on
top of it discovered Nifty ( I can vouch for that since I lead them by
the hand to do so ) they brought back approx  400 kg back to
Kalgoorlie. So about one ton of Gossans were to be appraised by the
Mining Criminals joint venture top petrologist Dr John Borner of
Kalgoorlie who indeed "discovered" in my samples the occurrence of
great amount of microscopic gold. Hence all the claims following since
indeed a justification was to be found for the huge GSD  find and
Thomson, Searls, Koehn, Borner and finally Dr Turd Tyrwhitt, general
Manager of Newmont assumed that honour in turn !!! + all the prestige,
money going along with it and upon which Turd Tyrwhitt built all his
career as most fine Mining Hero of Australia ! Of course the Political
manure of the West Australia Parliament were aware of the Wheeling &
Dealings all that time but were watered underneath at the tune of
Millions by the Mining Criminals . Look at Mansaros, Court, Lawrence,
Gallop and Carpenter's origin of fortune and you find easily the common
denominator .AUSTRALIAN  CORRUPTION &  AUSTRALIAN  DEPRAVITY  !

Note Dr Atkinson of CRA found their Uranium & Thorium  deposit for
sure, when I pointed it precisely on a map of the Rudall

I believe the fine book of President Sheppard of the Australian
Prospectors Union give the details of the rest. A book incidentally
which I have not read and I will never read indeed since it would again
break my heart,  and for which I wave all interest back to brave
President Sheppard ) It went like that, the Mining Criminals engaged
two other rotten like them Mining Companies Narla & Day Dawn as
smokescreen to go and peg claims on the major Telfer Mine deposit which
later Newmont lodge through a bogus deal paying 15 000 $ while Narla
report indicates 800 000 $ spent on exploring the Telfer show.... then
Narla & Day Dawn directors scuttled their companies making of the
Mining Criminals the legal owners of 2400 square miles large Telfer
Mine show and believed then the filthy Sons of Bitch & Mining Criminals
indeed they would get away with it !

This was without counting on the Superior Intelligence and Stamina of
someone who could  in the searing heat of the Great Sandy Desert loaded
at time like a mule cover 80 km of ground. I pierce the whole Mining
Criminals 's intents and finally brought all the elements of the puzzle
together and at this point in time got the unexpected support of former
Narla Corporate Prospector Bert Rutherford who gave me the original
Koehn report,  and also got the support of the Hon Tom T.D Evans
Kalgoorlie MP & shadow Attorney General  who thanks to his private
connections to the CIB learn of the 2 millions ( now it would amount to
20 millions ) paid underhand to the Narla & Day Dawn directors to
scuttle their own companies and defraud their own shareholders ! ...
then all those interventions in the WA Parliament and the consecutive
demand for a ROYAL INQUIRY  from the Court Dynasty of Corruption and
the following pledge by the ALP that such Royal Inquiry would be
conducted as soon as they be returned to power !
You know the rest !

Of course what I got in return for providing such immense richness to
such intense depraved & debased country Australia was NOT A CENT AND
NOT A THANKS at all but on the contrary insults, innuendos, rebuff etc
BUT nothing at all can break the will of an Australia Mining Pioneer of
my class indeed !

At this point in time I want nothing but only your country to pay for
his Collective Crimes  Since the 1 000 Billions Great Sandy Desert
Swindle  is not an isolated case indeed ! You have the Prime Minister
Harold Holt 's Murder to atone for,  as well as the Port Arthur
Holocaust or mass murder of 35 & maiming of a 100 more by the very
Government in charge of Australia & Tasmanian affairs now + of course
the condemnation of any innocent man Martin Bryant to life sentence !

THE DIVINE DRUDGING DROUGHT WILL GO ON UNTIL THAT AUSTRALIAN FILTH HAS
BITTEN THE DIRT

.
Sir Jean-Paul Turcaud
Exploration Geologist & Offshore Consultant
Mobile +33 650 171 464

Australia Mining Pioneer
Founder of the True Geology
http://www.tnet.com.au/~warrigal/grule.html
http://users.indigo.net.au/don/tel/index.html
http://members.iimetro.com.au/~hubbca/turcaud.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s28534.htm

UNQUOTE