Philippe Koehn
                      (Geologist, Day Dawn Minerals NL -  the first (on record) to assay the Telfer outcrops for gold

Fig.1.  Extract from Geology of Australian Ore Deposits  (Courtesy of AIMM, 1990)... in which article the Geological Survey of Western Australia officially credit Thomson with collecting the first samples from which gold was officialy recorded.  More than twenty years after the discovery of ('Telfer') gold, official sympathy towards Koehn did not stop official complicitness in 'the lie'

Turcaud was not the only person to be disturbed by Newmont's account of the discovery.  When this article appeared in the AIMM's definitive two-volume series on The Geology of the Australian Ore Deposits in 1990  twenty years had passed since Philippe Koehn and Ronnie Thomson had visited the Paterson Ranges and sampled the outcrops discovered by Turcaud some seven or eight months earlier, and Thomson had passed the information to Newmont.  Koehn was then a junior geologist, and Thomson exploration manager, both employed by William Johnson and Associates and contracted in their respective capacities to work for Day Dawn Minerals.

Sheppard (2002) recounts the events leading to Thomson's accreditation by Newmont for the recognition of gold, and need not be repeated here other than to observe that it fully vindicates Koehn's consternation over the above misrepresentation, for not only had Newmont bought the information regarding the occurrence of gold from Day Dawn, but that information was wholly consequent on Koehn's own fieldwork from an earlier trip which had already proven gold. Koehn considered it quite wrong to continue to represent such an official account in this way, thus perpetuating an earlier erroneous account by Blockley which credited Thomson with the discovery of the gold at Telfer (GSWA Ann. Rpt 1973).  In an article for Corporate Mining Magazine*, Phillip Musgrave recounts from notes written by Koehn in protest over the above misrepresentation, that subsequent to that report Koehn had informed Joe Lord, Director of the Geological Survey of Western Australia of the sequence of events.  In a meeting Koehn had received a verbal apology from Mr Lord, but was told it was too late to alter the document.  Koehn:- 

"Following the publication of that article I wrote to Mr J. Lord, the director of the Geological Survey of WA, but although that action resulted in a meeting between Dr. Alec Trendall, John Blockley and Mr Lord, all of the Geological Survey, despite being given a verbal apology I was told it was too late to alter the document."   (Koehn continues..)  " I then joined a foreign company and worked overseas for several years.  Meanwhile I was told former colleagues (Drs. J. Martin and R. Horowitz) tried to obtain recognition for my efforts, but to no avail."

The manifest lie to Newmont's account of the priority of Thomson in recognising the gold was known to both Thomson and Tyrwhitt, since both knew that Day Dawn had carried out two trips to the Paterson Range, the first by Koehn whose samples on return were shown to contain gold, one sample assaying 127g/t.  On the face of it, this was entirely the justification for the second trip, on which Koehn led Thomson to the outcrops.

This brief thumbnail sketch is merely the background to Thomson being credited with 'discovery' of the gold.  Something was clearly missing however in Thomson's accreditation, for not only was he fired just a few months after being hired, but also in respect of information deriving from his initial trip Koehn recounts:-

"I was subsequently contacted at my new workplace first by Day Dawn Company Secretary, then by Dr Tyrwhitt himself.  Both wanted more information on the area, ..and in particular my copy of the geological map showing the itinerary followed, 97 observation stations, gossan locations and my field notes.  I was then young and naive and elected to stand on high moral ground.  I told them to contact my former employer William Johnson to request his authorisation for the release of those documents."

Thus it was that Koehn's honesty and  "standing on high moral ground" wrote him out of the official account of discovery.  Koehn, somewhat philosophically observed:-

"I can't say for sure what were the consequences of those events upon my career and reputation, but I don't underestimate people's reactions to a bad conscience, and greed is a powerful motivator." (Philippe Koehn to Phil Musgrave*, 1991)

Koehn's observations re honesty in regard to Tyrwhitt's enquiry certainly contrasts with those of Searls:-

"So when in the mid-nineteen sixties, Newmont's then chairman Plato Malozemoff, pointed me in the direction of Australasia and encouraged me to run I attempted to build a company, Newmont Proprietary Limited, with the most talented and honest geologists and engineers I could find, David Tyrwhitt was one of those men.  The story David recounts here is that of discovery, of initiative, of courage and professional excellence and of a team of able and honest people he encouraged to run by his own example." (Searls in Tyrwhitt, 1955, Desert Gold,  foreword)

Tyrwhitt himself records on the matter of discovery (1955, p.14):-

"Whether it was luck, inspiration, divine or secular, which led Ronnie Thomson and Philippe Koehn to sample the gossanous outcrops in 1971 it sparked the discovery of several world-class gold copper and uranium deposits."

However the simple sequence of events detailed by Sheppard (2002) shows that it was none of these things, but simply Turcaud's solitary trip to the Paterson Ranges in October 1970, the discovery of the mineralisation over an area he recorded as being 2,400 square kilometres in extent, and his subsequent attempts to interest fifteen different mineral exploration companies in that area -  in particular his guided tour of Western Mining Corporation around the copper prospects and his contact with CRA  -  which opened up this most remote and inhospitable part of the fringe of the Great Sandy Desert to exploration and "sparked the discovery of several world-class gold copper and uranium deposits" - importantly 'Nifty' (WMC), and Rudall River Uranium (CRA).

So much for the question of Newmont's integrity in recognising Koehn's role in identifying gold.  But the question of priority does not stop there, for Sheppard (2002) also records:-

Bob Sheppard is still awaiting the promised letter.   At this time, and in view of the identity's promise to prosterity it seems appropriate here to record a part of a letter he wrote to Turcaud dated 8th March, 1986, fifteen years after the event.  The identity wrote:-

"Jean-Paul, ...I would like to be left out of any argument with Newmont in Australia.  They are one of my best clients now, particularly in these difficult times for geologists and petrologists such as myself.  The people you knew when you were here, all those involved with your case, have left, or have retired from Newmont.  I think that you will find it impossible to continue with Newmont for compensation for Telfer. It is too long ago now as you well know.  If you should contine with your [illegible]  against them, please (through Perth lawers and politicians, CWA & Federal), please leave my name out of it.  X X  thinks that it is also too late now to begin anything anew with Newmont again.  I don't think you'll gain anything now, Jean Paul.  I hope that you understand my position too.  I have to retain my clients, including Newmont, I still got left.  Many geologists are unemployed here now.  Bad times, really.  I hope that you are not offended, I cannot act otherwise in order to retain the clients I still got left.

With best wishes and regards to you and yours, .."

The emphasis is that of the identity.  It is to Turcaud's very considerable credit that he honoured this request throughout the lifetime of the identity.  But the question remains, just who was the client to whom the expert revealed the presence of gold in those samples, that later (when the heat of the summer was over) prompted Day Dawn to make a bee-line to Turcaud's prospect in the Paterson Ranges, ...for Koehn records:-

The circumstances that led to Day Dawn exploring the Paterson Range area I never elucidated entirely.  ....Ron Thomson whose experience had been gained in Africa where he had been administering an iron ore mine for a long time was not particularly useful in this domain.

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*(Musgrave, "A Travesty of Geological Justice, Corporate Mining magazine, 1991, pp17-21)