OutBack Mystery

Before starting ...

This story adapts some aspects on Australian Aboriginal Culture. I have tried to be as accurate as I can be when doing so. Some names and terms vary between the different language groups. I had used the terms most commonly recognised in the wider community.

When visiting areas in Australia it is customary to acknowledge the country. Even though this is a story I welcome readers to the country where it is set. I acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the land. I recognise their connection to the land waters and culture. I pay respects to the Elders past, present and emerging.

I'd had the setting of this story and the first part of it kicking around in my head for a long time. The problem was I couldn't work out how to progress the story and where it should head. I'd never thought of doing it as an erotic story. When I saw the Australian competition on Literotica it all fell into place. Within a few hours I had the story mapped out. Over the next couple of days I'd pretty much worked everything out in my head. I just had to write it down.

So here goes ...

The early morning sun didn't so much shine in the window as use a sledgehammer of heat and light to fill the room. The threadbare and faded curtains had long ago given up any pretence of providing protection. There were a few remnants of a floral pattern but what it had been was impossible to determine.

Sleeping in on a day like this was a forlorn hope. It was still early but already hot. The thermometer was well on it's way to 40+. The old timers would say it was heading over the century.

It was late when we'd arrived last night, hot, dusty and tired from the long drive. We'd had something to eat, a shower and then headed straight to bed. Now, even though there was only a sheet over the bed and I wasn't wearing anything, I was starting to sweat.

I got up, grabbed a towel, wrapped it around me and went to look out the window. I didn't need the towel for any purpose other than if someone happened to look up and see me.

Outside there was a cloudless blue sky but that was pretty much the only colour other than red. Red dirt roads, red dust, buildings of rusty corrugated iron, broken only by the occasional tree or spinifex bush and the line of hills in the distance.

Yarabunda wasn't a ghost town but it wasn't a thriving metropolis either. Though it hadn't always been this way. In the 1880s it was a booming mining town. According to the history I'd looked up before we left it had 12 hotels, 2 newspapers, a theatre and thousands of miners. But as the gold ran out people moved on to new fields. The town had kept going for quite a while with a couple of companies operating deep mines once the alluvial gold had run out. The last of these had closed down in the 1970s.

There were still a few prospectors in town, trying their luck in the old fields and diggings. Every now and then there would be news of someone getting lucky and finding a nugget. The mining companies hadn't completely left. There had been exploration work on and off over the years. Occasionally there would be a report of a new discovery or re-opening one of the old mines. So far nothing had come of it. But there had been a report a couple of weeks ago. That's why we were here. The boss reckoned there was a story so as a good journalist I had driven out here with my trusty camera man / photographer / husband Mike in tow.

Yarabunda could certainly do with a kick along. One pub, where we were staying, one store that doubled as the post office / bank / petrol station. Maybe fifty houses still standing. Though given the state of a few of them you might say some of them were leaning more than standing.

There were usually a few caravans behind the hotel. Mostly prospectors passing through with metal detectors. People from the cattle stations in the area would come into town to pick up supples and things when needed. A population of maybe 80 people, though it fluctuated a bit as people came and went.

There was an aboriginal settlement about 50km away with a population of about 300. The two towns were run separately and there wasn't a great deal of interaction between them.

We'd come up to talk to some of the people from the mining company and also the local aborigines. The plan was to stay for a day or so and see if there was a story here. Don't get me wrong I love being in the Australian Outback but you can't call the nightlife exciting.

Looking out the window I could feel the heat of the day building through the glass. There was hardly any wind. Off in the distance I could hear some galahs calling to each other as they circled in the sky.

The land was dry. There hadn't been a decent rain out here for quite a few months. Not that there was no water around. A windmill creaked and started to turn slowly, bringing water up from deep under the earth. There was water to be found if you knew where to look. I'd been told there were a number of permanent pools in the Burrungarra Ranges. We hoped when we went out to the settlement the local aborigines would take us to some.

I was quite enjoying the silence when a horrible noise started down stairs. It was a terrible hacking coughing sound. I soon realised it was the publican for the hotel who must have just got up. I bet he'd been a smoker for 40 years plus. It sounded like he was trying to jump start his breathing using a car battery.

I turned round and looked at Mike, who was still in bed. We both had this look on our faces of utter disbelief. After a minute we both cracked up laughing.

"Oh my God! Is that for real?" I eventually managed to say.

"Welcome to the outback." Replied Mike.

I lay back on the bed for a little while, but it was already too hot in the room with no air conditioner or fan.

"Come on." I said. "Not much point staying here. We should see about breakfast and then start work."

Mike sighed, pushed aside the sheet and got up.

I put on a singlet top and denim shorts. It was going to be way too hat to wear more than that. A bra was going to be uncomfortable. The top was tight and would give my beasts enough support. I thought of a short skirt but decided the shorts would be better.

Mike was putting on a t shirt and shorts.

"No underwear?" he asked.

"Too hot" I replied.

Mike smiled but didn't say anything.

Once we were dressed we headed downstairs to see what we could find for breakfast.

We made our way down the hall to the stairs. The carpet was threadbare and the walls were definitely in need of a paint. The stairs creaked as we went down them. Though what else would you expect for a 100 year old building.

When we got down to the ground floor we could hear noises coming from the back of the hotel so we headed towards them. The publican had stopped coughing. Maybe he'd had his first cigarette for the day? We poked our heads through the door and saw we'd found the kitchen.

"Morning!" said the publican's wife when she looked up and saw us. Marjorie was a nice lady. A bit weather beaten from living in the outback most of her life but a lovely soul. She was a bit indeterminate in age but I'd guess in her late 50s. Her dark hair had gone grey and her skin was wrinkled and tanned. She had a sense of humour and was always happy and smiling. This morning she was in a blue floral dress and wearing an apron.

"Sleep well?" she continued.

"Fine." We both answered in unison.

"After some breakfast are we?" she asked.

"Yes Please." I replied.

"Eggs and Bacon? Poached, Fried, Scrambled? Marjorie asked.

"Poached for me." I replied

"Scrambled" said Mike.

"Ok. Go back up to the dining room. Second on the left. I'll bring them up in a minute.' Marjorie instructed. "There's tea, coffee and bread for toast. Only instant coffee I'm afraid."

"No worries." Mike and I replied in unison.

We headed back up the hall to the dining room. Mike put the kettle on. I found the bread and put in a couple of slices for toast.

Tea and toast made we sat down to wait for the rest of breakfast.

"Interesting couple." observed Mike. We both laughed.

"She's lovely. He's a bit strange though. Maybe been out here too long." I responded.

"Yeah you get some interesting types in places like this. What's the agenda today?" Mike asked.

"Ummm. Breakfast first. Meeting Craig from Barrier Gold this morning. Then visiting the aboriginal community this afternoon. After that I suppose it depends if I've got a story and you've got enough pictures."

Mike nodded.

We'd met about four years ago when we were both backpacking through Asia. Mike's a photographer and I'm a journalist. We started a blog of our travels which ended up getting quite a few followers. When we got home we managed to both get jobs with the same news bureau. They were quite happy to have a team they could send out, particularly to out of the way places. Some of the others didn't want to leave the city. Not us. Mike and I both loved a bit of adventure.

Marjorie brought in breakfast and we tucked into it. A typical country breakfast. Simple but big and hearty. We sat silently for a while as we finished our cuppas, both looking out the window at the dry dusty main street, imagining the temperature steadily rising. The hotel was quite cool with its thick stone walls but I was thinking we were going to have to face the day eventually.

"Come on." I said after a few minutes. "We can't stay here all day. Got your stuff?"

Mike nodded and stood up. I sometimes wondered if Mike had a closer relationship with his camera gear than he did with me. He always seemed to have a camera bag with him. Then again the gear wasn't cheap and you never knew when the perfect shot would come up.

Marjorie was in the hall as we went out.

"Hi Marjorie. We're off. See you this afternoon." I said

"Righto." She called out. "If you need any lunch let me know. Otherwise dinner starts at six."

"No worries. Bye." I replied.

We headed for the door. As we opened the door it was like being hit by the blast from an oven. It was almost enough to take your breath away. We looked at each other, smiled and headed off to Barrier Gold's office.

They had set up an office in one of the old shops on the main street. It was about three doors down from the hotel so we walked down. Even though it was early by half way we'd both broken out into a sweat.

We opened the door and it now felt like we'd walked into the fridge. The airconditioner was going full blast and whoever set the temperature must have come from the Arctic! The cold instantly made my nipples hard and I was beginning to regret not wearing a bra.

There was no one in reception but as the door closed a man came through from an office down the hall.

"G'Day. You must be Stephanie and Mike. I'm Craig." He said holding out his hand, but not quite making eye contact.

"Hi Stephanie." I greeted him shaking his hand.

"Mike." Mike said shaking his hand after.

"Found the place OK I see. Then again there's not much to Yarabunda. Well at the moment. Come through." Craig said leading us down the hall.

We went down the hall and turned into a large open room full of maps and photos with a large table in the centre.

"Tea? Coffee?" Craig asked.

We both shook our heads. "Just had some." I replied.

"OK." Said Craig. "You said on the phone you wanted to do a story on the Blundell prospect?"

"Yep." I said nodding my head.

"OK. Not a great deal to say at the moment. It's still early days, but the resource report we've got back indicates about 100 million tonnes with a 5 gram per tonne cut off grade. So nothing to be sneezed at." Craig explained smiling at the last part.

Craig got out a map which he laid on the table.

"Here's Yarabunda. There are we're looking at is about 20km north of the town. It's under quite a bit of cover which is why it hadn't been found before." He explained pointing at the map.

"What stage of planning are you up to?" I asked

"Well effectively just finished exploration. We've got a couple of drill rigs out at the moment doing in-fill and delineation drilling. We've submitted documents to the government to move from an exploration licence to a mining licence. That will take a while to process."

I nodded taking some notes.

"Internally we've got guys looking at various mining options and what would be involved. We have to get a bankable study up before we can get the money to proceed. But we're all pretty confident it will be a goer."

"What sort of time frame?" I asked

"I don't think we'd get all the approvals together for at least 3 to 5 years." Craig answered. "Construction and development would take another 2 to 3 years before mining actually starts. So 5 to 8 years before we see the first gold poured. This isn't a small project."

"Has the company got the money to get it off the ground?" I asked

"The finance guys are looking into that. We might do a stock placement or bank loans or a combination of the two. There have been some approaches from bigger companies who want to farm in and pay for the development. So no worries about funding. Just working out the best option."

"Are you allowed to say who's looking at farming in?" I continued.

"Sorry. That's still confidential."

"Fair enough. How many jobs are you looking at? Everyone always wants to know that?"

"Around 1500 on site during construction. Probably about 300 when we're operational. The plan is to sub-contract as much of the construction work to Australian companies as possible. Then when we're up and running we'll employ as many locals as possible, though that's going to depend on the skills. We want to put money back into the local community."

"What discussions have you had with the local aboriginal community?" I asked, wondering what sort of response I'd get. Mining companies and the traditional owners of the land haven't always seen eye to eye.

"Well again early days." Craig responded. "We've submitted all the paperwork and have had some discussions with the local elders. Because the deposit is under quite a bit of sand it's away from most heritage sites. If we were up in the Burrungarra Ranges there would be more of an issue. There are some areas which are sensitive. We've noted these and are including buffer zones and the like in the plans. I suppose you could say we're talking to them. The company has the intention of doing the right thing."

Craig pointed to the map as he explained things. We could see the ranges were some distance from the site but a few creeks passed through the area.

"OK" I said writing my notes as quickly as I could. "We're going out to the aboriginal community this afternoon to talk to them. You said we could have a look at the site?"

"Yeah. Sure." Craig replied. "Not a great deal to see, but you're welcome to have a look at one of the rigs and get a general view of the site. I'll take you out. Wait here. Just let me lock up."

Craig locked the front door, grabbed his hat and keys from his office then led us down the hall to the back door.

"Jump in the cruiser. No sense taking two vehicles out." Craig hit the remote for the Land Cruiser and then locked the office door behind us.

Mike jumped in the back seat with his bag of tricks, I sat in the front passenger seat and Craig got into the driver's seat. Craig started the engine and switched the airconditioner to hurricane. He must have wanted to be a racing car driver in his youth as he planted his foot and we tore out of the car park and hurtled down the road leaving a cloud of dust behind us.

"When did you get into town?" Craig asked, shouting a bit over the engine.

"Late yesterday." I replied. "We drove up from Perth. We're staying at the hotel."

"OK. Good. The pub's not too bad. Yarabunda's not really pumping with energy." Craig said laughing.

"Doesn't worry us." I replied. "We've been to quite a few small places and towns off the beaten track."

After about 15 minutes Craig slowed down and turned off the main road onto a track. We wound our way through the bust for about another 10 minutes and then saw a mast in the distance which was obviously one of the drill rigs. A few minutes later we pulled up and got out.

The driller and the two offsiders looked at us. I could sense I was getting the once over quite a few times. Given the male to female in places like Yarabunda is about 100 to 1 you have to get used to it.

Craig gave the guys a wave and they went back to work.

Craig came round and shouted to us a description of what was happening over the noise of the rig. We were closer to the Burrungarra Ranges than in town but they were still some distance off. There were some basic tracks which they'd bulldozed through the scrub so the rigs could get through.

Mike took some photos while I made notes. We were all swatting away the files in the good old Aussie salute. After a few minutes Craig went up to the driller and had a quick conversation. He came back and we all got back in the Landcruiser.

"Told you there's not put to see at the moment. The other rig is about one and a half k's that way." Craig said pointing. "The area's pretty flat. Mostly spinifex and mulga trees. There's the odd sandlewood but the old timers cleared a lot of that decades ago. At the moment we're on the eastern edge of the deposit. It goes down that way for about 2k as far as we can tell. It's about 100 metres wide at the surface and dips quite steeply to the north west. It does head towards the ranges but we haven't been able to tell if it goes under them."

"How are you looking to mine it? Open pit? Underground?" I ask

"Open pit to start with. If it extends at depth we'll see when the time comes. At the moment we need to see if it's continuous or a line of deposits. So we might have a series of pits not just one."

"Makes sense." I replied. I have picked up enough knowledge about mining to at least follow what someone like Craig is talking about.

"I'll show you a bit more then we'll head back into town and you can have a look at some of the samples and data."

Craig drove us around some of the tracks. Going past a few drill sites. Everything was dry and some parts were quite sandy. It was nice to know the 4 wheel drive could handle it. After about 20 minutes we emerged back onto the main road and headed back to town.

Back in the car park behind the office Craig took us into a shed. It was hot outside but a corrugated iron shed adds another dimension to heat. Within a few seconds I was soaked in sweat with my top sticking to me.

Craig took us to some tables with core trays on them. Red soil at the top of the hole made way for dark rocks further down. I recognised some veins of quartz going through the drill core.

"The main mineralised zone is in a dolerite. It starts at about 60 metres in this hole and goes for about another 100 metres. This is one of the shallower areas. It looks like the deposit is hydrothermal, probably around the time the dolerite intrusion came through."

I nodded. Mike indicated if he could take some photos.

"Just a couple of photos. But nothing to identify the depth etc." Craig indicated.

"No worries." Said Mike snapping a couple of photos, zooming right in a couple of times.

A few minutes later we were finished.

"That all you need?" Craig asked.

"I think so. I'll got through my notes and see if there's anything we've missed." I replied. "If there is I'll drop by tomorrow. We're staying the night and probably heading off tomorrow."

"Ahh ok. If you haven't got anything else planned let me buy you two dinner tonight." Craig offered. "Though the only option is the pub."

"OK thanks." Mike and I replied. "That would be lovely." I added.

We said our goodbyes and shook hands again.

Mike and I headed back to the main street and up to the hotel to fetch our vehicle.