Roy Woodall 1930–2021
Phil McFadden A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A 2 Tingha Place, Fisher, ACT 2611, Australia.
* Correspondence to: mcfadden@iinet.net.au
Historical Records of Australian Science 34(2) 136-143 https://doi.org/10.1071/HR23002
Published: 10 July 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Academy of Science.
Abstract
Facing a choice between postgraduate study and the world of work, Roy Woodall took the advice of his research supervisor at the University of California, Berkeley, to return to Australia and find ore deposits. He spent almost all his working life with Western Mining Corporation where, from 1967 to 2001, he was successively Chief Geologist, Exploration Manager, and Director of Exploration. From humble beginnings he formed and led the team that became Australia’s greatest discoverer of ore deposits, including Olympic Dam, while he was recognised internationally as an icon in the mineral exploration world.
Keywords: earth sciences, geology, historical article, metals, mining.
References
Cloos, E. (n.d.) ‘Memorial to Edward Hollister Wisser 1895–1970’, www.geosociety.org/documents/gsa/memorials/v02/wisser-EH.pdf, viewed March 2023.Ehrig, K. (2021) ‘Obituary: Dr Roy Woodall AO FAusIMM 1930–2021’, https://www.ausimm.com/bulletin/bulletin-articles/obituary-dr-roy-woodall-ao-fausimm-1930-2021/, viewed January 2023.
Goldschmidt, V. M. (1958) Geochemistry, ed. A. Muir, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Grguric, B. A., Madsen, I. C., and Pring, A. (2018) Woodallite, a new chromium analogue of iowaite from the Mount Keith nickel deposit, Western Australia, Mineralogical Magazine, 65, 427–435.
| Woodallite, a new chromium analogue of iowaite from the Mount Keith nickel deposit, Western AustraliaCrossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hill, J., Hope, T., Large, R., and Royle, D. (eds) (2020) Australian Mineral Discovers 1950-2010: Personal Stories of 65 Geoscientists in Their Search for the Pot of Gold, The Royal Society of Tasmania, Hobart, pp. 196–198.
Hunt, J. P. (n.d.) ‘Memorial to Charles Meyer 1915–1987’, www.geosociety.org/documents/gsa/memorials/v19/Meyer-C.pdf, viewed March 2023.
Longfellow, H. W. (1898) Song of Hiawatha, M. A. Donohue & Co., Chicago, Canto V (Hiawatha’s fasting), lines 80–82, https://gutenberg.org/files/30795/30795-h/30795-h.htm, viewed March 2023.
Owen, H. B. (1954) Bauxite in Australia, Bulletin No. 24, Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, Canberra.
Ralph, G. M. (~1995) ‘In the Woodall class’, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-495721877/view, viewed March 2023.
Stanton, R. (2008) ‘Roy Woodall, earth scientist’, https://www.science.org.au/Learning/general-audience/history/interviews-australian-scientists/dr-roy-woodlall-earth-scientist/, viewed January 2023.
Travis, G. D., Woodall, R., and Bartram, G. D. (1971) The Geology of the Kalgoorlie Goldfield, Special Publication 3, Geological Society of Australia, Hornsby, NSW, pp. 175–190.
Woodall, R. (1965) ‘Structure of the Kalgoorlie goldfield’, in Geology of Australian Ore Deposits, vol. 1 , 2nd edn, Eighth Commonwealth Mining and Metallurgical Congress, Australia and New Zealand, ed. J. McAndrew, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Melbourne, pp. 71–79.
Woodall, R. (1975) ‘Gold in the Precambrian shield of Western Australia’, in Economic Geology of Australia and Papua New Guinea, vol. I, ed. C. L. Knight, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Melbourne, pp. 175–184.
Woodall, R. (1979) ‘Gold—Australia and the world’, in Gold Mineralization, vol. 3 , eds J. E. Glover and D. I. Groves, University of Western Australia Geology Department & Extension Service, pp. 1–34.
Woodall, R. (1984a) Success in mineral exploration: a matter of confidence, Geoscience Canada, 11, 41–46.
Woodall, R. (1984b) Success in mineral exploration: confidence in prosperity, Geoscience Canada, 11, 83–90.
Woodall, R. (1984c) Success in mineral exploration: confidence in science and ore deposit models, Geoscience Canada, 11, 127–132.
Woodall, R. (1985) Limited vision: a personal experience of mining geology and scientific mineral exploration, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 32, 231–237.
| Limited vision: a personal experience of mining geology and scientific mineral explorationCrossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Woodall R. (1990) ‘Gold in Australia’, in Geology of the Mineral Deposits of Australia and Papua New Guinea, ed. F. E. Hughes, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (Monograph 14), Melbourne, pp. 45–67.
Woodall, R. (1993) ‘Exploration of blind orebodies’, in An International Conference on Crustal Evolution, Metallogeny and Exploration of the Eastern Goldfields, eds P. R. Williams and J. A. Haldane, Australian Geological Survey Organisation Record 1993/54, pp. 207–209. https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/14650/Rec1993_054.pdf, viewed March 2023.
Woodall, R. (1994) Empiricism and concept in successful mineral exploration, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 41, 1–10.
| Empiricism and concept in successful mineral explorationCrossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Woodall, R. (1996) ‘Mineral exploration: industrial research at the boundary of science’, Manuscript copy of Woodall’s 1996 Ian Wark Lecture, held by the Australian Academy of Science.
Woodall, R. and Travis, G. A. (1970) ‘The Kambalda nickel deposits, Western Australia’, in Proceedings of the 9th Commonwealth Mining and Metallurgy Congress, vol. 2, ed. M. J. Jones, The Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, London, pp. 517–533.
