A Very Special CEO.

I live in WA and became very good friends with Clarke Dudley not long after BOA first listed on the ASX. I phoned BOA’s office to find out some info about the company and my call was answered by the CEO himself. He was very friendly and provided me with the information I was after and invited me to call whenever I thought necessary.
From there our friendship blossomed and we would talk at least once per fortnight. Whenever Clarke came to Perth on company business, we would catch up for a few ales and discuss what was happening in the mining world. While in Perth, Clarke would never stay at any of the “high end” hotels. He preferred to stay at lower name hotels and would never waste any company money. Wherever possible he would catch the free Cat buses around town instead of using taxis.
Clarke was an old school CEO who respected and never wasted company funds on unnecessary items. A check of annual reports shows that in 2014 Clarke’s salary was $120K/pa and in 2019, his salary was still $120K/pa. He would have been the lowest paid CEO in Australia but that didn’t concern Clarke. As mentioned by Mick Z, everything that Clarke did, he did for Boadicea share holders.
Unlike a number of other companies which peppered their Fraser Range leases with diamond drill holes, found nothing and went belly up; Clarke was very careful in the way BOA planned the exploration and drilling of their Symons Hill lease. In the meantime the company built up a very nice group of strategically placed mineral leases throughout the Fraser Ranges.
I was very saddened to find out that Clarke had passed away. I hadn’t heard from him for a while so last Thursday I gave Clarke a call – I checked my call register and the call was made at midday on 15/04/2020. I had no idea that Clarke was unwell until he answered my call. He recognised my name but his voice and words were totally incoherent. As always he tried his best but he just could not get words out. I told Clarke to have a rest and call me back in a few days when he was feeling better.
So farewell to a fine CEO and a sincere friend and gentleman. Rest in Peace for a job well done Clarke. Deepest sympathy to all of Clarke’s family and associates.