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THE DATUM POST

THE JOURNAL OF THE AMALGAMATED PROSPECTORS

AND LEASEHOLDERS ASSOCIATION OF

WESTERN AUSTRALIA INC.

DATE: February 2017 Issue 01/2017

Happy New Year to all APLA

members!

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The New Year’s Bumper ediTioN.

The Editorial,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,3

News from around APLA,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,6

Reducing your MRF levy,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,15

Meeting & training dates for APLA in 2017,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,17

A mystery that need a solution,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,19

Prospectors’ Questions and answers by Dr Bob Fagan,,,,,,,,,20

Product review, a new detecting harness,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,22

Membership woes and fixes,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,25

The Treasurer’s Tout,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,27

Section 40e progress,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,29

APLA’s For sale, Hire, Beg, Borrow or Stealing pages,,,,,,,,,,,,31

Contact us at: apla.com.au

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The Editorial.

Unfortunately, despite our best wishes to all APLA members in this New Year, this edition

comes with some bad news. Our editor of past editions has fallen seriously ill and it’s

unlikely that he will be returning to the position in the near future. Best wishes for a quick

recovery from us at APLA and all our members to Steve Palmer, his wife Marise and their

family. Hurry back Steve, APLA needs you!

As APLA President I’ve stepped into the breach to get this edition out to you and its very

short notice so please forgive me if it’s not up to scratch. Hopefully, Steve will return but we

are open to anyone that wants to take on the position of “The Datum Post” editor until

then. It will pay a small honorarium as we progress and the incumbent will get total support

from me and others for the contents.

Meanwhile, APLA never sleeps, or perhaps it’s me that never sleeps! EGPA is once again

taking the initiative and inviting the various political parties to a “town hall” style meeting in

Kalgoorlie prior to the State elections. It is vital to the future of all persuasions of

prospectors that we retain unfettered access to the bush for our recreational activities and

livelihoods. Why should one pressure group, billionaire lobby group or environmental

pressure organization have total control of what is land belonging to us all? More on that

later.

As President, I’m now receiving many enquiries from prospectors with issues created by

State bureaucracies, legal systems and Land Councils. It’s easy to understand why people

are walking away from prospecting and mining as they suffer outrageous demands and

expense combined with an unbearable burden of paperwork, compliance, threats,

enormous fines for minor issues and constantly changing systems, all after years of hard

yakka to develop a small mine or gold deposit. I often ask myself if this all deliberate action

by the DMP, EPA and Land Councils to just get rid of us once and forever? Easier and more

fruitful to just deal with companies as most prospectors haven’t got two bob to rub

together! All APLA can do is maintain our presence and our pressure. If we don’t, we’ll get

lost in the background clutter and ignored as were with MLAB 2015.

Late last year I had a long phone chat with a member of The Greens Party, whilst sitting on

the roadside in Menzies. We all think that The Greens are ideologically opposed to mining.

Well, after this I’m not so sure about that perception. It was said to me that The Greens are

all in favour of “sustainable mining”. Now that is worth repeating to yourself, because what

is more “sustainable” than small scale mining and prospecting? Hmmm,,,,perhaps The

Greens are worth a second look? On the other hand, the Liberal Mines Minister at the time,

Bill Marmion, nearly wiped us out! However, APLA is not supporting either or any party but

it does make you think about political and ideological stereotyping.

Les Lowe - Your APLA President.

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EGPA, APLA & ‘Goldfields First’ initiative to hold State

Election candidates to account.

Many members will recall last year’s successful campaign to stop the Mining Legislation

Amendment Bill 2015 from coming into law. That action certainly raised the profile of APLA

in the eyes of government departments and our political leaders. As a consequence of that

action and combined with the forthcoming State elections, we are now taking the

opportunity to ask our future State political parties about their parties positions on issues

that will affect prospecting and mining for years to come. Rather than put the campaign

material in here, we have sent it to our members as an attachment as it is rather large.

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Details of the meeting to be held in Kalgoorlie and the questions we’ll be asking there are in

the attachments.

That such action is warranted is without doubt. As APLA President and the access that

position gives me, I am far more aware of the proposed laws, pressure groups and agencies

that either by design or lack of awareness seem determined to make life difficult for us. We

need to stand up and be counted, shout and shout loudly. It is campaign’s such as this that

give us that voice. My thanks go to the EGPA and Goldfields First for getting the ball rolling

on this one. We have produced an invitation to all political parties to explain their position

on 5 points that are facing prospectors. These aren’t the only concerns that we have, having

been distilled from a list of 30 issues.

In the meantime, our alliance has received the first written reply on the matters for the

Kalgoorlie meeting. Please see the attached reply from Leader of the Labour Party, Mark

McGowan. It’s a beginning but is it the beginning of the end of this wall of incessant, biased

and unnecessary change?

,,,but furthermore,,,, One glaring omission and one to which APLA intends to

scrutinize far more closely is Native Title and the existing Aboriginal Heritage Act in Western

Australia. We are witnessing a huge escalation of demands by Land Councils and Heritage

Groups that are causing a mass exodus from this small business sector and non-corporate

part of prospecting and mining. It has to be called out. We cannot afford the imposed costs

and administrative burden any longer. The Australian Federal Government is to blame for

this as it sponsors and financially supports the Native Title industry. It’s lawyers and offices

are paid for and they receive funding beyond our dreams. Whereas, we prospectors have a

10 year old Landcruiser and an enquiring mind but not the wallet to afford to continue much

further against the onslaught. Prospectors require and demand support from those that are

currently supporting only one team in the game that was originally meant to bring

“Procedural Fairness”. The Native Title Act and all that emanates from it was predicated on

being “a fair fight” and so the Native Title claimants were funded by our Federal

Government. It was felt at the time that the mining industry could fund its own legal

disputes. Since inception in 1994, the scene has changed. Companies now accommodate

claimants, tending not to endure court battles and “pay them out” is the order of the day.

The same expectations are applied to us and we don’t have the funds to defend ourselves or

pay anybody out if we still want to stay in business. Prospectors are treated as the same

breed of cash cow as the big miners. It’s about time the politicians were made aware of this

outrageous imbalance. We need some backing as well!

Very Late News!!! 20 minutes ago!!

Minelab’s, Fraser Kendall has donated $1,000.00 towards the event in Kalgoorlie. This has

come about from an initiative by Rob Anderson of “The Prospector’s Pick” in Bunbury.

Excellent job there by Rob and a great big thank you to Minelab for their assistance in a time

of need. From me as APLA President and all at APLA, thanks to both of you for your support

of the last remaining “free prospecting state of WA”!!

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News from around APLA.

malgamated rospectors and easeholders ssociation of WA Inc

Mandurah Branch

Meeting Date: 8th January 2017

Open: The meeting was opened at 1.38 pm

Apologies: Shirley & Darcy Turner, John Coates, Trev & Vicki Lovegrove, Rod &

Rosemary Brown, Di & Gerry Lowke, Adam Woodcock, Daryl & Jenny Kelly, Gordon

Pilmoor, Brendan Murdoch, Peter Terhoeve, Mike Jane, Pat Musarra, Doug Watson, Anne

Lowe

New Members welcome: Brian & Norma Godliman, Dale Moody, Bob Hickson,

Natalie & Selwyn Scott

Visitors: Peter Johnson

Attendance: 65

Minutes of the previous General Meeting on 13th Nov 2016 were read out by the

secretary

Adoption of Minutes

Moved by: John Musarra Seconded by: Carol Wilson

Business Arising: Nil

Treasurers Report: Treasurer Jill Daniels report for the preceding months were

presented:

Cash held at bank at 13/11/16 $6560.63

Income: from Nov meeting: $375.00

Proceeds from Xmas raffle $328.00

Expenditure: Hall hire $50.00

Refreshments $31.90

Royal Flying Doctor Donation $500.00

Prizes $76.00

Mandurah Bowling Club $2523.00

Cash held at bank at 8/1/2017 $4907.73

Plus merchandising stock : $156.00

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Total $5063.73

Adoption of Treasurer’s Report:

Moved by: Sid Cheverton Seconded by: Des Maher

Business Arising: Nil

General Business

1. APLA Report Les Lowe

Minelab donations: Minelab policy has changed and branches now need to show

support for APLA and Minelab to receive donations

Mooted changes to 40E. You must submit a report listing date, gold found and GPS

(UTM) reading.

DMP seem to be making huge increases in fines for simple offences.

APLA AGM is expected to be in Leonora on the weekend of 16th Sept. Members are

encouraged to attend

New Spatial Lodgement system for Programs of Work is coming soon.

Mines Safety and Inspection Bill will be in Parliament after the election.

2. Meeting dates 2017: Jan 8, Mar 12 (AGM), May 7, July 9, Sept 10, Nov 12

3. 2017 camp: Probable date : May sometime

Ideas for the general area are requested

4. Reeds Prospecting: Jo showed some new items:

The new coil for the 7000

Nuggett Finder Evolution 19” round

Coiltek 14x9

Lighter batteries for some detectors (SD and GPX 3500 or older)

You can go on Reeds website to subscribe (free) for their newsletter

5. Datum Post (APLA newsletter).

1. Every member should receive this via email. If you do not, APLA does

not have your current email address. Change that on the APLA website.

2. There are often some very good articles well worth reading

3. The latest:

Safety: an interesting discussion

40Es One leaseholder had 42, but only one report made, after a

registered letter was sent.

We need to keep the 40E, so always submit a report.

Mining companies would like to get rid of the 40E, so do the right

thing, support APLA and fellow prospectors and submit your

report

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6. Presidents Report: Below is a summary of Gerda’s report:

Gerda will have completed 3 years as President and will stand down as she feels it is

time for someone else to step up. Gerda and John wish to stay on the committee and

will be available to help the incoming President.

Please consider nominations. We need a President for the future of the branch. The

elections will be held at the AGM in March.

Camp: Will be in May and we need to find a place to go. Please see Gerda if you

have an area in mind and we will make some enquiries, speak to the leaseholder and

get permission to camp. The camp will be organised by the present committee.

Best Finds Competition

Bruce Searle: 1845 shilling and unfired revolver round both near Leonora

John Veraat: Maxwell & Williams serving spoon – using a GoFind 60, 400 mm deep

Raffle

Honours for Mandurah Branch members

At the January meeting of the Mandurah APLA Branch President Gerda Butler presented

awards to a number of long serving members who have held elected positions. “These

members have been the backbone of this Branch since it was formed and they thoroughly

deserve to be recognised with these awards that they are to receive today for their service and

contribution to the Mandurah APLA Branch and to APLA”. Prepared by Mandurah

President, Gerda Butler.

Office Bearers of Mandurah Branch

John Graysmark: placed a notice in the Mandurah Murray Mail calling for people

interested in metal detecting to come to a meeting in Halls Head. 22 people attended, and

from that humble beginning we how have an active branch with around 150 members. John

was the first Vice President, and served as VP for 5 years, as well as serving on the

Committee for 11 years. John also organised Branch field days at historical sites.

John Ponton: John was our inaugural President, and served in this position for 5 years and

so was very important in setting the direction of the Branch. John had a Minelab agency

from the very early days and many would have purchased their first detector from him.

Kevin Price: Kevin was Vice President in 2004, and President from 2005 to 2011. He has

been a committee member since 2004. He has served as our delegate to APLA since 2006,

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been Secretary for APLA from Oct 2006 to July 2013 and is currently in his second year as

Vice President of APLA. Kevin was also MILC from September 2005, and is still on the

committee as APLA representative.

Noel Wilkerson: Noel first joined the Committee in 2004, elected Vice President in 2008 for

3 years and elected President from 2011 to 2014, then served another year as Vice President.

Sid and Maureen Cheverton: Sid and Maureen are foundation members. Sid was elected

Secretary from 2000 to 2014. Sid is still a Committee member.

Maureen was appointed kitchen manager from 2000 to 2010 and is still a Committee member

and assists in the kitchen.

Ray and Lesley Crocos: Ray and Lesley are also foundation members and have been on the

Committee since 2007. Ray was Vice President from 2011 to 2014 and also was our APLA

delegate. Lesley was appointed social convenor in 2011 and is responsible for the

management of the kitchen and currently manages Mandurah Branch memberships.

Stan and Jill Daniels: Stan and Jill have been members since 2002, and been on the

Committee since 2003. Stan is the pleasant face we see at the door selling us raffle tickets as

we enter, and has been doing this for 14 years. Jill was elected Treasurer in 2004 and is still

doing a wonderful job.

L to R, Gerda Butler, John Ponton, Kevin Price and Noel Wilkerson

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Valued Members of Mandurah Branch

As well as the Service Awards we have issued, we also have quite a few members who have

been active members for over 10 years, and in some cases served on the Committee. We

value the commitment they have given to this Branch, and we believe these people also

deserve recognition.

Therefore, we have created “Valued Members” certificates so we can recognise the

contributions they have made.

We hope we have covered everybody who has been a member for over 10 years, but our

records are based on Stan’s recorded list of names as you signed in, but the records for the

years 2000 and 2001 are missing. If you believe your name has been omitted please contact

Gerda.

John and Pat Musarra: Foundation and early Committee members.

John and Gwen Reed: Foundation members. John and Gwen were the original Reeds

Prospecting and first Minelab Agents, and helped a lot of new detector people.

Ken and Shirley Farnworth: Early Committee members.

Lynne Price: Early Committee member.

Linley Wilkerson: Early Committee member.

Kay Woollett: Afternoon tea kitchen helper.

Ivan and Jeanette Siviour

Darcy and Shirley Turner

Terry Jackman: Foundation member and early Committee member

Mike Sheldrake: Committee member

Peter Terhoeve: Committee member

John Veraat

John Harrop

David Adams

Frank Vivoda

Helmut Maul

Doug Godfrey

Good members make associations work. They are vital and these people have played their

part. APLA thanks them all for their support and effort in making us what we are and for

their support through some difficult times. Upwards and onwards Mandurah!

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Perth Presidents Plug

Where did last year go?

2016 was a full on year for the Perth branch, with Geomap training sessions, a social day get

together day for members to get some hands on with their detectors before the season

started, our annual camp then the 4x4 show and our annual public open day as well as our

normal meetings. So a big thank you to the committee and helpers who did a fantastic job

of pulling it all together yet again. I hope that everyone had a safe Christmas break and is

ready for the busy year ahead.

The Perth Branch once again organized another successful Annual Open Day

and this year one lucky attendee has won the Minelab GPX5000 detector

The Minelab GPX 5000 detectors donated by Minelab –

Tracy Tester, ticket # 0513

14 Nugget Finder elliptical coil, donated by Nugget Finder Coils –

Dale Hall, ticket # 0238

Detector Carry Bag, donated by Gold Prospecting WA, Bill

O’Connor -

David Moir, ticket # 0172

All winners will be officially notified by the Perth Branch Treasurer.

Perth Branch Annual Open Day Report - Our Annual Open Day, which

was sponsored again by Minelab, was a huge success again despite the heat. We estimated

that we probably had over 300 visitors again, who had come along to learn about APLA,

prospecting and see some great displays by some of our sponsors and supporters. Yet

again the success of holding the Open Days is reflected in not only the new members that

we achieve through them but also the amount of positive feedback that we get each year

from members and non-members. They comment frequently about the Open Day content

and can see that we are raising the public profile of not just APLA but also about prospecting

in WA and doing it legally. This one was no exception with two DMP representatives giving

up their time on a weekend. Many thanks to Steve Bandy for his presentation on DMP

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online systems, “Geoview” and also the soon to be released, “Tengraph Web” The DMP’s

Tony Bullen gave a very enlightening talk on the rules and regulations relating to

prospecting and how to make sure you’re doing it legally, stressing some of the penalties

that can be applied if you are caught doing things illegally. Thanks Tony and Steve, you can

come back next year!

We were lucky enough to have the APLA President, Les Lowe come along to give those

attending a very comprehensive brief on some of the issues that APLA has been working

through that had / have the potential to seriously restrict the rights of prospectors and the

available ground to prospect on if APLA hadn’t been there to fight for us.

Thanks also to Jeff and Jo from Reeds Prospecting https://www.reedsprospecting.com.au/

for the update on the new Minelab equipment and also for making a range of machines

available for visitors to have a go at using outside the normal shop environment. Support

such as Reed’s for APLA by way of product donations for raffles and highlighting new

products is vital to our funds and our profile.

We were able to get the RFDS to come along and do a talk on the RFDS and how it works, so

many thanks to Michele from the RFDS for giving up her time.

Bill OConnor from Gold Prospecting WA, http://www.gold-prospecting-wa.com/ did a very

informative presentation on geology and gold formations as well as an excellent

presentation and demonstration on using Tengraph and section 40E Permit System. Bill’s

wife Sue and Udo manned the stand outside in the heat, talking to visitors about some of

the training that is available for people to learn about prospecting, and displaying a range of

detector bags and other useful products.

I was lucky enough to have a few minutes spare to cover off on safety in the bush, do a

quick GeoMap demonstration on how powerful this program is and some of the ways we

can use it as prospectors to improve our chances of getting on the gold while making sure

that we are prospecting legally. We had a short demonstration in the web based Gold

Tracker www.goldtracker.net.au search engine which provides a user pays system for

identifying areas likely to be predisposed for gold mineralisation This was followed by the

product launch of the new Android App “The Happy Prospector” by Blueapps

www.blueapps.com.au which provides real-time positional information against a

downloaded copy of current tenement data. This App does not replace Geomap but was

designed to provide a quick and easy to use method of knowing where you are on the in

relation to live and pending tenements without the need for an internet connection, except

for data updates. The Android version has since been released and is available from the

Google Play Store. The Apple/IOS version should be out in the next couple of months all

going well.

2017 is already off to a running start with the first GeoMap training sessions scheduled for 1

March held at the Lapidary Club hall where we normally meet. We expect these to fill up

quickly, so if you want to attend one of these get in now. I also recently conducted 3

GeoMap training sessions for EPGA members whilst I was in Kalgoorlie, and will try and get

around the other branches throughout the year to do the same if there is enough interest.

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The Perth Branch Annual Social Day is also coming real fast, so please let us know if you’re

planning on attending so we can get a feel for the numbers.

The committee will soon start planning for this year’s camp and hopefully a couple of quick

weekend workshops as well. Organising camps takes huge time and effort and the

committee are all volunteers, so the more people who put up their hand to help, the easier

it is for us to provide more for our members.

For the Perth branch our next couple of meetings for 2017 are currently scheduled for Feb

15 and April 19.

Looking forward to catching up with you all as the year progresses.

Kurk Brandstater

President Perth Branch

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Minutes of EGPA General Meeting

Monday November 28 2016

7:04 pm

Notes Action

Chairperson Cranston Edwards

Attendance As per attendance book

10 attendees

Apologies Barry Pascoe Hugh Wally Gill Edwards

Minutes from last meeting

Moved Peter Vosper Seconded Elvis Ciuk All accepted Comments from Previous minutes Brian Mattner – His funeral has been arranged St Barbara’s Parade – Cranston arranged for APLA to be represented and will bring his tractor and Chris Potts trailer. Set up Saturday morning ready for parade on Sunday Mulgarrie Road – Suggesting temporary closure. Road already upgraded the road and want to be able to have full use and other users will need permits. When Norton no longer require the road use they will hand back to council. It will be in better condition than the council would have maintained it. Cranston will make appointments to meet with John Walker and John Bowler to discuss this proposal. Mining Amendments – Did not seem to get in before the end of parliament so will need to be restarted from scratch if it is brought up again in new government.

Correspondence Email from APLA Committee Pastoral stations being bought by state government with a proposal to turn into Reserves or parks. This will cause problems with tenements and leases. PEW, a lobby group, are putting a lot of money into this and will cause problems for mining and prospecting.

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APLA will be lobbying all parties to ensure that this does not preclude all mining and prospecting. This proposal could impact on jobs in the sector, the economy of the region and even tourism. APLA will be sending letters of their concerns to all applicable parties

APLA Representative Report

Letters to all sponsors of the APLA AGM have gone out. Better late than never.

General Business New Z-19 inch coil - Cranston has tested it and has found that it is not good at depth but finds very small targets near the surface. Peta to get information regarding changes to Associations in writing to see what we have to do or not do as the case may be. Need to keep an eye on the election coming up in March Next meeting 30 January Meeting closed 8:42pm Meeting Closed 8:45pm

Next Meeting Monday 30th January 2017

Meeting closed 10pm

Reducing your MRF Levy - The Mining Rehabilitation Fund (MRF) has been

with us for a couple of years now and many errors have been made in calculating the

affected area and the levy you must pay. Some mistakes we make are based simply on the

size of the area and others are based on the type of disturbance you’ve caused in your

mining or exploration. It has become evident that the DMP Environmental Section is now

using satellite technology to spot the slightest error in area calculations and categorisation

of your ground disturbing activities. The demand letters from the DMP are confronting and

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threaten huge fines for non-compliance. APLA will take issue with the DMP about this and

especially the “four days to respond or else” paragraph!

On the bright side, if you have miscalculated your MRF, it is possible to reduce the levy if

you are more precise in your area calculations and by taking some time to properly consider

exactly what category of disturbance you have.

An APLA member recently reduced their MRF Levy by 60% just by re-surveying the areas

with a GPS that had an “Area Calculation” function and combining that data with a re-

categorisation of the disturbance types. Even a mobile phone can be used to do this. The

original MRF survey had been carried out by a contractor that was employed by a well-

known tenement management agency. In an area of 35 hectares, which is a pretty big

disturbed area, there was only one single category applied to the that whole 35 hectares.

That category was one of the most expensive per square metre that could have been chosen

from a range of many others. Consequently, the levy was applied at very high rate, which is

OK for the agency as it’s not their money that they’re spending.

By using the tenement owners own calculations and by sorting out the disturbances into

eight categories instead of just one, the levy was brought back into something far more

appropriate. Following this recalculation, a request was made to the DMP to “unlock” the

database of the past year so that revised figures for past reports could be lodged. This was

successful and the tenement holders received a very welcome refund of handsome

proportions. This also has the effect of maintain this reduced levy for the next report if there

has been no increase in ground disturbance since the previous report. It also makes us more

aware of how much money we could be throwing away if we don’t take sufficient care of

these things. Being “near enough” can cost more than enough!

There are traps in this and you need to be careful that you don’t make false statements

when seeking a revision. It’s essential that you maintain good records of your data and most

importantly, how the area was measured and assessed.

As an example, one case was assessed as having simply a 35 hectare hole in the ground; just that and nothing else! The rate of applied levy for such a hole, described as “Mining void (with a depth of at least 5 metres) — above ground water level” is $180.00 per hectare of such disturbance. However, this hole seemed to have no corresponding mullock heap or topsoil stockpile according to the data supplied. That’s simply not possible because, where did the dirt from the hole go? The hole was less than 5 metres deep anyway because someone had measured the depth of the hole from the top of the rockpile that came out of the hole! The whole site had to be re-assessed. That case was finally assessed as having other categories that attracted much lower rates. As a result, the total levy was reduced. There are 30 different categories from which to select whichever category fits your varying types of disturbance. These range from as little as $20.00 per hectare up to $500.00 per hectare, representing a levy of 1% of the total rehabilitation cost. So, it’s worth a second look to see if your levy was correctly categorised and assessed. Watch the skies though! You could be on “MRFCAM”!

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Important dates for DMP & DAA training and meetings. (Cut and

paste them on your fridge if you have a fridge that’s big enough!)

Spatial Lodgement Training sessions

To help with the introduction of the new Programme of Works (POW) and Mining Proposal (MP) systems,

industry training sessions will be held in Perth and Kalgoorlie. Multiple sessions will run on these days. In the

near future this will be the only method by which you can lodge a POW or MP. If you would like to attend the

training please email your preferred date and the names of attendees from APLA to

Louise.Thomas@dmp.wa.gov.au.

PoW Spatial Lodgement Training Dates - 2017

Month Perth Kalgoorlie

February Tuesday 21

February

N/A

March Tuesday 14

March

Tuesday 21

March

April Tuesday 4 April Tuesday 11

April

NOTE – The Spatial Lodgement training is crucial when we consider the DMP is now using up to date

satellite photos. If we make a mistake when lodging POWs and MPs using Spatial Lodgement maps

of our own making, the DMP Enviros can see quite easily if what we have put on our maps is

reflected accurately in the satellite photos when we disturb the ground. Make a mistake and don’t

rectify it and we will be faced with “debt collector” style letters and maybe huge fines. Get into the

training is APLA’s advice.

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DMP Stakeholder briefings on the new (again!) Mining Proposal

Guidelines for applicants, attended by APLA President and any

interested APLA members. (Note: these sessions are primarily aimed at the larger

mining companies. There will be another session for us as smaller operators and miners. However,

APLA feels it best to attend both and compare what the impact will be on our members.)

Dates:

Perth: Wednesday 22 February 2017 or Friday 24 February 2017

Kalgoorlie: Tuesday 28 February 2017

Time: 9.00am – noon

Venues:

Perth: Department of Mines & Petroleum, 100 Plain St East Perth (Level 9 Theatrette)

Kalgoorlie: Department of Mines & Petroleum, Cnr Hunter and Broadwood Streets West

Kalgoorlie WA 6430

Environmental Liaison Committee Meetings (ELC), attended by

APLA President), all at DMP in Perth.

THURSDAY 2nd March 2017, 9.30am to 11.30am

THURSDAY 1st June 2017, 9.30am to 11.30am

Friday 1st September 2017, 9.30am to 11.30am

Friday 1st December 2017, 9.30am to 11.30am

Mining Industry Liaison Committee Meeting (MILC), attended by APLA President and Vice President at DMP in Perth

MILC Meeting Date Call for Agenda Items Agenda Papers Close Final Agenda Issued

8/3/2017 25/1/2017 8/2/2017 15/2/2017

14/6/2017 3/5/2017 17/5/2017 24/5/2017

13/9/2017 2/8/2017 16/5/2017 23/8/2017

13/12/2017 1/11/2017 15/11/2017 22/11/2017

NOTE – The MILC meeting where any issues that members of any kind or the industry in general can use to

can be aired. Sometimes, APLA even gets a win!

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Aboriginal & Native Title Heritage Industry Liaison Committee

attended by APLA President and APLA Secretary at Dept of

Aboriginal Affairs (DAA) in East Perth.

2017 AHNTILC MEETING DATES

Agenda Items/Papers Due

Agenda Papers to Members

Meeting Date* Minutes Due

Monday 13 February 2017

Monday 27 February 2017

Tuesday 28 March 2017

Tuesday 10 April 2017

Monday 15 May 2017

Monday 29 May 2017 Tuesday 6 June 2017 Tuesday 20 June 2017

Monday 14 August 2017

Monday 28 August 2017

Tuesday 5 September 2017

Tuesday 19 September 2017

Monday 13 November 2017

Monday 27 November 2017

Tuesday 5 December 2017

Tuesday 19 December 2017

* Meeting times 9.30 am – 11.30 am.

A mystery that needs a solution.

If you recognise this short handled green pick can you please contact the APLA

President. He’ll put you in contact with the leaseholder who’ll give it back you

after you lost it in the middle of his mining lease. The lease owner would also

like to give you something for your trouble,,,,,,,,,,,we’re not sure what he has in

mind!

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PROSPECTOR QUESTIONS

In this continuing segment we are calling on questions relating to prospecting, gold or geology etc that

you might be puzzled about and we will attempt to provide an authoritative answer. If we don’t know we

will pursue it until we do. Send your queries to our resident geological oracle:

robertfagan345@gmail.com .

THIS MONTHS TECHNICAL QUESTION

HOW DO CALCRETE AND CALCRETE-ASSOCIATED GOLD

NUGGETS FORM?

ANSWER:

Calcrete is the whitish-to-slightly pinkish cement/coating material often found along valley floors and

dry creek beds in arid regions such as the Eastern Goldfields. Its composition is calcite (calcium

carbonate CaCO3), and if forms through precipitation (coming out of solution), as groundwater

containing dissolved calcium carbonate evaporates to around 50%. At this point any further evaporation

causes the dissolved calcium carbonate to become over-saturated and start to come out of solution.

Further groundwater evaporation cause more and more calcium carbonate to come out of solution and

a progressively thickening, hard cemented material called calcrete forms, at or near the ground surface.

Over time in arid climates, along valley floors and drainage channels, this calcium carbonate cemented

layer can get quite thick and may extend from very near the surface for a metre or more in depth (see

photo below), and may cement in other materials, pebbles, blocky rocks and even gold nuggets. It is

not necessary to completely evaporate the ground water to get calcium carbonate to precipitate (50%

evaporation is enough to remove most of the dissolved calcium carbonate). At around 80% evaporation,

gypsum (calcium sulphate CaSO4), appears as long bladed white shiny flat crystals. It takes about 95%

evaporation of the groundwater for common salt (sodium chloride, NaCl, the mineral halite), to appear.

Gypsum and halite tend to occur in salt lake environments where evaporation of the groundwater is

more extreme.

Best sampling medium where most gold nuggets are found in the upper portions of the calcrete layer .

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Calcrete cemented layer cementing loose basalt blocks & a vertical section illustration of a calcrete

profile

In saline ground waters, any primary gold (quartz vein & sulphidic gold), that may be present at or above

the water table can begin to dissolve and be flushed down to the water table as gold chlorite (AuCl4-),

where it can accumulate in solution. When this (now gold-bearing) groundwater begins to evaporate,

this dissolved gold increases in solution in the remaining water as the water progressively evaporates.

At about 50% evaporation the dissolved gold would have doubled in concentration. With the

precipitation of calcium carbonate from solution the pH (acidity) of the remaining groundwater would

progressively increase (become more alkaline, i.e. become less acid), this would have the effect of

decreasing the solubility of the gold and cause it to come out of solution to form gold nuggets, that will

become increasingly imbedded in the accumulating calcrete. The calcrete tend to be thickest and ore

coherent at the top and if there are gold nuggets to be found they will tend to concentrate along the

upper parts of the calcrete layer.

Calcite (calcium carbonate), bubbles in weak acids (liberating carbon dioxide gas), and gold nuggets

can be cleaned up in weak acid solutions to remove the carbonate. Good luck with detecting and

prospecting in calcrete environments. Questions answered by Dr Bob Fagan and thanks for this

one Bob!

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Our Product Review bit – by APLA’s own roamin’ product tester!

We all know by now that the GPZ7000 even with the standard 14 inch coil is a handful.

Some of us also know that the GPZ7000 fitted with the latest 19 inch coil is two handfuls, an

armful and a shoulder full!! It’s a heavy beast but finally, it’s not uncontrollable.

I use the Minelab “Pro-Swing” harness for my 7000/14” combination but it’s a bit “stretchy”

when it has a 19 inch coil on the end. I recently had the opportunity to try out a new

harness that was amazing at handling the weight of the bigger coil. I expected little more

than the “Pro Swing” but this was something else. Albeit, it’s an adaptation of a harness I’d

seen years ago, invented by the late Chris Hake and his partner, my old mate Steve Charley.

But this has gone up a gear. (excuse the pun).

It may resemble an “Instrument of Medieval Torture” but there are two seriously major

advantages. The obvious one is that it really does make swinging “a 19 incher” a breeze. The

slightly sprung stainless strapping takes the weight without intruding or pulling the harness

off the shoulder. If you take a look at the next photo you’ll see that bungee cord is fastened

in a different manner to the detector shaft. This set up is the secret. The initial prototypes

used a softer steel and that caused the usual problem of pulling the harness from the

shoulder after an hour or so. The makers now use a superior grade of stainless steel and it

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makes a huge difference. So that’s the weight problem sorted out. I used the harness over a

workshop floor and it felt like I could use it all day. It’s solid and really does take the weight.

But for people with lower back problems such as me, I noticed a hidden advantage that the

maker hadn’t realised. Look at the waist strap and you’ll see it’s very wide, much wider than

the harnesses we’ve seen so far. It has two front snap buckles and that white nylon adjuster

plate. Those two features combined to gave my lumbar region so much extra support that it

felt like my constant niggling backache that I learn to live with actually disappeared whilst I

was swinging this huge detector/coil combination! It was a similar but superior effect to

those back harnesses that Bunning people use when lifting heavy gear. It pushes the spine

inwards slightly and that stops that human trait of stooping slightly forward. I could go to

dinner at Buckingham Palace wearing one it felt so good!

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As you can see the bungee cord is attached lower down the shaft and this alters the entire

swing dynamics. The downside is that actually alters your swing in a subtle manner and can

lead to a slight “upswing” on the side holding the detector. I found that slight adjustment of

the shaft angle to the coil fixed that. With the sensitivity of the 7000 any slight upswing here

can alter your ground balance just enough to cause that awful noise that comes from out of

synch ground balance. But this applies to just about any harness and you need to

concentrate on flattening that swing all the time. The other issue is that I don’t think I’d like

to fall backwards with it on! That plate looks awful hard. But theirs is a solution to that; just

drink less beer or don’t detect walking backwards!

I didn’t ask about the price. However, I reckon it’s worth whatever they ask because it’s the

best and most solid harness I’ve used in 35 years detecting.

The harness is available at “The Prospector’s Pick” in Bunbury. Contact Rob or Denise there

at: http://prospectorspick.com.au/ Phone: (08) 97914344

News – only 10 hours old! Minelab’s new detector – a short

presentation by Reed’s Prospecting, Jeff Wright.

Jeff Wright of Reed’s Prospecting gave the Perth Branch a quick “heads up” last night on the

about to be released Minelab VLF detector. It’s primarily aimed at the African market, which

makes up a large part of Minelab’s sales worldwide. Retailing at approximately $1,000.00

(we think!), it’s a VLF machine that has excellent ground balancing capability, unlike other

manufacturer’s VLF models of the past. Still not thoroughly tested, we’re not sure how this

machine will handle “those flamin’ hot rocks!!” that many old timers will know very well! I

think back to the days when the Fisher Gold Bug was king on small stuff, but this machine

seems to beat even that! It’s designed to find gold “smaller than that found with 2300”!! I

gulped at that! But it has it’s uses in areas that have not been thrashed to death but still

hold a lot of fine gold. It seems this detector will be excellent on specimens containing very

fine gold, that can be missed by PI machines. Its design is such that it is simple to use, very

few switches and settings and if the shaft gets broken in the back of a truck, it can easily be

strapped to a broom handle and you keep on swinging!

The “Gold Monster” as it named, would be a great “entry level” machine for a family taking

the kids out bush on a “gold adventure” and just want an inexpensive and easy to use,

reliable metal detector.

You can contact Jeff at Reed’s Prospecting on 92503388 or email:

jeff@reedsprospecting.com.au website at: http://www.reedsprospecting.com.au/

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Membership woes and fixes – from the APLA President.

It’s been an extremely busy time for the APLA Treasurer and me as APLA President as we

plough through the annual membership renewals and a fair number of new members. Our

newly formatted system is working well with only one or two glitches. However, there have

been a lot of queries other than glitches, and they stem from members’ concerns that

having paid, they haven’t seen a membership card or gained immediate access to the

website. I’ve dealt with all of these and they have been explained.

For those who still have concerns perhaps I should explain further. We have about 1500

renewals and new members to process and we are all volunteers. The system is automatic

as far as the various payment methods are concerned. Payment by Credit Card, Electronic

Funds Transfers (EFT) usually get to our account within 48 hours. Payment by PayPal is bulk

uploaded by the Treasurer to our account once a week. Money orders sent by post can take

two to the three weeks to get to us and payment by cheque takes even longer, up to 5

weeks before we actually see the cheques paid into our account.

Following these time periods, our overburdened and long suffering Treasurer, a working lad

and a stout fellow of many talents, has to manually link all those payments with the data

entries made by members on APLA’s website. Only after that manual link is made can the

membership card be issued, your next membership renewal date is updated and full access

to the APLA website is allowed.

Please bear all this in mind before contacting us and thank you for your consideration and

continued support of APLA. But there is more,,,,,from the lad himself!! I’ll let the Treasurer

himself explain further:

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Treasurers Tout

Hi and welcome to the Treasurers Tout.

Firstly, let me apologise for the late renewal notices for your membership renewals for the

forthcoming year. There was a good reason for it. Which was we were waiting on some major updates being

completed on the website to further automate the membership process, which was then compounded by

Christmas holidays and a shortage of the membership cards.

Let me start by saying, WOW! Welcome to the treasury and its baptism of fire! We all know that people take

on Executive positions because they are easy and there’s never much to do, right? Well that maybe so in the

footy club with fifty members but let me tell you when you have over a 1000 members (nearing on 1500

counting family memberships) that’s not the case. I take my hat off to the previous treasurers who have also

done the membership job as an “Oh by the way you look after membership as well” afterthought.

It would have been a mammoth task going back a few years when we had several hundred members and the

membership cards were hand written by the treasurer and his / her partner. Luckily for me I have taken over

from Bill O’Connor who has streamlined and modernised the process considerably over the years he did the

job. Bill moved to the computer age and printing membership cards instead of hand writing them, which is

fortunate because if you have seen my handwriting you would be cringing. So now it’s easy right? Well not

quite but it is definitely a lot easier than it was. So if ever you’re in a pub with Bill buy him and his Wife Sue a

beer or wine as they have done a fantastic job and made life so much easier for everyone that follows.

With the new website now quite mature and most of the bugs have been ironed out, we are now at the stage

of fine tuning, and one of the first things I have done since taking over was computerise the books into an

online accounting package. This enabled us to further tweak the website to automatically create the invoice

and payment for each member’s membership renewal/payment. This means that instead of having to go

through and manually create 1000 plus invoices and payments when we confirm/approve the payment on the

website, the corresponding aand matching invoice and payment is created in the accounting package. This

makes the treasurers job soooo much easier. Mind you, they still have to actually confirm the payment is in

the account, or process the cheque etc which still takes about a minute per member, then print the renewal

letter, print the membership card, attach the card to the letter, insert it in an envelope (which you have either

stuck a return address sticker onto or have pre-printed with the return address prior to putting the letter into

it). Each of these steps takes another 30 seconds to a minute per member and partner, so let’s just add up

some time here.

I’ve done it per 100 members to make it easy:

100 members – confirm payment & automatically create invoice and payment @1 minute per member so

about 100 minutes if each one is easy and every payment has the member’s name and membership number in

the details.

100 Members print the renewal letters – about 25 minutes – based on 15 secs per member

100 members print the membership cards – about 25 minutes – based on 15 secs per member

100 members fold letters and attach the membership card, about 50 minutes – based on 30 secs per member

100 members insert letters into envelopes – about 50 minutes – based on 30 secs per member

100 members update the database with the date the card has been posted – about 20 minutes

(The last step is automated now, last year would have been another 1 to 2 minutes per member)

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So that works out at about 270 minutes of time or 4.5 hours to process the membership for 100 members. All

assuming of course that there were no hiccups or problems with the printers etc, or 2.7 minutes per member

at best.

Now before this you have already designed and had pre-printed the required number of membership cards for

the current year, got the printer working with your computer and downloaded the latest list of member’s data.

Only then can we actually start do the above membership issue processes.

So as we multiply these figures out to take into account that we will actually mail about 1500 membership

cards out when you count the partner / family memberships the time grows considerably, and that’s if

everything goes well. But as we all know nothing ever goes as smooth as we expect it to e.g Last weekend I

basically spent all weekend getting 235 memberships processed probably around 14 – 15 hours as some

members hadn’t put their membership number or name on the payment advice. Others had been paid by

another family member or friend with a different surname so time is spent trying to find out who the payment

relates to. Now don’t get me wrong, this is not a bitch session. I simply want members to understand that

processing membership renewals takes time and members can make it a lot easier if they put their

membership number and name in the payment advice.

By the time this year’s renewals come around we will have refined the process even further but here’s how the

process works at present.

When you pay your membership by Paypal on line you get charged immediately, Paypal pays that money into

APLA’s Paypal account within 24 hours. Paypal website sends the treasurer an email saying Fred has paid his

membership, and creates the payment notice in their website.

However, the APLA treasurer doesn’t log on and process the membership each time they get an email. It’s just

not efficient and he doesn’t have time to waste. In my case I try and do it once a week. Then, once every

couple of weeks I will do a membership card print run. I do have two full time jobs that actually pay me to

work. (NOTE from The President, I don’t pay him to do this job, I have to beg him!!)

So now you have paid. But if it’s after Jan 1 then you won’t have access to the website beyond being able to

pay your membership until the treasurer has logged in and confirmed that we have received the payment.

If you’ve paid by bank transfer the process is much the same except, the member selects pay by Bank transfer

on the website which creates the payment notice on the website. But until the member actually logs into their

bank to do an EFT to make the actual payment nothing else happens. Again, once a week or so the treasurer

logs into the bank and cross references the payments that are in the bank against members who say they have

paid. Similarly, as with Paypal, if it is after Jan 1 then your website access is restricted. It’s a software

automatic lockout so that non-member don’t have access to details, camps, etc.

If you select pay by cheque on the website again a notice is created, but until you send the cheque nothing

further happens other than your details such as address, phone etc are recorded on our database. Now

Australia Post isn’t necessarily the quickest, so allow 5 working days for the chq to get to APLA’s mail box in

Boulder, then once a week Aust Post forward that mail to the secretary’s address (currently in Perth) so allow

another 5 days for it to get there. The secretary then has to drive to the Treasurer’s home and hand deliver

them. The treasurer processes them, which again is once every couple of weeks. These two APLA Execs live in

different areas. The Treasurer is 30ks south of the river and Greg, the APLA Secretary is 30 ks north of the

river. Alternatively, Greg could just put them back in Australia Post once a week and add another week to the

transit time.

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Once processed and printed cards are mailed – allow a week or more for them to get to you. So processing

time from payment to getting access to the web and or receiving your membership card:

Paypal – min 2 weeks, most likely 3 weeks (unless we run out of stationary, cards etc like this year)

Bank Transfer ** FROM WHEN YOU MAKE THE TRANSFER** 2 to 3 weeks

Credit Card – ** FROM WHEN YOU MAKE THE TRANSFER** 2 to 3 weeks

Payment by chq allow at least 4 weeks. – We understand that some members don’t have or want to use

Internet banking or online payments and will continue to accept cheques to accommodate this, but the

quickest method is definitely online Paypal or Credit Card payment.

Now down the track we may split the Treasurers job. We may remove the membership component out of it

and make it a specific job that a member can do without having to take on the whole treasurers role. However,

for now they are part and parcel and things may sometimes take a bit longer as the current treasurer (Me)

works fulltime with 2 jobs and I do the treasurer and membership officer jobs in my spare time between

midnight and 6 AM. APLA has previously farmed this work out to an external agency and the result was a

nightmare with records lost/corrupted etc. It took APLA two years to sort out that mess. The APLA Exec is not

keen to do that again. We are confident with the improvements in the website, accounting system and overall

process we should be able to do it in house either as part of the treasurers job or as a standalone job. (maybe

a treasurer in waiting)

And remember if you see Bill O’Connor buy him a beer. I know I will as he has made my life as treasurer /

membership office so much easier.

In closing, I would like to ask any members if have some real good mining / prospecting photo’s that they have

taken and they would like to send me one or two of their best ones. We may be able to use them as the cover

photo on future membership cards. BUT I don’t want my inbox flooded with 100’s of photos from each

member, at full resolution, so please if you want to send me photos that I can add to the photo library for

future use please limit it to one or two and send them as compressed files to save on my disk space.

Kurk Brandstater

APLA Treasurer 2017

Section 40e progress.

Most members will be aware of the issue plaguing the Sect 40e system with reports not

being forthcoming and mining company & APLA leaseholding members lodging complaints

with us at “APLA Central”. As a result of a recent meeting with the DMP about this matter,

the DMP are now looking to implement more rigorous database matching and monitoring

compliance by Sect 40e permit holders and making far more use of the provisions of the WA

Mining Act to refuse any further permits to anyone that doesn’t make reports. This is still in

the formative stages as it requires a revamp of the DMP’s IT systems to make it work.

Another meeting is planned in March. The list below highlights the proposed changes.

DMP to record all Sect 40e permit issues on one database.

DMP to match that database with reports received from permit holders.

No report may result no further permits being issued to offenders.

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“Nil found” report will now be required.

APLA does not support the use of fines in the event of reports not being lodged. (That’s unlikely to be implemented, however the terms of the Mining Act do allow for such actions)

The obvious argument to this is that it may encourage people to avoid the Sect 40e system

and “go illegal”. That’s their choice but such people should remember:

Using a detector without permission on a mining tenement (that means ANY LEASE OF ANY KIND) is classed as “illegal mining”. You can end up in court.

Any type of illegal mining just makes it harder for us to maintain the many ways we keep ground available to detector operators.

If you don’t have a permit or private permission the Pastoral Leaseholder (PLH) can demand that you leave his station property.

That leads to increased friction between PLH and detector operators.

Why detect “looking over your shoulder” when one simple application and 25 bucks can keep your mind at ease on area of about 30 square kilometres?

So please start spreading the message that things are changing. Thanks, the

APLA President.

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APLA’s section For sale, hire, swap, begging or

borrowing – where bargains can be had, junk sold at

ridiculous prices or just stuff borrowed, never to be returned !!!!

Low-loader float hire: Volvo semi and 27 tonne capacity tri-axle trailer for wet

hire in and around the Leonora area, Leinster, Agnew, Wiluna, Menzies,

Laverton. Call Alec in Leonora on 0458163423.

Training for Prospectors

Metal Detectors for sale

Minelab 4500 metal detector in good clean condition. Includes a choice of 6 from 12 coils,

spare coil shafts, spare power cable (new, never used), original Koss earphones like new,

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Genuine Minelab backpack, battery only two years old (and they last 5 to 6 years if you take care

of them), 12 volt and 240 volt chargers and operating manual. They don't make bargains like this

anymore and they all must be sold. I have another 5000 detector for sale below so it's first come

gets the first choice of the coils. Note: the coils alone are worth $100.00 to $200.00 in used

condition and from $250.00 to $500.00 new. $3600.00 ono. Call Les on 0428679782

And,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Minelab 5000 metal detector in good clean condition. Recent "health check" in Minelab factory

and 100% all good. Includes a choice of 6 from 12 coils, spare coil shafts, spare power cable

(new, never used), original Koss earphones like new, Genuine Minelab backpack, battery only

two years old (and they last 5 to 6 years if you take care of them), 12 volt and 240 volt chargers,

fitted new "green button" handle earlier this year, and operating manual. They don't make

bargains like this anymore and they all must be sold. I have another 4500 detector for sale so it's

first come gets first choice of the coils. Note: the coils alone are worth $100.00 to $200.00 in

used condition and from $250.00 to $500.00 new. $4800.00 ono Call Les on 0428679782.

And the choice of coils,,,,,,

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Fuel tank for sale – 18000 litres (calculated). Tank is good externally,

internals are unknown. Sits on a skid base, has dip stick fittings on top, access manhole for inspection

and cleaning, access ladder, lifting padeyes and outlet valve. Located 40 kms south of Leinster in WA

Goldfields. Buyer to remove and ship out. Bitumen road and good wide gravel road access to the site.

Surplus to requirements so it has to go. Negotiable on price. Make an offer, as it has to go. Phone

Les on 0428679782

Fuel tank entry manhole and dip tube.

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