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alive and well - Geological Society of Australia

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<strong>of</strong> the early exploration drilling in BHP’s then Robe River CIDtenements, <strong>and</strong> BID at Mt Whaleback. Moves to BHP’s iron oreoperations at Koolyanobbing <strong>and</strong> Yampi followed, before a return toMt Whaleback in 1970 as Senior Mine Geologist with Mt NewmanMining. This period saw the 1800-million-tonne Whaleback drilloutcompleted, with mine geology <strong>and</strong> quality-control duties set upunder the then Chief Geologist, Bill Willis. Bill was responsible forBHP’s joining the AMIRA–CSIRO iron ore program in 1976.From 1981 to 2004 as Chief Geologist Mt Newman Mining/Manager Geology BHP Iron Ore, Mal was responsible for allexploration, development <strong>and</strong> metallurgical sampling work in BHPBilliton’s Pilbara tenements, which from the mid-1980s led to thedevelopment <strong>of</strong> BHP Billiton’s satellite mines in the Newman area,<strong>and</strong> new operations at Y<strong>and</strong>i, Jimblebar, Yarrie <strong>and</strong> Area C. In 2004,he received the Gibb Maitl<strong>and</strong> Medal for contributions to iron oregeoscience in WA. Mal would specifically like to record the able <strong>and</strong>pr<strong>of</strong>essional assistance <strong>of</strong> Ilmar Tehnas, Doug Kepert <strong>and</strong> MarkPudovskis during this hectic period in evaluating, developing <strong>and</strong>underst<strong>and</strong>ing the Hamersley’s various BID, CID <strong>and</strong> DID. Sinceretiring from BHP in 2004, he occasionally acts as a consultant withC<strong>of</strong>fey Mining on iron ore projects <strong>and</strong> mines in the Pilbara, Yilgarn,Northern Territory <strong>and</strong> South <strong>Australia</strong>.The CSIRO–AMIRA 1976–1994 program owes its success to theforesight <strong>and</strong> h<strong>and</strong>s-on leadership <strong>of</strong> Wilf Ewers, who initiated thepilot BIF–phosphorus study by Morris in 1972. He invited the variousHamersley iron ore companies to join CSIRO in a detailed comparableiron ore study, since the then-known low-phosphorus high-gradehematite ore resource was limited. The initial sponsors in 1976 werethe BHP Company Limited, Mt Newman Mining Co Pty Ltd <strong>and</strong>Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd (through Hamersley Exploration), eventuallyincluding CRA, Robe River Associates <strong>and</strong> Hancock Prospecting. Closecollaboration between company senior geoscientists such as JohnEvans, Richard Harmsworth <strong>and</strong> Chris Robinson, <strong>and</strong> the CSIROresearchers, produced the results that retained the sponsors’ supportfrom 1976 to 1994.The partnership between geologist Mal Kneeshaw <strong>and</strong> microscopeoperator Dick Morris helped enhance many <strong>of</strong> the varied CSIROsponsor reports <strong>and</strong> journal papers, <strong>and</strong> led to the 2007 FL Stil<strong>well</strong>Medal for Morris <strong>and</strong> Ramanaidou on the genesis <strong>of</strong> the CID. ThisAB Edwards Award is a further example <strong>of</strong> that continuing partnership.Kneebone <strong>and</strong> Morris state, “Our paper is an attempt to bringsome objectivity to the clash between the supergene <strong>and</strong> thehydrothermal genetic model advocates. We are grateful to ourreviewers for their help, to AJES Editor Anita Andrew for herpainstaking work on the manuscript, <strong>and</strong> to the Specialist Group inEconomic Geology <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Geological</strong> <strong>Society</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Australia</strong> forhonouring us with this prized medal.”14 |TAG September 2012

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