Meekatharra – From Gold Dust to Bull Dust

By 1971 gold exploration in Australia had been in decline for 35 years and was virtually non-existent. Then in August 1971, US president Richard Nixon suspended dollar convertibility into gold as a short term measure to protect the run on gold reserves. One of the first companies to see a golden opportunity opening up was Minad, a small Queensland based exploration company.Minad chose Meekatharra in Western Australia as their exploration centre. From 1972 to 1976 the company tapped into the practical knowledge of a remarkable gold prospector to eventually control ground from which close to $2 billion in gold would be extracted, although none of it would be extracted by Minad. Gold dust turned to bulldust, for Minad was beaten by the economics of the day and their prior commitment to the giant Hail Creek coal deposit.Meekatharra – a journey from Gold Dust to Bull Dust” is an autobiographical account of this period by veteran geologist Robert Pyper. In it we meet the characters who were still supplying the Meekatharra State Battery with gold ore from their mines and gouger shows dating back to the thirties and we experience Minad’s perilous journey to establish a gold mine