Episode 113 of Coffee with Samso is the first of the Exploration Discovery Series that shares great discovery stories. Samso will use these series to share the thoughts that made the discoveries and the stories that followed.   In this first of the series, we have Jon Hronsky, of Western Mining Services telling us about the discovery of the West Musgraves Ni-Cu-PGE district.   The West Musgrave Ni-Cu-PGE is more than a discovery as Jon Hronsky puts it, this is a shift in understanding. A paradigm shift in the understanding of mineral exploration.   This is a great story of how thinking outside the box brought about a change in looking at discoveries. I loved the idea that it was during this significant time that culminated in a whole new way of looking a finding major deposits.   Western Mining was and is still the only company that was a world class explorer who dared to look for the Tier 1 deposits. Funding was not for mining the market but rather for the discoveries that was to be delivered by the geoscientists who were valued and cherished.   Another take away from this episode is that release of geophysical data had helped in the discovery. The whole concept of understanding deep seated structures being a source of mineralisation was only possible with the availability of government released datasets.   Jon shared a lot of compelling thoughts on the subject and I got a lot more out of this conversation than I had first thought.   I have included time stamps for the video below:   Chapters:   00:00 Start 01:06 The story begins. 01:23 What the discovery meant for mineral exploration. 02:10 Setting the scene for the story. 03:32 A shift in thinking about Nickel Exploration. 04:19 The start of exploring for a Norilsk type deposit. 05:27 The discovery of Voisey Bay Nickel deposit. 06:00 The birth of the new concept of Exploration Exploration. 08:50 The changing of old to new exploration thinking. 11:21 Why the Musgrave was still available. 13:24 The moment West Musgrave became live. 15:05 Was this a Nickel or an Exploration moment. 16:29 What we know now was not in the old days... 17:27 The emergence of digital geophysical database. 19:30 Missing out on Tropicana. 20:36 Exploration activities at the West Musgraves. 21:54 The Rob Waugh Story. 23:17 West Musgrave discovery was the beginning of more discoveries. 25:03 The reasons why good meticulous mineral exploration is valuable. 26:29 Julimar is a product of this early thinking process. 27:55 Where is the next frontier in Australia? 28:24 The greater McArthur Basin, Northern Territory. 30:11 Discovery is all about applying data knowledge. 31:46 The South Australian potential. 33:09 Potential elephants still available. 33:38 Early work is important but commonly not funded. 33:58 The Encounter Story. 34:43 The long gestation period of exploration. 37:28 Conclusion