Sharon Kemp, Gutnick under the radar

It may be the kind of attitude Kalgoorlie MLA Matt Birney had hoped for when he said in his inaugural speech to the Legislative Assembly in 2001 that: “I trust that when Joseph Gutnick decides to establish another mine in Kalgoorlie in the future, as he will, that my constituency will not be so accommodating’’. A mine appears to be some way off for Great Gold Mines, which spent a mere $145,000 during the March 2005 quarter on exploration, more on administration, and $1.3 million on exploration for the first nine months of the 2005 financial year. The company is spending most of the money drilling a prospect within its Pinjin project 170 kilometres north-east of Kalgoorlie, which shares a boundary with St Barbara Mines, headed by Mr Gutnick’s former right-hand man and geologist, Ed Eshuys.