Mining folklore has it that it was Ken Talbot who, when equipped with some idle drilling rigs and facing terrain made inaccessible by the Queensland wet season, made the decision to operate the rigs from the side of a road. From that unconventional position, the rigs made the discoveries that would ultimately form the core of Macarthur Coal operations, mines that would eventually help make Mr Talbot a billionaire.

Yesterday, as concerns continued to mount over the safety of Mr Talbot and his fellow Sundance Resources board members following the disappearance of their charter flight over the jungles of Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mr Talbot was being remembered as “a hard-core entrepreneur" and an unmatched supporter of Australia’s junior resources sector.