Mr Philip George Crabb was born in Kalgoorlie in 1940. He was educated at Bunbury Senior High School. His father Philip and mother Betty were both offspring of mining parents and born in Kalgoorlie. Philip’s grandparents of his father's side were both ‘cousin jacks’ born in Moonta, South Australia. Their parents emigrated from Cornwall in England. Philip’s grandparents had 12 children.

On his mother's side, his grandfather Charles Davy was born in Ballarat, Victoria and his grandfather Clarice Jones was born in Gympie, Queensland (orphaned at the age of 14 years before moving to Boulder).

Philip's grandfather George volunteered for the highly dangerous tunneling division in World War I, presumably because of his mining skills. Whilst he was away, Philip’s grandmother Tabitha battled on with the remaining 9 children, of which Philip’s father (also called Philip) was the youngest.

Below is an article from the book Australia's Fighting Sons of The Empire about Philip’s grandfather and his eldest son George who was killed in action in 1916 at Ypre in France.

All of Philip’s uncles survived World War II. His father attained the rank of First Lieutenant and served in the Middle East and PNG, seeing much action.

As a boy, the war had a profound effect on Philip and from an early age he became very liberal minded but realised he had great social responsibility to care for his fellows. The best way to do that was to ensure employment and become more dependent himself.

Philip started in mining when he was about 29, just after his father died prematurely. He has considerable experience in field activities, having been a drilling and blasting contractor, senior quarry manager and a mining contractor. Philip has been actively engaged in mining and exploration activities for the past 35 years and has extensive experience as a Director of both publicly listed and private exploration companies. He has floated a number of companies or has been heavily involved in their listing on the ASX. Those companies include:

  • Maitland Mining NL (which was eventually taken over by Joseph Gutnick),
  • Great Central Mines NL (also taken over by Gutnick),
  • Midland Court Ltd (Merchant Banking),
  • Gasgoyne Gold Mines NL (which was taken over by Coeur D’Alene and Sons of Gwalia for approx. $250 million),
  • United Minerals Corporation (which was taken over by BHP Billiton for approx. $240 million).

Philip is currently the Chairman of Thundelarra Limited and Royal Resources Limited, both publicly listed ASX companies, and a director of Aldershot Resources Ltd, a TSX listed company.

Philip is a major shareholder of Thundelarra Limited, holding 49,047,215 shares (15.4%), a substantial shareholder of Royal Resources Limited, holding 25,351,164 shares (7.27%), and a substantial shareholder of Aldershot Resources Ltd.

Philip is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a member of the Institute of Company Directors and was a founding member of the Kalgoorlie Mining Hall of Fame.

Philip was Campaign Chairman for the Cancer Foundation of WA and Campaign Chairman of Balya Cancer Self Help and Wellness (Inc).

He was also a keen football player over many years with both the Claremont Football Club and the South Bunbury Football Club. He has been both Vice President and President of South Bunbury Football Club and is currently the number one ticket holder, and is currently the Vice Patron of the Claremont Football Club.

Philip is married with three daughters, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Even at 75 years old, Philip remains active in mineral exploration and has a keen desire to be involved in another major discovery. He continues to advise on drilling matters, and still holds a current Waterwell drilling licence. He is a fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and was recently awarded a certificate for his long standing membership. Philip has won numerous awards over the years but the one he is most proud of is winning the Diggers & Dealers Award for Mining Entrepreneur of the Year 1992. He was also nominated for Western Australian Entrepreneur of the Year in August 2002.