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Word search Coober Pedy News Vol 3 No 8, October 7, 2009
Page 1
Lake Phillipson Coal Exploration
On 17 August the Coober Pedy News reported that the Lake Phillipson Coal Exploration program of South Australian Coal Limited (SAC) will be looking to get ASX listing. SAC is a subsidiary of Felix Resources.
Here is an overview of SAC and the Lake Phillipson Coal Deposit:
SAC is an Australian based company focused on coal and mineral exploration in South Australia. SAC is to be demerged from the Felix to facilitate the continued exploration and commercialisation of its existing assets on an independent basis. The demerger was approved by a Felix board resolution on 30 September 2009 and is to be effected via the payment of the SAC Dividend on 30 October 2009.
Felix has provided initial seed funding of $10 million to SAC. The initial funding provided by Felix in conjunction with the additional capital raised at the time of listing should provide SAC, based on current budgets, with sufficient capital to fund the first three years of operating activities.
SAC holds a 1,367 km2 exploration license ('EL') in the Permian Arckaringa Basin in the Gawler Craton in South Australia. This EL is referred to as 'EL 3386' and is located 70 km southwest of Coober Pedy. The rights to EL 3386 were obtained in March 1995 and have recently been renewed until August 2010. Cont. page 2
www.opalauctions.com
Page 2 Coober Pedy News 7 October 2009
EL 3386 has a known coal resource and several mineral early-stage exploration projects. SAC's objective is to develop the coal and mineral resources in EL 3386.
SAC also holds two 2.4 km2 retention leases, RL 100 and RL 104, for exploratory purposes and trial mining which were excised from EL 3386 in 1999. The two retention leases expire in October 2011 and February 2013 respectively. The RL's were established to complete trial mining to assess geotechnical conditions and to obtain a bulk coal sample for testing.
Summary of Coal Resource in the Tenement Area
The major coal deposit in the Tenement Area is that at Lake Phillipson ('the Phillipson
Deposit'). The coal forming the Phillipson Deposit has been classified as low rank Subbutuminous coal. While further work is needed to establish the ways in which the coal from the Phillipson Deposit can be utilised, it is understood that the following uses are possible:
o Fuel for power generation;
o Fuel for the manufacture of steel; and
o Coal gasification and coal liquefaction which can be used to convert the coal into transportation fuels such as gasoline and diesel. The coal in the Phillipson Deposit has been characterised as having high levels of moisture and very high levels of sodium due to the
existence of nearby salt water. The high level of sodium in the coal from the Phillipson Deposit can serve to restrict its usefulness. For example, if this coal were to be used for power generation then the high levels of sodium in the coal would need to be reduced.
CSIRO research on the reduction of the sodium content of coal was conducted on coal in the Phillipson Deposit. This research indicated that it may be possible to lower the sodium content of the coal by "washing" the coal with fresh water.
SAC plans to focus its forward work program in relation to coal on:
o Coal commercialisation studies; and
o Exploration activities to increase the measured JORC coal resources. (The JORC code of practice sets out minimum standards for the
reporting of exploration results, mineral resources and ore reserves.)
Summary of Other Mineral Resources in the Tenement Area
In addition to coal, there is also exploration potential for other minerals in the Tenement Area including Iron Oxide Copper Gold Uranium ('IOCG±U'), Archaean Gold Deposits and Ancient channel-hosted uranium deposits.
While the exploration status of coal in the Tenement Area is more advanced than theexploration status of these other minerals, the Company has prioritised the exploration of
these other minerals in the following order:
o Gold in the Christie Domain area as the management of SAC are of the view that less
capital is required to prove the existence of gold relative to the other minerals;
o IOCG±U styles of mineralisation and magnetite iron-ore in the Mount Woods Inlier
area;
The IOCG±U deposit essentially represents a concentration of minerals including iron ore, copper, gold and uranium within an iron oxide dominant assemblage.
o Uranium in the Garford Paleochannel area. In relation to uranium, it is noted that there are possible hurdles for the commercialisation given the geopolitical nature of the mineral. This may lengthen the development of any potential uranium deposits in the
Tenement Area; and
o IOCG±U styles of mineralisation, magnetite iron-ore and base and precious metals in the Coober Pedy Ridge area.
It is understood that additional exploration is needed to further characterise the potential of these other mineral deposits.
A brief summary of the exploration potential of these other types of minerals is set out in the sections below. This information is of a summary nature only and does not provide a full description of the properties of the other types of minerals.
Cont. on page 4
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Contact Details
Phone +61 8 8672 5840
Mobile Phone 0427 815 561
P.O. Box 533, Coober Pedy, South Australia 5723 Lot 1949 Cnr Flat Hill Road & Stuart Highway Coober Pedy
news@cooberpedynews.com.au
Editor: Gary D. Atkins
Skype - opalminer@webopal.com
Page 3 Coober Pedy News 7 October 2009
Opinion
Déjŕ vu all over again?
It has been said that those who fail to learn from history are destined to repeat it. Indeed it is remarkable how often succeeding generations experience a similar circumstance to their forbears.
In part, this is due to human nature and the tendency to be overly optimistic or pessimistic according to the events confronting them. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the investment markets.
The four most dangerous words in investment are "This time it's different".
They are used to justify wilful ignorance of the lessons of history and often precede the rapid destruction of investor wealth. Some recent examples include the dot com bubble of the late 90s and the housing boom earlier this decade.
I now fear we are on the cusp of once again failing to learn the lessons of history in relation to the Global Financial Crisis.
The closest thing to the GFC was the Great Depression of the 1930s. It was precipitated by an unprecedented boom of the stock market which drove the economy, imprudent lending and asset value growth. Then came the bust.
In 1929, the US stock market fell 48% from peak to trough before rallying 44% in rapid time.
Economists, politicians and business leaders all praised the rapid recovery as signs that 'the worst is over' and claimed that the economy was set to grow again as a result of increased public works.
At least one banker thought differently though. Dr Benjamin Anderson of Chase National Bank declared that "cheap money is a stimulant, also an intoxicant".
He went on to say that "if the dose is large enough a very substantial temporary effect can be brought about, but headaches will follow". This was in April 1930 and Dr Anderson was right.
The US and the world shortly thereafter entered into a prolonged slump that saw the main stock market index fall to one sixth of its post crash rally. To put that in perspective it would be like the Australia's All Ordinaries plunging a further 3800 points (to around 800) over the next two years!
Now jump ahead four score years.
Household debt is nearly twice as high as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) than it was in 1929. Savings rates are virtually nil and the major asset for most people, the family home, can no longer be used as an ATM because it is no longer rising strongly in value.
In 2009, the US stock market has fallen 52% from peak to trough before rallying 53% in rapid time.
Economists and bankers are now saying the worst of the global recession is behind us thanks to massive fiscal and monetary stimulus from government.
In fact, the explosive growth of money supply has been unprecedented in the history of any modern economy. It is only natural that this will have some effect. The problem is, history shows that it will likely be of relatively short term benefit and could potentially have long term negative consequences.
Injecting hundreds of billions of dollars into an economy will naturally cushion the impact of any inherent economic slowdown, but what happens when the stimulus money runs out?
Should the government just print more to keep the good times rolling?
The result of such a policy would be rampant hyperinflation most recently seen in the dysfunctional Zimbabwe. Yet this is precisely the action we are seeing in the UK and the USA and, to a lesser extent, in Australia.
Trillions of dollars are flooding into the global economy propping up an otherwise unsustainable situation. The cash injection has fuelled the rally in the stock market that has an eerie parallel with what happened decades ago.
As the new found optimism takes hold, it might be time to take another look at what happened back then as a little reminder of the path that could lie ahead. After all, those that don't learn from history are destined to repeat it.
P.S - those who insist on claiming 'this time it's different' and maintain that markets cannot fall by 80% or more should remind themselves that the US NASDAQ stock market index reached an all time high of 5132 points on 10 March 2000. It later fell to 1108 points (a 4000 plus point decline!) on 11 October 2002. Today, more than nine years later, it languishes at 2132 - exactly three thousand points below its all time high!
Cory Bernardi is a Senator for South Australia.
Before entering parliament he was a member of the Australian Rowing Team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and venture capital entrepreneur.
This is the first of a regular column series by Senator Bernardi.
Page 4 Coober Pedy News 7 October 2009
Lake Phillipson Coal Cont from page 2
Gold
The Christie Domain is a basement, 125 km2 in area, in the southern region of EL 3386.
It is possible that in this area there may be similar styles of archaean gold to that found in and near the Challenger Mine, Aurora Tank Prospect and Gulf Bore Prospect.
Only very limited exploration on the Christie Domain area has been conducted to date and a significant amount of work remains to properly define specific targets.
With respect to the Christie Domain, going forward it is understood that SAC intend to conduct an exploration program that will initially focus on acquiring and interpreting remotely sensed data.
This article to be continued
Support for Hawks Nest
(from www.miningaustralia.com.au, October 1)
Following the announcement of Defence's position last week, South Australian Minister for Resources and Development Paul Holloway voiced his concerns that the decision would impact foreign investment opportunities in the state.
"The Government has worked hard over the past seven and a half years to establish South Australia's international reputation as a relatively risk-free destination for investment in the resources sector," he said.
"We will be seeking for Defence to return to the negotiating table with Western Plains, with a view to resolving these issues.”
According to Holloway, 127,000 km˛ WPA currently comprises ore than 120 active exploration leases as well as the Challenger and Prominent Hill mines.
"It is unacceptable and certainly not in the national interest for an area of this size with some of the most prospective land in the world to be quarantined from mining operations," he said.
Page 5 Coober Pedy News 7 October 2009
Feature
The Search for Cousin Lionel (Bob Jarvis)
By Adrienne M Roche, London, UK
It was a book that started this story. In his bookcase, my father, Frank Roche (1912-2001) had a small Roman Catholic prayer book entitled 'Instruction for Pious Souls.' The Catholic Bookseller informed me that this was a book of instruction for children. Inside on the flyleaf are the words 'Agnes R. Roche 1866'. Underneath in a different hand is written 'Frank' and 'Francis Adrian Roche, Easter 1920' and on the inside cover my father, then aged seven and a half, has laboriously copied out his name in pencil.
Despite asking my father many times over many, many years, as to who Agnes was, he could never remember - if he ever knew at all and, unfortunately, unlike me, had no real interest in her.
However, all was not lost and eventually (over ten years ago) after much poring over records, I was to find her - Agnes Roche born St. Pancras, December quarter 1866. Her birth certificate revealed that she was born in September 1866, the daughter (one of twelve children) of John Joseph Roche and his wife Jemima Martha. I was soon to discover that John was my great grandfather Henry's brother, both whip makers and born in London in 1826 and 1828.
The strangest thing was that Agnes and her family lived in the next road to where I now live and have lived for twenty odd years - yet my parents and I and several siblings were all born in South Wales, my paternal grandfather having settled there before 1900 and where the 'Instruction for Pious Souls' must have been sent all those years ago.
Using this information I traced a third cousin Lorraine Hatt and who is now a very close friend. Lorraine is the grand daughter of Agnes' younger sister Louisa (b London 1871).
We are the same age and the only ones in our family to be so intent on tracing our ancestors and their descendants. Lorraine passed copies of all the history from her side of the family to me. Amongst the papers there is a letter dated 1946 from Louisa to her son (Lorraine's father, Douglas Roche Brooks b.1904) saying that she had heard from Cousin Lionel in Australia; that he had been discharged from the army and was living in NSW. She said that he had not said if he was married - so obviously she did not know Lionel that well; we believe that Louisa, recently widowed, had written
to Lionel to ask about the prospects of living in Australia.
At the time, I had no idea who Lionel was or how he was related to Louisa and did nothing about it for years until about two years ago when I began to do some serious research. I eventually discovered that Lionel was the fifth child of Agnes Rose Jarvis nee Roche and was born on 3rd December 1907. Lionel had an elder brother Alfred b 1889, a sister Gladys b1892 and twin sisters, Doris and Olive b 1896. Agnes' husband and the children's father, was Alfred William Jarvis, an attendant at the British Museum.
Bob Jarvis’ winch, photographed in Coober Pedy recently
Cont. on page 6
Page 6 Coober Pedy News 7 October 2009
The Search for Cousin Lionel Cont. from page 5
Next I looked at the passenger lists for a Lionel R Jarvis and found that he had sailed, aged 15, with the 'Diogenes', the Aberdeen Line, from London to Sydney on 9 October 1923 for a career in farming.
What happened between then and 1934, I do not know other than when he married in 1934, he was recorded as a store keeper. I had found this marriage information on the online free 'bmd' records of the NSW government and to whom I applied for a copy of the certificate: Lionel married Olive Janet Lilian Archer of Tasmania on 8th March 1934 in All Saints Church of England, Tumut, NSW. The witnesses were the minister's wife Thelma Rettie and M. McIntyre. Sadly, the marriage did not last, for at the top is written 'dissolved 16.10.51'
Fortunately I know an excellent researcher in Australia, Claudine Holt, who was to trace Lionel through a series of electoral rolls from 1991 up until early 2001 in Coober Pedy, South Australia. From here I located, via the internet, the local Coober Pedy librarian Leanne Marjanovic and then Anne Johnson, the local historian. Anne sent me much information including Lionel's date of death in August 2000, the location of his grave and the fact that he had generally been known as 'Bob', and other interesting information.
Cont. on page 7
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Page 7 Coober Pedy News 7 October 2009
Feature - The Search for Cousin Lionel Cont. from page 6
This was followed by more information from Judy Underwood who then gave me the address of Lionel's good friends, Mr and Mrs McCormack, now retired and living in Adelaide. Initially, I did not want to trouble the latter so wrote by email to the editor, Gary Atkins, of the Coober Pedy News and received similar information to that which my earlier contacts in Coober Pedy had given me. It transpired that Gary had known Lionel well and also the McCormacks and he gave me not only their address but also their telephone number.
In the meantime I had discovered that Agnes, Lionel/Bob's mother, had died in 1916 at the age of 49 of breast cancer and heart failure both of which she seems to have suffered some years. Poor Lionel was eight and a half years old. No doubt his much older siblings helped bring him up but by the time he was fifteen he had left home and England forever.
I found that Alfred Jarvis, his father, had sailed to Australia on the P & O 'Macedonia' to visit his son exactly three years later, in October 1926. Alfred by this time was 60 and retired from the British Museum. Alfred must have died sometime after then and before 1934, for on Lionel's marriage certificate he is stated as deceased. (I have yet to locate this record).
All Lionel/Bob's friends and associates tell me that he had a son and a grand daughter who visited him but as yet are still nameless.
Finally, a few Sundays ago, I telephoned Mr McCormack and had a most interesting and lengthy conversation. The account of Tiger (Lionel/Bob's cat)'s headstone is one of the best, and Mr McCormack added his own story to it. It was great to talk to someone who had known my cousin for twenty years or more. I wish so much that I had known him too.
Mr McCormack tells me that Lionel/Bob's son and grand daughter live in Wollongong, a city south of Sydney; I have yet to find them although I have located (in the white pages online) an N. J. Jarvis and an R. Jarvis there - both of whom I must contact, for nothing ventured, nothing gained…
It would be so good to talk, write or even meet them and relate this story to them and to show these 'long lost' cousins the book that once belonged to Lionel's mother- their grandmother/great grandmother - and tell them tales of their family and ancestors back in the 'old country'.
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