St Barbara packs up and heads east after 40 years 17th November 2006, 8:45 WST
WA’s biggest surviving homegrown gold miner, St Barbara Mines, will pack its bags for Melbourne early next year after almost 40 years as one of the State’s bestknown and most colourful miners.
At the company’s annual meeting in Perth yesterday, chairman Colin Wise said St Barbara’s corporate office would be relocated to Melbourne in January, though a “smaller� Perth office would be maintained.
Chief executive Ed Eshuys said the shift was necessary if St Barbara was to become an internationally significant producer.
“Our aspirations are for St Barbara to produce one million ounces a year and have reserves of 10 million ounces by 2010,� he said.
“To achieve that, we are going to have to grow the company, and will need access to capital markets, investors, brokers and so on . . . and that’s harder to do from here.�
St Barbara was also exploring for big Cadia-style gold deposits in NSW, Telfer-style deposits in the Pilbara and deep gold deposits in Victoria to achieve it target.
St Barbara’s departure continues a decade-long trend that has decimated the ranks of big WA gold miners, as companies have succumbed either to bigger overseas rivals or volatile market conditions.
St Barbara’s status as WA’s biggest local gold miner with a market worth of $500 million was itself largely because of the collapse of Sons of Gwalia in 2004. St Barbara subsequently snapped up the core of Gwalia’s gold business for $38 million last year.
St Barbara’s exit will close one the most colourful chapters in the history of WA’s gold industry. It started public life as Perth-based Endeavour Oil in May 1969, but became synonymous with the modern gold boom of the 1980s with Bond Gold as its biggest shareholder.
Bond ultimately sold out to Meekatharra mining identity Ross Atkins at the end of the decade.
The company became St Barbara in 1991 when Mr Atkins backed his Ross Atkins Mining into the company.
The deal also cemented the volatile business partnership of Mr Atkins and former Bond International Gold chief and Mermaid Marine founder Alan Birchmore.
The two were involved in a bitter dispute over control of the company, which ultimately ended with Mr Atkins being declared bankrupt.
His successor, Stephen Miller, was ousted in 2004 by shareholders led by its biggest investor, Resource Capital Funds.
Yesterday, Mr Eshuys said the company was on track to beat its production target of 165,000oz from its Southern Cross operations this financial year, while a decision to develop the $100 million-plus Gwalia Deeps deposit at Leonora was expected in February.
St Barbara shares yesterday eased 0.5¢ to 59.5¢.
JOHN PHACEAS
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