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A golden era in exploration

R-L: Miramar executive chairman Allan
Kelly, Calidus managing director Dave Reeves,
Northern Star chief geological officer Michael
Mulroney and Gold Fields Australasia executive
vice-president Stuart Mathews participated in
the gold exploration panel discussion, con-
vened by Paydirt editor Dominic Piper

old exploration was on the menu current gold exploration success. mines ticking over, Mathews knows a
Gat last month’s Paydirt Unlocked For gold developer Reeves, cash is change in direction will have to be made
luncheon, with the best in the business king when it comes to discovery. at some point.
sharing their thoughts on a resurgent “Without money you are not drilling, “We’re not jumping into that green-
part of a sector enjoying a stellar run. not finding anything. It has only been fields space yet, delivery is happening in
Hemi, Boda, Havieron, Winu and Ju- recently that people have been cashed that brownfields space and that is good
limar are demonstrations of the wide- up and been out there drilling and that business for now and we are delivering
spread nature of the exploration suc- is when you are going to find things,” ounces more cheaply. But that will have
cess experienced in Australia in recent Reeves said. to change,” Mathews said.
times. With a workforce of over 17,500 peo- Mathews knows there are good explo-
Such discoveries are potential world- ple across the five countries it operates ration people around to continue to de-
class mines in the making and their sta- in producing 2.2 mozpa gold, Gold Fields liver for Gold Fields just as they have at
tus has spurred a lively response in the is one of the world’s top producers. Invincible.
market, with investors willing to back ex- Pivotal to Gold Fields maintaining its “It had been found in 1993; the discov-
plorers more freely. standing in the sector was recognising ery hole was drilled in 1993, I think it was
Until recently, the sector was lament- the need to invest heavier in exploration, 4m @ 2 g/t gold. Then it wasn’t looked
ing not delivering more Tropicana, Nova a strategy which saw the company em- at,” Mathews said.
and Gruyere lookalikes, so it was perti- bark on a five-year plan to spend $100 “We had a deeper look and that is now
nent for Paydirt editor and convenor of million on exploration in Western Aus- through 3 moz gold in resource and we
the lunch-time Paydirt Unlocked discus- tralia dating back to 2014-15. still do not know the depth that it is, we
sion Dominic Piper to ask Gold Fields “We weren’t spending enough on ex- keep finding more. We have got people
Australasia executive vice-president ploration,” Mathews said. to challenge the norm, people there are
Stuart Mathews, Northern Star Resourc- Gold Fields is discovering reserve passionate about their science and ex-
es Ltd chief geological officer Michael ounces at about $63/oz, compared to ploration space. We want people that
Mulroney, Calidus Resources Ltd man- the $500-700/oz companies are trans- have that passion and that can deliver
aging director Dave Reeves and Mira- acting at. While the company is proving a story.”
mar Resources Ltd executive chairman to be somewhat masters of brownfields Capable people and budget are the
Allan Kelly what was behind the spate of exploration in order to keep existing advantages big companies like Gold

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