There are vocational rewards many times over for those who choose to live in the bush. Maronan Metals exploration manager Andrew Barker is a case in point.

The Maronan project is located roughly between the Ernest Henry and Cannington mines and part of the network of reserves making up the greater region known as the Isa Carpentaria Minerals Provence.

Andrew’s father was a stockbroker and mother a doctor. The family grew up in Melbourne and he went to Scots College before studying science and ‘falling in love’ with geology.

Main image: Maronan Metals exploration manager Andrew Barker

He took a varied professional path to Cloncurry via Kalgoorlie, where he worked for a number of gold mining companies over 10 years before taking up a position with Evolution Mining at its Cowal gold operations in New South Wales.

It was important for mining companies to have a presence in dormitory towns by way of earning and keeping a social licence to operate, Mr Barker said.

The region had more than enough to offer this family including wife Tegan, their 13-year-old daughter and sons, nine and 11, Andrew said.

“It is very difficult to sort of understand what’s going on in a community if you’re not actually part of the community,” Mr Barker said. 

“It is really important to us as a company that we have our key personnel out there so that they understand what’s important to the community. 

“They’re actually part of the community. My wife’s on the show committee out there, my kids are in the swim club. 

“It’s an important way that we can actually give back to the community, for want of a better term, by actually just being there and participating, helping with kids at the schools and the different events that go on in town.”

The opportunities the lifestyle offered the family were varied, Mr Barker said.

“We can live outside and have a good lifestyle. I guess there are flip sides to everything. Winter in Cloncurry is beautiful. It’s 25 degrees. We can go out on the local dam, sort of paddleboarding and fishing. 

“It’s been a bit warm recently, but we’re not too far from the Gulf. It’s a four-hour drive up to Karumba and Burketown. 

“There’s some amazing fishing and stuff, so if you’re like an outdoor lifestyle, it’s a fantastic place to live.”

Professionally, it was the scale of the Maronan project which drew him to Cloncurry, Mr Barker said.

“The Maronan deposit itself, we’ve got a potential strike up to a kilometre and it goes at least 1.2 kilometres deep. 

“It was the scale of it that really intrigued me and got me interested in joining and being part of the team.”

Just another day on the Cloncurry prospecting fields.