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neWs

Resources sector receives

the royal treatment

t is hard to fathom that in the 1970s Australia’s gold industry was
Ipretty much non-existent.
Australian Government controls meant the price of gold was
fixed at $35/oz – lower than the cost of production – and owning
the precious metal was forbidden.
“That is how you kill an industry,” Ron Manners told Paydirt.
However, in the latter part in the 1970s, government restric-
tions on the gold sector eased, presenting people like Manners
with an opportunity of a lifetime.
“The most exciting years of my life were being among a small
group of people and Bryan Smith AM was one also left over from
the nickel boom, that saw the controls on gold being removed
and barriers taken away, essentially giving people access to the
gold lying around and that saw the industry come from not even
existing into something that has grown up into a fully-fledged
profit centre for the whole nation now”,” Manners said.
While not as in love with the mining sector as he once was,
Manners took time out with Paydirt in June to recount some of
the good old days in light of being recognised in the Queens Ron Manners
Birthday Honours List 2020. AO and Bryan Smith AO, one of Manners’ long-time associates
Others recognised for their contributions to the resources and in the game.
energy sectors included Denise Goldsworthy AO, Colin Beckett
“It has taken time,” Manners said of the industry’s importance
to the country to be recognised. “But I have never seen any-
one present Australia’s set of accounts stripped of gold, coal,
petroleum and iron ore industries. If you think we are in trouble
Exploring financially with the huge debt burden; strip away those four sec-
tors of the economy and we’ll have a third world country’s set of
accounts.
together for success see, and I think the mining industry falls into the category of
“These days I think you only take notice of things that you
the very significant unseen. Very few people have seen a mine
site. It would be fabulous for them to see the camaraderie and
team work that is involved in running any mine site involving all
sectors – services, emergency rescue people, communications
– it is an intricate network of what we have taken for granted in
something we call western civilisation,” he said.
As his biography says, mining is in Manners’ blood with his
grandfather WG Manners, the son of a Ballarat prospector, set-
ting up a mining engineering business in Kalgoorlie in 1895.
The company has since become Mannwest Group under the
leadership of Ron Manners – an electrical engineer crafted at
the Kalgoorlie School of Mines – after he took the family busi-
ness over in 1955.
Manners went on to launch Croesus Mining, which produced
Established in 1993 Bostech Drilling has successfully
completed exploration and mining projects across almost 1.3 moz gold and paid dividends 11 times.
Australia and overseas. Having floated several Australian-listed mining companies
Whether it be the Deserts of central Australia or the and representing a Canadian company with operations in South
Forests of South Western Australia Bostech can assist America and Turkey at board level, Manners is a doyen of the
you with your drilling requirements. mining sector and through Mannwest Group maintains connect-
ed through consulting and advisory services.
Industry leaders in: He is also a published author having written six books, with a
RAB/Aircore - GradeControl - Reverse Circulation seventh – “Mannerisms” – set for release later this year.
Complex Remote Exploration - Zero Impact & Tight Access
Meanwhile, his last book “The Lonely Libertarian”, available
on Amazon, has been well received internationally as well as
29a Clayton St, Bellevue WA 6056
e: admin@bostech.com.au w: www.bostech.com.au 08 9250 4252 on home soil.
– Mark Andrews

Page 8 JULY 2020 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT