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Celebrating

Barry proud member of the Bemba tribe, and 25
schooled in Zimbabwe and South Africa,
Avery it was an exciting thought. There were so
many Australian junior companies mak- Years
ing tentative moves to seek their fortunes
in Africa, it was a clever move to pull Est.1994
these people together at such a uniting
event. was a great deal of cultural exchange go-
ourno friend Liz Grant scratched in her The first Africa Down Under in 2003 ing on, and he taught me a huge amount
Jvoluminous handbag and said: “You had a handful of small companies which in his hilarious and sarcastic way.
like mining. You might be interested in went on to do truly great things, including Garvey is the most intelligent and bal-
this.” Craig Williams’ Equinox at Lumwana in anced journalist with whom I have ever
She brought out a scrap of paper, a Zambia, Bill Turner’s Anvil at Dikulushi in had the pleasure of association, I found
tear-out from The West Australian news- Democratic Republic of Congo and John him to be ruthlessly honest, with integrity
paper. It was a small, double-column Borshoff’s Paladin Energy Ltd in Namib- beyond question. An hour in his presence
advertisement for a journalist’s position ia. Just a couple of hundred delegates and you knew he would go far. Curiously,
at a mining magazine called Australia’s were at that first event and Bill Repard the endgame for Paul, in those tender
Paydirt. was constantly herding reporters, ad years, was to join the staff of The Age
“The date for expressions of interest reps – and anyone with a pulse – into the newspaper. I recall him being rejected on
has passed but I thought you might like plenary to beef up audience numbers. his first three applications. When I asked
to have a word with Paydirt’s editor any- How satisfying it has been to see how if he would apply again, his reply was
way,” Liz said. this conference has grown into an inter- simple, and without arrogance. “Baz,
My family and I had been in Australia national must-do event, alongside the the next time I might consider working
for just three days, arriving from Africa Cape Town’s Mining Indaba and Toron- for The Age, it will be them asking me to
on July 1, 2002. Taking the advice from to’s PDAC. work for them.”
Liz, who had previously worked on East So much for conferences. One which One of Garvey’s first overseas trips for
London’s Daily Dispatch newspaper in did not do as well as the others Paydirt Paydirt was to go and see a project in
South Africa, I called Paydirt editor Ross regularly stages was the World Diamond Botswana and a baptism of fire it was. He
Louthean on his mobile. Conference, held for a few years at Scar- had to rent a vehicle and do some driving
Unsurprisingly, Ross was in New borough in Perth. One day at that event in the land-locked country and was bust-
Zealand at the time, a country (I came particularly stands out in my mind is a ed for speeding in Francistown, I seem
to learn) for which he had a deep love. whistle-stop visit to the event by the love- to recall.
“Come have a yarn with me sometime ly Natalie Imbruglia. Having left South Africa for fairly typi-
next week,” Ross said, explaining that She visited the booth of Namakwa Di- cal reasons, I quietly vowed that I would
although the position advertised had amonds, where she was enthusiastically never, ever return to the continent and
long-since been filled, the new journalist welcomed by both Karl Simich and Miles if family wanted to see me, it would be
resigned after just three days as she did Kennedy. She posed for a picture with in Perth. Not so with Ross Louthean
not realise that part of the job would be the men, and some of their diamonds, for around. After just six weeks in Australia,
travelling on very small planes to some Paydirt journo colleague Paul Garvey. I found myself in the departure lounge
very remote destinations. (An Imbruglia minder later tapped waiting for a flight to Johannesburg to at-
Along with his love of New Zealand, Garvey on the shoulder and said that tend a diamond conference there, spon-
Ross also had great affection for the Af- Natalie did NOT want those pictures to sored by De Beers.
rican continent. From Egypt to South Af- be published. She was not, as it was put It became second nature boarding ei-
rica, Ross and Paydirt Executive Chair- to Garvey, “made up for the occasion”.) ther flight SA280 or SA281 on the haul
man Bill Repard, shared a fascination for Garvey – now a resources writer for from Perth to Johannesburg. As a result,
this emerging continent and all its rich The Australian newspaper – and I shared I have now been in Australia for 17 years
potential. a room in Paydirt’s cheerful office on the and have been back to Africa on no less
I got the job and was delighted to hear corner of Hay and Outram. We started on than 40 occasions. Never say never is a
Bill and Ross speak of their plans to the same day; Paul was 20, I was 45. He good rule to live by.
start, in 2003, a new conference called was multi-generation Australian, I was
Africa Down Under. Born in Zambia, a single-generation African and so there

Mark as a 12-year-old nothing else mattered. beer-in-hand, with my soon-to-be col-
Not much has changed today…except
leagues in the boardroom.
Andrews now my wife, two kids and, for the past Back then I knew little about Paydirt,
10 years Paydirt, help me fill in the time the “West Perth mafia” or mining.
before the next bouncedown. Today, I at least know what I don’t know
Walking through the doors of the Pay- about mining and that’s where Paydirt’s
dirt office in 2009 it quite quickly felt like reputation continues to connect me with
wenty-five years ago the most impor- home. many seasoned mining professionals and
Ttant thing to me was how the West Shortly after being offered the oppor- people who generously spare the time to
Coast Eagles were playing. A month pre- tunity by then-editor Barry Avery and chat/educate/explain all the intricacies of
viously, West Coast had claimed the AFL general manager Michael Cairnduff to such a vibrant and fast paced sector.
Premiership Cup for the second time and join the Paydirt family I was mingling, One of my first assignments for the

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2019 Page 23