WWTF was an interesting entry into my life. It was my first foray into "woohoo let's get a job close to home!" territory, which would be repeated a couple more times later in life. It led to one of the biggest fuck-ups of my life in my first marriage, although as I say, no regrets, because all this led me to my baby and our babies and I would change nothing on that journey! It was also a bit of a fuck-up professionally too, for a couple of reasons;
1) I was distracted by my relationship, and
2) Both my boss, and the GM, were awful.
Lake Cowal Gold Mine was developed on the edge of Lake Cowal, a generally dry lake, that does get water in it during winter or any wet seasons (like right now as I write this in 2023, it is full). I was there during commissioning, which is at the very beginning of project life, and as such we were mining through the crappy sediments at the top. This meant poor ore availability, machines getting bogged frequently, difficult conditions to drill in, and lower than desired productivity.
My main issue was this - At KCGM, and then Tarmoola and Murrin, I was given production roles, as I was adept at communicating with the people moving the dirt, and had a hand in the engineering side of it, that being my background. I was always a good foil between the two areas. At East End, I had to manage all of that myself, and did it well. But on the production side, it always relied on having people that knew what they were doing, and that is where it became tough at Cowal - we simply didn't have enough skilled and experienced people. I spent a lot of my time dealing with HR issues and trying to recruit more staff and operators. It was not easy. You see whilst I am a great conduit, without having any decent engineers and very few production people, it put a whole lot of pressure on me.
Below is a photo of what Lake Cowal pit looks like today, with the lake in the background. When I was there we were about two benches down, still in the dark brown stuff.
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I did work towards improving our operational skills by introducing RMS (my old mate Graeme). This worked ok, although I am not sure they kept it going for long after I left. I also tried to influence the engineering team by getting them to do weekly plans, blastmasters, those kinds of things. But the issue for me was my boss. He was just such a weirdo. So old school, didn't give much support and expected things to just happen. As was the case for the stupid yank GM, who was simply a fuckwit. I was pulled in eventually and asked to explain why production was down. I was struggling to figure out how to deal with these issues, so once I felt the pressure from above, I thought about it for a few days and then pulled the pin.
There was a bit more to it as well. Health was one thing. I had long been struggling with abdominal pains intermittently, which had hospitalised me numerous times. Nobody could figure out why though. Not until I had to stop at a crappy rural GP that locals referred to as Dr. Death, because there was nobody else available. Immediately, he thought it was gall stones, and referred me for a scan. As it happens, he was correct! Interestingly, due to the ex's complaints, I had also been diagnosed with sleep apnoea, and a specialist for that wanted to cut out my soft palette and drill out my nostrils - procedures I believe they no longer do. So after I had left Barrick, I had two op's in one sitting, one to do that, and the other to remove my gall bladder.
This post is not going to be a positive endorsement on the private health system. I had the op's and got discharged from Wagga Private Hospital the next day. The gall thing hardly affected me, as it was key-hole. But the other one? Holy Mother Of God. It was torture. I ended up in WW hospital because of a massive infection, and was there over a week. The most notable thing about the timing is that I was there when Steve Irwin died. It was amazing though, that Wagga pushed me out the door as soon as they could, when you consider how much money I was paying for private cover. I have had, over the years, far better treatment in the public system than the private. I only belong to a private fund now because of tax reasons.
So that was one of the main events of that year. The less said about the ex the better. I know I am writing this blog for my kids, and you may want to know more. Just know this - when I was younger (30 ish), I was still pretty emotionally immature, and subconsciously yearned for love and attention. I got it from my ex, but in a very controlling and destructive way. as I said earlier, no regrets, but I will advise you to talk to those close to you about your relationships, and listen to what they have to say.
Another part of the West Wyalong memory that lives with me is the four months I had to live in one of the local motels, the Colonial Motor Inn. They were wonderful people, so welcoming and accommodating. Plus they liked to party. Many a weekend night we would gather (the two owners, their daughter and myself, plus maybe one or two others), in the restaurant after closing, and party until the wee hours. I had a dalliance or two with their daughter as well, during that time, so yeah, it was a fun memory. Pity I don't have much professionally to draw on from my memories to complement this post. Below is a pic of the restaurant I found online, looking exactly as I remember it.
It was a short period of time really - we're talking nine months at Barrick, plus a couple more after, prior to me jetting off to JJ McDonald & Sons in Townsville. It was the last of my Production Superintendent roles, and frankly I think that was a good thing. As mentioned before, I am a great conduit, as well as a decent engineer and manager. That role, plus the support structure and people around me, made it hard for me to succeed. My problem mostly, but certainly a big learning experience about what to look for in future managers.
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