PO Box 526
South Perth
Western Australia 6951
 
 

DS Tyrwhitt & Associates
PO Box 422
SOUTH YARRA
VIC 3141
 

July 29th 2005
 
 

Dear Mr Tyrwhitt,

Thank you indeed for your reply of the14th July, and your clarifying points.

If you don't mind, I'd like to put your letter up on my website  <http://users.indigo.net.au/don/tel/> and address your points there.   If there's anything you might like to add of course, I'll be happy to post it too.   Or even an altered version of your letter if you would rather (in view of its wider exposure).

Your own account and that of Mr Sheppard (2002, The Golden Rule) are records that speak for themselves.  Readers will  be able to judge the fairness or otherwise of my comments in support of Mr Turcaud.

To some, my site might seem tinged with reproach.  However I hope there will be reason to make it more inclusive and reconcilliatory as those in a position to recognise Mr Turcaud's achievement are encouraged to do so.   In this regard the admiration you express for Mr Turcaud in your letter is welcome.

Your permission re posting of your letter would be appreciated.  If email is a more convenient way for you to respond than by letter, then please send to <don@tower.net.au>

Yours sincerely,
 

Don Findlay.
http://users.indigo.net.au/don/tel/

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In a reply dated 22nd August 2005, Mr Tyrwhitt declined permission for his letter to be posted, but reitterated his priority to discovery in having actually staked the claims in 1972 on the basis of checks for gold of samples collected by Ronnie Thompson of Day Dawn Minerals nine months earlier, emphasising that "...This (failure - by others* -  to assay for gold) was and remains the key flaw in the discovery process". Mr Tyrwhitt suggested however that pages of Chapters 3 and 9 of his book, Desert Gold covering his own version of the role of Jean-Paul Turcaud in the discovery of Telfer be posted instead.  Despite declining publicity of his letter, Mr Tyrwhitt again forwarded a copy to the CEO of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

*Including Newmont (twice).   Newmont was offered Turcaud's samples twice, once in Marble Bar with Bill Brooks, and once in Perth to himself, in February 1971..

Mr Tyrwhitt says he never met Turcaud till September '72, four months after pegging Telfer. This is an avoidance, to obscure Tyrwitt's earlier knowledge and awareness of the value of Turcaud's samples and prospecting.  Mr Turcaud says he was first introduced to Tyrwhitt by Bill Brooks (to whom Turcaud had already introduced his samples) on the 10th November, 1970, on the Airstrip in Marble Bar whilst both were waiting for the plane, Turcaud to meet his patron Bob Berven of Berven Schiller and Associates, and Tyrwhitt to depart the area.

Later, in February 1971:- ....(the following, which describes the context of Tyrwitt's 'meeting-but-no- meeting' regarding the point of Tyrwhitt's knowledge of Turcaud's prospecting and samples, is from Sheppard, 2002, 'The Golden Rule' (p.85):-
 

"..Bill Brook wasn't in Newmon'ts office in Perth when Turcaud rang in February, 1971.  After returning from the Pilbara and having been unable to interest Anglo American the prospector recalled his conversation with Brook in Marble Bar.  Turcaud called Newmont and was given Brook's private phone number:-  "I called Mr W. Brook and he invited me to bring all my samples documents and maps to his house. Therefore I loaded into my car the representative samples of the Paterson Range gossans, the documents from Dr. E. Schiller and R. Berven and Associates, also the documents from the Anglo American trip and my map of the Paterson Range showing the location of the main gossans in the Paterson Range (Parallel Range, Mt Crofton, Pascale Hills, Mt Balthazar)" The two men discussed the prospect.  Brook later remembered the meeting: "I can recall seeing his map of the area showing his gossans, and it was fairly a boldly drawn thing, with I think the gossans shown in red.  It's about the only bit of data I recall.  Obviously he had some assays, I think, probably some copper assays.  There were no gold assays as far as I recall, and if there were some gold assays we might have taken it a bit more seriously." Brook asked Turcaud to leave all the information with him.  Even though the meeting did not take place in Newmont's offices, Turcaud had no doubt he was discussing his find with the company through the representative. Brook passed Turcaud's information on to Dr David Tyrwhitt, Newmont's exploration manager.  Brook believed the discussion with Tyrwhitt would have gone along the lines of , "Well, , it's too far away, we don't want to bother going out there, and it wasn't a prospective area, nothing was known about it and they had no faith in the area; it was a brand-new discovery and we didn't appreciate what he'd found." Brook says the decision not to investigate Turcaud's prospect further was made by Tyrwhitt.  However in Desert Gold Tyrwhitt has a slightly different version of events.  He wrote: "I accepted that he [Turcaud] might well have provided Bill with a lot of data on this area but then Bill had not recommended that Newmont follow up this information." In 1999 when interviewed for ABC's Background Briefing, however, Tyrwhitt recalled Turcaud's information was one of a number of prospecting matters Brook had raised with him and at the time he was unaware of who the prospector was.  His recollections of discussions with Brook went along the lines of: "Oh by the way there was some data that came in from a French prospector . He probably named him.  To be honest I really don't recall that, but I imagine he would have done.  And I've had a look at it, the maximum grade was a few percent copper and some malachite stained samples.  Nothing really worth following up.  And I returned the data to him." Tyrwhitt could not recall being provided with a location of Turcaud's prospect except that it was somewhere in the East Pilbara and said he made no copies of any of the prospector's data.  A week later Turcaud rang Brook to see what news there was from Newmont and he was invited to meet with Brook again.  "I am sorry, Newmont is not interested in your Paterson Range prospect," Brook told the prospector. Turcaud collected his samples, maps and documents and left disheartened by the companies attitude.  He was to be even more disappointed when little more than a year later Newmont's opinion of his prospect was to change dramatically, under terms very much outside his control."