Thomas stepped down from his duties at the company last month after nearly 10 years as MD.
 
He was 63 years old.
 
Thomas lived and worked in Papua New Guinea for 27 years and was credited with co-discovering the famous Lihir Island gold deposit in that country.
 
He later formed Niugini Mining with his former university tutor and current Roy Hill director Ian Plimer to explore for epithermal gold across the Mediterranean volcanic belt, leading to discoveries in Greece, Turkey and Spain.
 
The veteran explorer took Kingsgate from a single-mine operation at Chatree in central Thailand to a company with assets on three continents.
 
During Thomas’ tenure, Chatree produced 1.5 million ounces of gold.
 
“Gavin’s legacy to the mining industry goes well beyond Kingsgate,” Kingsgate chairman Ross Smyth-Kirk said today in a statement.
 
“He had more than 40 years of experience operating throughout the world.
 
“Under his leadership, Kingsgate evolved from a single operation in Thailand into a geographically diverse asset base.”
 
Kingsgate described Thomas’ battle for his health as being fought “with the same vigour that has exemplified his working life and the outstanding contribution he has made to mineral exploration, discovery and operation throughout Australia and the Pacific Rim”
 
Even with deteriorating health, he insisted on flying to a site meeting in Thailand in May.
 
Thomas was recognised, in particular, for his work in PNG, where he was credited as being the first white man ever seen by tens of thousands of Papua New Guineans.
 
“Just imagine a spaceship landing here and a crazy person coming out,” he had said describing the experience.
 
“That was the sort of thing we did. We got out of helicopters ... they saw us descending and it would be like six spaceships.”
 
Thomas was born on December 30, 1950 to Ken Thomas, founder of the trucking empire TNT-Thomas National Transport and his geologist wife Anne.
 
He had two sisters Megan and Elizabeth and brothers Rody and Andrew.
 
He is survived by his wife Barbara and their three daughters Ellen, Laura and Jenny, son-in-law Dr Tim Matthews and baby granddaughter, Imogene Anne.