It is very difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.  Upton Sinclair – The Jungle 1906

For me this quote is more about company values than anything else.  Employees will do what they are paid to do.  It could be a salary at the end of a month or an incentive that drives their mindset, work ethic and decision making process.  There are the exceptions, but we are not talking about them right now.

For many businesses this is the age old system that has worked to drive revenues up.  The first cause of concern is that revenues seem to be the only key purpose to the exercise.  The values of the company are steeping in making profit before anything else, be it care for the environment, employee growth and even human life.

This was the case a few years ago at Anglo American.  Tonnage used to be number one objective, so much so that if a person died underground in order to achieve that goal, that was acceptable.  Salaries depended on meeting goals, not on saving human beings.  To Anglo’s immense credit, they are now pushing safety as the number one objective.  What this means is that performance is measured not by how much was mined but rather if every employee returns safely at the end of the day.  Human life has quite rightfully replaced tonnage as the primary management objective.

Pete Laburn

A empresa Anglo American lançou neste mês, para seus funcionários, a campanha do “Fique Sabendo”, do Ministério da Saúde. A intenção é que os empregados tenham conhecimento da sua sorologia. Além disso, os testes serão realizados nas unidades de saúde pública, o que garante que nenhum funcionário precisa revelar o resultado. Leia a seguir.

Anglo American lança campanha de incentivo ao teste rápido de HIV oferecido pelo governo brasileiro

Destinada aos empregados, a campanha faz parte das ações da Política de AIDS do Grupo

A Anglo American, uma das maiores mineradoras do mundo, lançou no início do mês de novembro uma campanha de incentivo à testagem voluntária de HIV por meio do “Fique Sabendo”, programa do governo federal que oferece esses testes à população. A empresa tem como objetivo, por meio dessa ação, informar os empregados sobre os pontos positivos que o conhecimento da sorologia traz e como a realização do teste está sendo usada como forma de combate ao vírus.

De acordo com Silvia Almeida, assistente de Responsabilidade Social da Anglo American, essa informação é muito importante ao indivíduo, pois às vezes a pessoa não conhece sua sorologia e fica doente o que pode ser evitado com o diagnóstico precoce. Além disso, quando isso acontece, esta pessoa pode estar transmitindo o vírus.

“Com essa campanha também vamos aproveitar para divulgar as formas de apoio que a Anglo American oferece em caso de resultado positivo. O empregado que aderir ao teste, que deverá ser realizado em postos públicos, terá total liberdade para expor ou não o resultado de sua condição sorológica à empresa e terá sempre a sua identidade preservada.

Lembrando que esse direito também vale para qualquer outro incidente médico que o empregado enfrente”, destaca Silvia, que é empregada da Anglo American há 25 anos e portadora do vírus HIV desde 1994.

Como contribuição para a minimização das conseqüências desta epidemia, a Anglo American oferece auxílio para todos aqueles que procurarem conhecer sua sorologia. “Aids é uma epidemia grave, e a infecção é silenciosa. Podemos ajudar aqueles que nos procurarem. Não podemos perder o foco na prevenção, pois prevenir é uma opção e está nas mãos de cada um de nós”, diz Silvia.

Os testes serão realizados nas unidades de saúde pública. Além disso, para incentivar ainda mais os empregados ao “Fique Sabendo”, a Anglo American está promovendo uma série de palestras, onde mantém operações, para apresentar a política de Aids da empresa. Nos dias 03, 04 e 05 de novembro, as apresentações foram realizadas em Niquelândia, Horto Aranha e Barro Alto. Entre 16 e 19 deste mês, as cidades que receberão a palestra serão Belo Horizonte, Goiânia, Cubatão e São Paulo.

Os pontos fortes do diagnóstico

Hoje em dia, a maioria dos casos de mortalidade por AIDS está ligada ao não-conhecimento da doença e suas conseqüentes complicações. E o diagnóstico precoce propicia o retardamento dessas doenças e auxilia a eficácia do tratamento. Assim como ajuda a conter a transmissão do vírus. “É importante dizer que muitas pessoas que não sabem sua sorologia, podem estar infectadas sem sintomas e mesmo assim serem transmissoras do HIV”, diz Silvia.

Isso porque o vírus pode ficar alojado no organismo por 5, 10 ou mais anos sem sintomas aparentes, dependendo da resposta imunológica de cada pessoa. Ela finaliza: “Atualmente, os tratamentos são muito eficazes e, no Brasil, a Aids tem tratamento e medicamento gratuitos”.

Anglo American e Aids

A luta contra a Aids é uma bandeira tradicional da Anglo American e faz parte de sua política de responsabilidade social. A companhia foi uma das primeiras a desenvolver uma ampla estratégia de conscientização e prevenção com o objetivo de minimizar a contaminação entre seus empregados.

Hoje, na África do Sul, onde a questão do HIV/Aids é mais crítica, a Anglo American fornece gratuitamente medicamentos para o tratamento de seus empregados portadores do HIV, além de oferecer tratamento terapêutico para o empregado e seus familiares. No Brasil, a companhia realiza em datas específicas ações para reforçar a briga contra o vírus HIV, e estas ações são extensivas às comunidades onde a empresa está presente. No Dia Mundial de Combate à Aids, em 1º de dezembro, a empresa faz ampla campanha de conscientização de seus empregados para a prevenção da contaminação e disseminação da doença.

Sobre a Anglo American

A Anglo American é um dos maiores grupos em mineração e recursos naturais do mundo. Com suas subsidiárias, joint ventures e associadas, é líder global em platina e diamantes, e tem participação significativa em metais básicos, minério de ferro e carvão, em operações na África, Europa, América do Sul e do Norte, Austrália e Ásia.

Com operações instaladas desde 1973 no País, a Anglo American Brasil – responsável pelo negócio de Metais Básicos – possui plantas de níquel em Niquelândia, nióbio em Ouvidor, fosfatados em Catalão, Ouvidor e Cubatão. A empresa também está investindo US$ 1,8 bilhão no Projeto Barro Alto para ampliar sua produção de níquel – a partir de 2011, a nova planta tem expectativa de produzir 36 mil t/ano de níquel por ano ao longo de 26 anos de operação.

A Anglo American é uma empresa determinada a crescer no Brasil, trabalhando em conjunto com as comunidades locais e aplicando as melhores práticas de negócio adquiridas ao redor do mundo por quase um século.

Fonte: Anglo American

Agência de Notícias da Aids – 11.11.2009

What really possesses men to dig a hole to 4.5 km beneath the surface of the earth? How do you dig a hole that big, and more over how many people does it take to make a hole that big? And what is so important that we have got to risk the rewards of such a dangerous adventure? The simple answer is gold.

ANGLOGOLD have embarked on a project to deepen the flagship Mponeng gold mine in South Africa and extend the life of the mine to beyond 2040. The current life of mine runs to 2017 and a project is underway to deepen the mine to further exploit the Ventersdorp Contact Reef (VCR), pushing the life out by another nine years via declines.

In September 2007 the Mponeng gold mine retook the record to become the deepest point in the world, pushing down through 3,770 metres. Their extension project, which is thought to cost R9bn, would push the mine down to between 4,300 and 4,600 metres.

The project is designed to maintain feed at the nearby gold plant steady at 160,000 tonnes a month. Mponeng has been exceeding feed to the plant and there is a 40,000 tonne stockpile sitting in the plant which makes you wonder how we can really be in a pickle financially around the world when gold is at an all time high price wise.

The project will entail the construction of three vertical tertiary shafts to access the VCR. Experiance from other mines which attack the same ore deposit give the Mponeng team a good idea of what to expect from the reef. It is considered a very uniform body with a steady volume of gold ore extraction as they follow the seam.

One of the key issues management has to consider in advancing the project is the safety of its workers, who will be dealing with rocks at a temperature of 70 degrees Celsius, and in an area where seismicity is an issue, particularly at depth. Over 5900 people are employed in the warren of tunnels under the city and safety is of paramount importance to the company who have set safety records in many ways over the last 10 years. The likely option is that the work will be as mechanised as possible, keeping as large a gap between workers and danger as possible.

The Mponeng main shaft, which reaches to 85 level (some 2,300 metres below surface) was commissioned in 1986 and the sub-shaft in 1993. More recently, the shaft deepening project down to 123 level was undertaken to access the Ventersdorp Contact Reef (VCR) to extend the life of the mine by three years.

The mine extension consists of four parallel decline shafts that are to be sunk from the 120 level to gain access to the Ventersdorp Contact Reef on levels 123 and 126, some 3,600 meters below surface. The declines will be equipped with a conveyor belt, monorail and chairlift to service the new mining area.

The project, from which production will start in 2013, is expected to produce 2.5Moz of gold over a period of 10 years, at a capital cost of $252m, and will extend the life of the mine by approximately eight years to approximately 2024. It also creates further opportunities to access additional potential projects in the Mponeng area, including Western Ultra Deep Levels (WUDLS), further to the south which ultimately will take the mine beyond the 4km zone as it pushes ever deeper.

Since the commission of the main shaft in 1986 some 422,011 ounces of gold have been recovered from the Mponeng mine operation at an average cost of $236 per ounce. This works out at approximately $9 billion in costs to operate the mine, but gives a profit in excess of $34 billion at today’s gold prices. The volume of earth removed from the core of the mine is staggering when you put into scope the 160,000 tonne target that the mine aims to produce each month. Conversely the total of square metres mined has increased from 20,000 m2 a year to 27,500 m2 a year since 2003.

Ventilation is critical for this project and extending the mine further has presented a huge engineering problem. However Mponeng is one of AngloGold Ashanti’s showcase mines, as reflected in its use of technology. It boasts the world’s only ice plant of its kind, used for ventilation cooling in a mine where the rock temperature can reach close to 70°C. The ice plant consists of six units, each capable of producing 800 tonnes of ice a day. With one of these acting as a contingency unit Mponeng produces 4,000 tonnes of ice a day, and this is done by using vacuum conditions to induce the formation of ice at the triple point of water. The ice is mixed with brine to prevent it forming blocks, and is poured down the ventilation shaft to 84 level (some 2,300 metres below surface). With the ice having five times less specific gravity than water, the mine reduces by that factor the amount it is required to pump to achieve the same cooling.

When you think about it, there is very little that man is incapable of, and our demand for minerals and raw materials is insatiable. I sometimes sit and think to myself, we must have removed millions of tonnes of gold from the earth below us already. Where has it all gone. Man has been panning, mining and speculating for gold as long as history can remember yet our thirst for more drives us to dig many miles below the crust we trust as being safe, just to ensure that somewhere someone is in power over the rest of us, by having massive stock piles of the world’s most precious resource.

Police in Istanbul, Turkey fired tear gas and broke out the hose on anti-globalization protesters of the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.) meetings.

6 Oct 09 | InfoShop News

“Police in Turkey have used tear gas and water cannons to break up protests against a meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund,” the BBC reports.

Financial Times (FT) Chief U.S. correspondent Krishna Guha reports the “self-styled ‘group of 30′ leading financial figures” met on Monday where “present and former policymakers joined bankers and economists” to suggest the I.M.F. should “monitor” the global financial system on a “near-continuous basis”. The BBC adds: “The I.M.F. is urgently discussing ways to make itself more representative of the new world order where developing countries make up nearly half of the world economy, but only have about one-third of the votes in the I.M.F.”

Delphine Strauss at the FT reports up to 6,000—of whom “appeared to be largely union members or students”—showed up to demonstrate against the meeting of the oligarchs:

Protesters and passers-by took shelter in doorways as riot police and armoured vehicles cleared Taksim square, the city’s transport hub. Some wrapped scarves around their face as protection against clouds of tear gas.

About 100 people were taken into custody, some for throwing stones and petrol bombs as they tried to break through a police cordon and march towards the conference centre, a few hundred yards north of Taksim square, Turkish media reported.

“There are police everywhere, we had 20 police just on the corner,” said a receptionist at one hotel on Taksim square, adding that calm had returned with people walking around outside by noon….

Protesters were authorised to march along Istiklal Street to Taksim––a popular route for demonstrators on most weekends—but not to continue north to the secure area dubbed “congress valley”.

Like recent protests in Iran and Pittsburgh, Turkish police justify assaulting the protesters with the rationale that people are ‘only free [sic] to assemble where they’re ordered to do so’. The assault isn’t so much to subordinate demonstrators as it is to send a message to those already apprehensive to standing up for their natural rights. The message: ‘What we say goes!’

The protesters are routinely referred to as “anti-capitalist”—which isn’t a false application to a vast majority of them, but is used pejoratively and that should not be mistaken because it manufactures avatars of those who “appeared to be largely union members or students” as nothing more than reactionary teenage angst and so-called ‘union thugs’ calling for the reincarnation of Josef Stalin. The people are protesting a relative handful of oligarchs within the international banking cartel exploiting the Third World and working people in the so-called “developed” and “developing” world to enhance its power and prosperity. To simply call the protests “anti-capitalist” is a deliberate miscommunication of the protesters’ message which would not be radical in a well-informed, free society: We do not consent to a parasitic elite feeding off of what’s become their global plantation.

“The World Bank is pushing at the meetings for rich countries to give it more money so that it can increase its lending activities to poor and middle-income countries,” Mr. Guha reported with Chris Giles at the FT just before the Istanbul meeting. “The bank has already stepped up its lending and is making the case that it is in rich countries’ ’self-interest’ to provide the bank with more money at a time when their public finances are under severe strain.”

The World Bank and I.M.F. are revenue-seeking international banking institutions that lend money from for-profit banks to Third World countries at interest. The money is initially stolen from the productive working classes of the ‘developed’ world by the State and handed over to the so-called “private” banks to lend back to the State with interest to exercise relatively more excessive usury on those already exploited most.

Monday, Professor Alnoor Ebrahim of Harvard University wrote an op-ed at the FT criticizing these two institutions for its exploitation. Prof. Ebrahim writes that the policies of the World Bank’s 65-year history are contrary to its “sole purpose of fighting poverty”.

“The bank’s sister institution, the International Monetary Fund, shares this conflict,” Prof Ebrahim adds. “The bank’s business model fails at the very foundations of its structure. Its two main sources of revenue, interest payments on loans from borrowing governments and contributions from wealthy member governments, both stand in conflict with its anti-poverty mission.”

The interest is used to virtually enslave the Third World—eliminating the growth potential—picking the winners and losers from the developing world. The so-called “contributions from wealthy member governments” are anything but contributions. They’re investments by force. Prof. Ebrahim adds:

As with any lender, the bank relies on making loans so that interest payments can provide a steady stream of income. But this breeds a persistent problem that needs to be addressed. Because the poorest countries are often unable to keep up with payments, even on low-interest loans, the bank has steadily shifted its lending to those that can—middle-income countries such as Brazil, India and China. These countries could secure financing in private capital markets, but are attracted to the bank’s more favourable terms for anti-poverty programmes. In addition, they know the bank needs them to survive. So they can push for even better conditions, such as reducing social and environmental safeguards intended to protect the most vulnerable communities and natural resources….

The second main source of revenue for the bank, contributions from its wealthiest member governments, also compromises its mission to the poor. Based on a corporate shareholder model, this arrangement gives the strongest voice to its biggest donors. This governance model has been widely criticised for creating a moral hazard problem-–the countries that wield the most voting power are not accountable to citizens who are affected by their decisions. The bank needs these infusions of money from the richest members, which support grants and interest-free loans to some of its poorest countries. But though the shareholder model may be useful for generating funds, it undermines a critical component of development—accountability to the people most affected.

Alan Beattie reports at the FT: “Most of the fund’s activity this year has concentrated on central and eastern Europe, where successive governments have struggled with capital flight and current account deficits.” But, “it issued a range of new policy guidelines and lending instruments suggesting an overwhelming imperative to get money out of the door fast with fewer strings attached”.

“By allowing a European country leeway, he said”—David Lubin, emerging markets strategist at Citigroup in London—”the impression given was ‘not of an International Monetary Fund but a Euro-Atlantic Monetary Fund’. Mr Lubin said the I.M.F. appeared influenced by the E.U., which provided 42% of the total package lent to Latvia and wanted to avoid a devaluation.”

At the Pittsburgh G-20 Summit less than two weeks ago, the Anglo-American call to the I.M.F. was for it to implement policies to force down the exchange rate of China’s currency (the renminbi) to save their own, Mr. Guha reported after the Summit. With Chris Giles, he followed up on his report that the G-20 was “unable to agree” on a currency agreement at the Summit, I.M.F. Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn “reiterated his criticism of China’s ‘undervalued’ currency… [T]he U.S. and Europe believe the renminbi needs to appreciate to help reduce China’s still large trade surplus.”

The World Bank and I.M.F. are being used by the Anglo-American factions to forcefully prevent the implosion of the intrinsically worthless greenback and euro. Nothing of relieving the odious debt inflicted upon Western workers and the Third World. Only the preservation of the “Euro-Atlantic” financial oligarchy over us.

This isn’t a wide-ranging ‘conspiracy theory’. It’s the basic truism that those most greatly affected by decisions—decisions so great as whether or not they eat that day—have the least say in said decision-making processes. This is most true in the global financial system—not a free-market, but an overt cabal by fiat.

Global miner Anglo American has entered into a $3 million joint venture agreement with West Perth-based Reed Resources over the Bell Rock Range nickel-copper project in Western Australia.

Under the deal, Anglo American can earn a 51 per cent interest in the project by spending $1 million in three years.

Following that, Anglo can elect to increase its stake to 75 per cent b spending a further $2 million in an additional four year period.

Should Anglo take a 75 per cent project interest, Reed can elect to either contribute or dilute to a royalty of 2 per cent net smelter return from gold and 1.5 per cent net smelter return for all other minerals.

The deal is subject to a successful access agreement with the Ngaanyatjarra Council.

The French are the biggest consumers of antidepressants and tranquilizers in the world. A 4-French would use regularly. Nearly 200 million boxes are prescribed each year.

I would firstly like to clarify that I am aware that there is a difference between antidepressants and tranquilizers. But these two psychotropic essentially the same objective: fight against the malaise. The former are intended to eliminate sadness, mood disorders, depression and the latter deal more anxiety. They are also sometimes prescribed together, tranquilizers being at the very beginning of the depression.

Should we fear the very high consumption of psychotropic drugs? Is it exaggerated or is this a sign of a deeper malaise in society?

This questioning does not seem trivial since a study Anglo-American-Canadian in February 2008, seems to demonstrate that antidepressants would have no greater effect than placebo, except for the most severe depressions.
It follows therefore from this study that most individuals who consume antidepressants and tranquilizers in France do nothing. Indeed, not all are suffering from severe depression.
That is precisely the problem.
It seems that in recent years, people are rushed on antidepressants and tranquilizers at the slightest pretext. A little anxiety, two bad nights of sleep, a small decline in morale and hop, antidepressants or tranquilizers!
For them, it is the ideal solution, I would rather say the easy way. Who knows not surround yourself with loved ones or acquaintances as antidepressants or tranquilizers? Personally, I already know at least 4.

Beware, I’m not saying that we must remove the psychotropic. They definitely effective on people with severe depression, which could not cope without.
But why prescribe every turn, for a mere passenger discomfort? Should we not look for alternatives more natural?
Before jumping on antidepressants and tranquilizers, people should not they be taken in hand, seeking the causes of their discomfort, their anxiety and find the best solutions and the least “risky”?
Indeed, antidepressants and psychotropic drugs are not candy, they have side effects, such as addiction (which happens very quickly), the consequent weight gain (more than 20 kg in three months for some), irritability, etc..

Nowadays, it seems that people are fleeing increasing their responsibilities and do prefer the ostrich rather than trying to solve their problems. They say I’ll take an antidepressant and I see life in pink, I am disconnected from the realities of life – But during that time, the source of their discomfort, their anxiety remains and risk of s ‘worsen if nothing is done to solve them.
To make life more beautiful, we must learn to face problems. We must face them head on. This is not always easy but it’s the best way I know to get by. This is not hiding in psychotropic problems disappear like that, a magic wand!
We must also learn to put things into perspective. Some mountains are not much. They consider themselves the most unfortunate of the world, less fortunate, they always want more, they spend their time doing their “Calimero”. They can not be satisfied with what they have. A force, they do not appreciate life as it is. They live simply and not languish in a corner when there are lots of beautiful things around them.

They have forgotten that life was beautiful and it was worth to be lived fully, it should not look absolutely Greater Happiness (full of money, bigger house, the nicer car, etc.. ) but thoroughly enjoy every little moment of happiness that life offers us (the scent of a rose, the smile of a child, the gesture of affection of a spouse, a good meal, a walk on the beach, etc. .). This may sound naive to some but believe in my experience, since I think like that, my life is more beautiful. When you learn to appreciate those little moments you live fully and you will find that, oddly, is only from there that greater happiness will come.

Moreover, simple solutions and “natural” exist to reduce the discomfort without having to take psychotropic drugs. I know what I mean, I myself have experienced difficult times in my life but I never wanted to resort to antidepressants and tranquilizers. I worked a lot on me and I finally found solutions that allowed me to get out.

Before you rush on psychotropic take you in hand and see what you can do by yourself. For most of you, they will not be necessary.
For others, suffering from deep depression, do not hesitate to consult a doctor, you prescribe psychotropic drugs that work best for you, so that their effects are not more negative than positive.
Reservations necessary antidepressants and tranquilizers to those who really need it!

If you also want to fight your malaise of “natural”, you will find more information here: http://url-ok.com/872aa4

The French are the biggest consumers of antidepressants and tranquilizers in the world. A 4-French would use regularly. Nearly 200 million boxes are prescribed each year.

I would firstly like to clarify that I am aware that there is a difference between antidepressants and tranquilizers. But these two psychotropic essentially the same objective: fight against the malaise. The former are intended to eliminate sadness, mood disorders, depression and the latter deal more anxiety. They are also sometimes prescribed together, tranquilizers being at the very beginning of the depression.

Should we fear the very high consumption of psychotropic drugs? Is it exaggerated or is this a sign of a deeper malaise in society?

This questioning does not seem trivial since a study Anglo-American-Canadian in February 2008, seems to demonstrate that antidepressants would have no greater effect than placebo, except for the most severe depressions.
It follows therefore from this study that most individuals who consume antidepressants and tranquilizers in France do nothing. Indeed, not all are suffering from severe depression.
That is precisely the problem.
It seems that in recent years, people are rushed on antidepressants and tranquilizers at the slightest pretext. A little anxiety, two bad nights of sleep, a small decline in morale and hop, antidepressants or tranquilizers!
For them, it is the ideal solution, I would rather say the easy way. Who knows not surround yourself with loved ones or acquaintances as antidepressants or tranquilizers? Personally, I already know at least 4.

Beware, I’m not saying that we must remove the psychotropic. They definitely effective on people with severe depression, which could not cope without.
But why prescribe every turn, for a mere passenger discomfort? Should we not look for alternatives more natural?
Before jumping on antidepressants and tranquilizers, people should not they be taken in hand, seeking the causes of their discomfort, their anxiety and find the best solutions and the least “risky”?
Indeed, antidepressants and psychotropic drugs are not candy, they have side effects, such as addiction (which happens very quickly), the consequent weight gain (more than 20 kg in three months for some), irritability, etc..

Nowadays, it seems that people are fleeing increasing their responsibilities and do prefer the ostrich rather than trying to solve their problems. They say I’ll take an antidepressant and I see life in pink, I am disconnected from the realities of life – But during that time, the source of their discomfort, their anxiety remains and risk of s ‘worsen if nothing is done to solve them.
To make life more beautiful, we must learn to face problems. We must face them head on. This is not always easy but it’s the best way I know to get by. This is not hiding in psychotropic problems disappear like that, a magic wand!
We must also learn to put things into perspective. Some mountains are not much. They consider themselves the most unfortunate of the world, less fortunate, they always want more, they spend their time doing their “Calimero”. They can not be satisfied with what they have. A force, they do not appreciate life as it is. They live simply and not languish in a corner when there are lots of beautiful things around them.

They have forgotten that life was beautiful and it was worth to be lived fully, it should not look absolutely Greater Happiness (full of money, bigger house, the nicer car, etc.. ) but thoroughly enjoy every little moment of happiness that life offers us (the scent of a rose, the smile of a child, the gesture of affection of a spouse, a good meal, a walk on the beach, etc. .). This may sound naive to some but believe in my experience, since I think like that, my life is more beautiful. When you learn to appreciate those little moments you live fully and you will find that, oddly, is only from there that greater happiness will come.

Moreover, simple solutions and “natural” exist to reduce the discomfort without having to take psychotropic drugs. I know what I mean, I myself have experienced difficult times in my life but I never wanted to resort to antidepressants and tranquilizers. I worked a lot on me and I finally found solutions that allowed me to get out.

Before you rush on psychotropic take you in hand and see what you can do by yourself. For most of you, they will not be necessary.
For others, suffering from deep depression, do not hesitate to consult a doctor, you prescribe psychotropic drugs that work best for you, so that their effects are not more negative than positive.
Reservations necessary antidepressants and tranquilizers to those who really need it!

If you also want to fight your malaise of “natural”, you will find more information here: http://url-ok.com/872aa4

The French are the biggest consumers of antidepressants and tranquilizers in the world. A 4-French would use regularly. Nearly 200 million boxes are prescribed each year.

I would firstly like to clarify that I am aware that there is a difference between antidepressants and tranquilizers. But these two psychotropic essentially the same objective: fight against the malaise. The former are intended to eliminate sadness, mood disorders, depression and the latter deal more anxiety. They are also sometimes prescribed together, tranquilizers being at the very beginning of the depression.

Should we fear the very high consumption of psychotropic drugs? Is it exaggerated or is this a sign of a deeper malaise in society?

This questioning does not seem trivial since a study Anglo-American-Canadian in February 2008, seems to demonstrate that antidepressants would have no greater effect than placebo, except for the most severe depressions.
It follows therefore from this study that most individuals who consume antidepressants and tranquilizers in France do nothing. Indeed, not all are suffering from severe depression.
That is precisely the problem.
It seems that in recent years, people are rushed on antidepressants and tranquilizers at the slightest pretext. A little anxiety, two bad nights of sleep, a small decline in morale and hop, antidepressants or tranquilizers!
For them, it is the ideal solution, I would rather say the easy way. Who knows not surround yourself with loved ones or acquaintances as antidepressants or tranquilizers? Personally, I already know at least 4.

Beware, I’m not saying that we must remove the psychotropic. They definitely effective on people with severe depression, which could not cope without.
But why prescribe every turn, for a mere passenger discomfort? Should we not look for alternatives more natural?
Before jumping on antidepressants and tranquilizers, people should not they be taken in hand, seeking the causes of their discomfort, their anxiety and find the best solutions and the least “risky”?
Indeed, antidepressants and psychotropic drugs are not candy, they have side effects, such as addiction (which happens very quickly), the consequent weight gain (more than 20 kg in three months for some), irritability, etc..

Nowadays, it seems that people are fleeing increasing their responsibilities and do prefer the ostrich rather than trying to solve their problems. They say I’ll take an antidepressant and I see life in pink, I am disconnected from the realities of life – But during that time, the source of their discomfort, their anxiety remains and risk of s ‘worsen if nothing is done to solve them.
To make life more beautiful, we must learn to face problems. We must face them head on. This is not always easy but it’s the best way I know to get by. This is not hiding in psychotropic problems disappear like that, a magic wand!
We must also learn to put things into perspective. Some mountains are not much. They consider themselves the most unfortunate of the world, less fortunate, they always want more, they spend their time doing their “Calimero”. They can not be satisfied with what they have. A force, they do not appreciate life as it is. They live simply and not languish in a corner when there are lots of beautiful things around them.

They have forgotten that life was beautiful and it was worth to be lived fully, it should not look absolutely Greater Happiness (full of money, bigger house, the nicer car, etc.. ) but thoroughly enjoy every little moment of happiness that life offers us (the scent of a rose, the smile of a child, the gesture of affection of a spouse, a good meal, a walk on the beach, etc. .). This may sound naive to some but believe in my experience, since I think like that, my life is more beautiful. When you learn to appreciate those little moments you live fully and you will find that, oddly, is only from there that greater happiness will come.

Moreover, simple solutions and “natural” exist to reduce the discomfort without having to take psychotropic drugs. I know what I mean, I myself have experienced difficult times in my life but I never wanted to resort to antidepressants and tranquilizers. I worked a lot on me and I finally found solutions that allowed me to get out.

Before you rush on psychotropic take you in hand and see what you can do by yourself. For most of you, they will not be necessary.
For others, suffering from deep depression, do not hesitate to consult a doctor, you prescribe psychotropic drugs that work best for you, so that their effects are not more negative than positive.
Reservations necessary antidepressants and tranquilizers to those who really need it!

If you also want to fight your malaise of “natural”, you will find more information here: http://url-ok.com/872aa4

[Pebble Mine, an open-pit gold and copper mine planned in Bristol Bay, Alaska, is being met with opposition by community groups and major jewelry retailers alike.]

A collaboration between Anglo American PLC and Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., the Pebble Mine would be situated in the Bristol Bay watershed in southwest Alaska. Though the companies claim that the project would be carried out with minimal environmental impact, residents of Bristol Bay are concerned that the mine would cause irreversable damage, specifically to the salmon industry. Bristol Bay is home to the world’s largest sockey salmon fishery, which is indeed the backbone of the local economy.

According to a survey conducted by Craciun Research, an Alaska-based research firm, which sampled more than 400 residents, 73% of residents are strongly opposed to Pebble Mine.

In addition to community concern, a number of jewelry companies including Tiffany & Co. and Helzberg Diamonds have vowed to boycott any gold mined at Pebble.

A Anglo Ferrous, subsidiária brasileira da mineradora britânica Anglo American, estuda ampliar o projeto do sistema Minas-Rio, que atingiria, a partir de 2015, produção de até 80 milhões de toneladas anuais de minério de ferro. Em fase de implementação, o projeto prevê produção de 26,5 milhões de toneladas começando a operar em 2012, mediante investimentos de US$ 3,6 bilhões.

O presidente da companhia, Stephan Weber, disse que a definição sobre a expansão está diretamente ligada às perspectivas futuras do mercado. Segundo ele, as reservas contidas nas minas do sistema garantem a viabilidade da expansão do projeto, de onde seria extraída matéria-prima por pelo menos 50 anos.

‘Há um estudo sendo feito para levar a produção do sistema Minas-Rio de 26,5 milhões de toneladas por ano a até 80 milhões de toneladas anuais. Temos recursos minerais suficientes para isso’, afirmou o executivo, depois de fazer palestra na Câmara Britânica de Comércio, no Rio. Weber não estimou o investimento necessário para se atingir a produção desejada.

O Sistema Minas-Rio consiste em um projeto integrado de minério de ferro que prevê uma série de depósitos no Estado de Minas Gerais. A produção será levada por um mineroduto que cortará 32 cidades até o Porto do Açu, no norte do Rio de Janeiro, de onde a carga será levada até os mercados consumidores.

A mineradora já obteve permissão para fazer obras preparatórias do mineroduto, mas ainda busca a licença para começar o projeto de forma efetiva, o que só deverá ocorrer entre março e abril do ano que vem.

Para ter o licenciamento, a Anglo Ferrous, precisa de autorização de pouco mais de 1.200 proprietários de imóveis no caminho previsto para o duto que vai escoar a produção. Segundo Weber, já foi obtida autorização para que o produto passe em 70% das terras fluminense. Em Minas Gerais, a permissão só foi conseguida junto a 20% dos proprietários.

‘Temos a licença de instalação do Porto de Açu, e acabamos de aprovar o plano de aproveitamento econômico da mina, e daí já vamos requerer as licenças prévia e de instalação.

Além do Minas-Rio, a Anglo Ferrous desenvolve outros dois projetos no país. O sistema Amapá já opera com produção anualizada em torno de 3 milhões de toneladas. No fim de 2010, atinge 4,5 milhões de toneladas/ano, com a possibilidade de nova ampliação, que elevaria a capacidade para até 6,5 milhões de toneladas/ano.

Os ativos dos sistemas Amapá e Minas-Rio foram comprados, em 2007, pela Anglo American junto à MMX, braço de mineração do grupo EBX, do empresário Eike Batista.

A mina de níquel de Barro Alto (GO) tem início de operação prevista para 2011, com produção de 36 mil toneladas/ano, com investimento total de US$ 1,5 bilhão. Weber salientou que produzir níquel não é foco da Anglo Ferrous, mas que o custo operacional do projeto compensa a aposta.

Esses três projetos no Brasil, aliado ao da mina de cobre de Los Bronces, no Chile, ampliarão a participação da América do Sul nos negócios da Anglo American. O continente será responsável, quando todos estiverem em plena operação, por metade do faturamento da mineradora em todo o mundo.

Weber comentou que a maior parte dessa produção será colocada nos mercados da Europa e do Oriente Médio. A entrada no mercado chinês é vislumbrada pelo executivo, com o fornecimento de minério de ferro para pequenas e médias siderúrgicas.

‘Nosso minério é de ótima qualidade, e tem condições de ganhar espaço dos australianos, que tem uma matéria-prima de qualidade inferior’, observou Weber, descartando disputar espaço com a Vale no mercado chinês.

Sobre os planos de expansão da mineradora, Weber não descartou investimentos na aquisição de outros projetos, mas ressaltou que a prioridade é aplicar recursos na expansão dos atuais empreendimentos da companhia, caso haja viabilidade.

Folha

Link: Anglo American avalia triplicar sistema de minério de ferro no Brasil

Coming unexpectedly upon such a trove a man is overcome by greed; by the mad desire to possess it all, to load his pockets, his knapsack, his truck with these hard lustrous treasures and somehow transport them all from the wilderness to the shop, garage and backyard.  – Edward Abbey

——————————————————

There are no highways here. No railroad tracks. No hiking trails. No wide concrete landing strips. It’s a place most of us will never go. A place I might never have seen. But this is the most beautiful place on earth. And it’s a place that could be sacrificed forever.

From the air, it appears a pristine wasteland. There are no signs of life. Glaciers and snowfields thawing in the August sun, dissolving into the deep, violent rapids of ceaseless rivers. The jagged banks lined with the green shoots of summer, but no hordes of fishermen. The melted, mossy mush of beaver ponds, but no dams. The stern, white faces of craggy buttes, but no ski tourers or snow machines. Shadowy ravines and humplike hills, but no mountain bikers.

The place is the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage and 70 miles from tidewater at Cook Inlet. And there is life here – this place is the foremost wildlife area in all of Alaska; the source of the most productive commercial and sport salmon fisheries on the planet; home to more than 120,000 caribou and tribes of moose and bear; and not least, the hut-filled habitats of Iliamna, Nondalton, and Newhalen – small villages of indigenous, subsistence peoples who’ve been in the region for thousands of years, building a culture and a lifestyle many would consider third rate and third world.

And in this place sits a great fortune – a treasure trove tucked in the tundra, resting as calmly as the grizzly bear and caribou herds that graze in its footsteps. The treasure, a vast depository of gold and copper, lies at the headwaters of the Mulchatna/Nushagak River and the Newhalen/Kvichak River – two of the most famous salmon producing river drainages on the planet, both of which feed into Bristol Bay, where an estimated 50 million salmon come to spawn each year. Experts say the metals could be worth up to half a trillion dollars.

A proposed open pit mine of almost mythical size – to be called “Pebble Mine” – would extract the metals while altering the landscape irrevocably. The multi-billion-dollar industrial excavation would require: the construction of bridges and dozens of miles of roads and electric power lines across wild, undeveloped terrain; the erection of prodigious pipelines for fuel and rock slurries; the impoundment of large quantities of surface water; and the frenzied transport and use of toxic chemicals.

Pebble Mine would be one of the largest mines ever built. Its open pit would carve 2700 feet into the earth’s crust. It would include the largest dam in the world, a structure larger than Three Gorges Dam in China – made not of concrete but of earth, in order to hold back the toxic waste created in the mining process. Each day, the resource-thirsty operation would soak up as much energy as the city of Anchorage.

The estimated seven billion tons of copper-laden, toxic-waste scrap-crap would have to be contained not for a month or a year but for perpetuity.* Controlling seven billion tons of anything is a shaky proposition in a region fraught with torrential rains, titanic gusts of wind, and winter temperatures swooning to 70 below. An active volcano spews its steam nearby. There’s also a fault line some 30 miles away, a geologic menace credited with several medium-sized earthquakes each year – and one capable of producing a catastrophic shock sure to crumble the constructs of men.

If a small portion of the seven billion tons of rock were not properly contained, if even traces of the toxic dust were to flow into the fish-filled streams, the red salmon – and by extension, all the wildlife in the area – would face extinction. Even copper concentration of 3 or 4 parts per billion in fresh water destroys a salmon’s ability to navigate and thus imperils its ability to spawn.

The impassioned, partisan hullabaloo over ANWR looks like child’s play in light of the proposed Pebble Mine, which is shaping up to be ground zero for the most important environmental, ecological, and political battle this nation has seen in years. In a New York Times feature, Bill Lardley wrote that the war is one “between economies and cultures, between copper and clean water, gold and wild salmon.”

Proponents claim the mine would be an economic godsend to the area. The multinational mining conglomerates, Northern Dynasty Minerals and Anglo American, say they will hire the rural peoples who have yet to enjoy the industrial innovations of the modern era. Others foresee broken promises, as the mining companies import skilled laborers from abroad.

Tribes of Yupik Eskimos, Aleuts, and Athabascan Indians are split. The business bigwigs boast of $70,000 per year salaries – the alluring promise of a better life and nicer things, the fruits of capitalism to which the salmon-smoking simpletons have never been privy. Supporters note that mining yields $200 million a year in state tax revenue; newly swollen government coffers could pave asphalt roads and concrete runways, building better schools and post offices and playgrounds. Copper, credit cards, and crew cuts. Bullion, Jeeps, and Jim Beam benders. The Good Life.

Others say that the real gold shines red, and it’s found in the salmon.** The Alaskan red salmon is a lavish renewable resource, the lifeline of rural Alaska and the darling of the state’s $300 million per year fishing industry. Precious metals are a finite discovery and yield finite riches. The salmon is forever. And so far it has been – from the time their ancient ancestors crossed the Bering Strait up until now, red salmon have been the benevolent beings by which the natives have survived.

The gold and copper lies dormant, waiting to be mined and processed and carted off in diesel trucks…or left alone. The mining process, opponents say, would likely destroy the infinite wealth restored each year by the silent churning of the cogs in the engine of the eternal ecosystem.

At its root, the conflict over Pebble Mine is one of human nature. It’s a battle of now versus later; instant wealth versus delayed gratification; greed versus prudence. At issue is man’s respect for the natural world by which he is sustained; man’s power to harness the pearls of the planet for his own needs and his own desires; and the treatment of the gift bestowed upon man and his transformation of it, for better or poorer, for the re-wrapping, and re-bestowment, of that gift upon the generations of men who will follow.

John T. Shively, head of the foreign consortium that’s pushing for Pebble Mine, may have said it best: “Perhaps it was God who put these two great resources right next to each other…just to see what people would do with them.” Maybe that’s right. It might be a biblical-scale challenge of character and conscience, a tug of war among men over a decision of sacrifice.

Religious doctrine is riddled with annals of sacrifice. Sacrifice, in its noblest manifestations, involves man giving up something he values – a possession or a pastime or a lifestyle or a resource – for something he deems greater. The sacrificial exchange: something ephemeral for something eternal; an object of desire for an object of necessity; the finite for the infinite; less for more.

Something valuable must be sacrificed. What color is the gold?

———————————————

*As one mine opponent put it: “Do you know how long perpetuity is?”

**This red-gold trope is borrowed from a film called Red Gold, which is awesome. Read about it here.

Since African women need to be saved by Nicholas Kristof, I’m not surprised to find that only two of them made Forbes’s America-centric (surprise, surprise) list of “The 100 Most Official Women: The top United Nations human rights official, Navanethem Pillay (she’s South African) and the President of Liberia, Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson (BTW, I think Sirleaf-Johnson is probably the most media-savvy African President) .

Is Pillay the most powerful African woman?

The top five women on the lists are: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, top US government finance official Sheila Bair, Pepsico Chief Executive Indra Nooyi, Anglo American chief executive Cynthia Carroll and Ho Ching, the chief executive of Singapore’s flagship sovereign wealth fund.

(By the way, you know what I think about the uselessness of these kinds of lists.)

For the fill list, go here.

UPDATED: from Midcurrent…

Former Alaska First Lady Part of New Pebble Mine Suit

By Marshall Cutchin

The big news out of Alaska yesterday afternoon was that former Alaska First Lady Bella Hammond has filed suit, along with native Alaskan representatives and other individuals, against the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. They say the DNR has repeatedly violated the state constitution by allowing mining exploration without regard for the public interest and without required oversight. “‘DNR has neglected its legal and moral obligation to protect Bristol Bay’s subsistence resources,’ said Bobby Andrew, spokesman for Nunamta Aulukestai, a lead plaintiff. ‘Current exploration is having a serious impact on water and wildlife, yet the agency continues to rubber stamp permits and ignore the public interest.’”

Read the entire story at Midcurrent: http://www.midcurrent.com/news/2009/07/former-alaska-first-lady-part.html

Posted on Moldy Chum’s site: Bristol Bay Native Leaders to Hold Press Briefing

Alaska Native leaders from the Bristol Bay region will hold a press event, which will be available by teleconference, in Anchorage this Wednesday to announce a significant new development in the long-running controversy over exploration and development of the Pebble mine project.

WHO:
· Bobby Andrew, board member of Nunamta Aulukestai (Caretakers of our Lands)
· Jack Hobson, Nondalton resident
· Other speakers (TBA)

WHEN:
Press Conference and Telephone Briefing
Wednesday, July 29, 2009,
10 AM Alaska Time

WHERE:
In-Person:
Marriot Hotel at H and 7th Streets
Skagway Valdez Room
Anchorage, Alaska
Parking available at Municipal Garage

By Telephone:
Call-in number: 800-311-9402
Passcode: 5729

VISUALS:
In addition to the speakers, there will be maps and photos ready for download

CONTACT:
Harlin Savage, Resource Media, (720) 564-05500, ext. 11, harlin@resource-media.org
Lynda Giguere, Resource Media-Alaska (907) 771-4020, lynda@resource-media.org

Ten years ago saw the successful introduction of a low profile electro-hydraulic mechanised drill rig, Sandvik’s Axera LP Drill, specifically designed for application in South African narrow reef hard rock mining. This completed the process of mechanising chrome mining in South Africa’s Bushveld complex, a programme that started in 1985 with the introduction of the first Load Haul Dumpers on chrome mines in Rustenburg. The Axera LP Drill became one of the most commercially successful machines introduced in the South African mining industry.

By 2005, South Africans chrome mines were producing 70% of total ore output of 700k tons per month, utilising machines. Technically this revolution, after previous unsuccessful attempts at mechanisation was spectacular and had a major impact on the successful implementation of mechanised mining in the platinum industry, so much so, that the total tonnage derived from mechanised mining in platinum mines has grown from zero in 1990 to 1.5 million tons per month by 2008. Production costs of mechanised chrome ore have become very competitive and it is now the preferred production method, it is no coincidence that the some of the cheapest platinum producers, Aquarius and Mototolo, are also mechanised. Add to the benefits mentioned the favourable safety impact of mechanised mining and the choice seems very obvious and straightforward and the visionaries who single-mindedly promoted and implemented mechanisation may be forgiven for feeling smug when looking at their achievements.

Taking a more holistic and detached view of the unfolding process, it is easy to question the astuteness with which our heroes set about the task of replacing men with machines in South African mines. With the current, unacceptably high levels of unemployment in the country, the wisdom of mechanisation in mines must be considered along other socio-economic factors that drive employment, wealth creation and other factors creating value to society. Mining, along with agriculture and manufacturing remains one of the biggest employers in South Africa and anything that has a negative effect on employment opportunities will, quite rightly, be questioned. Fortunately, the visionaries responsible for mechanisation do not have to feel alone in their guilt, government policy and trade unions did more than their fair share of job destruction and contributed more to the destruction of jobs. Unfortunately they wrap their contribution in righteous packages, wrapped up as “Rights of the oppressed and exploited worker” and “Transformation of an unfair society”, giving them the moral right to destroy jobs.

In most normal market driven economies, the move from man to machine follows a set route. The typical road map starts with an oversupply of labour, manually producing products of value. As production increases, unemployment drops, wages goes up resulting in thinner margins and the search for more efficient production methods, inevitably machines. Skills improve to suit the machines and the cycle repeats. In the case of socially engineered economies, especially the less sophisticated ones like South Africa, machines can enter the production process for very different, and often wrong, reasons.

The politically correct motivation for machanisation of South African mines has been improved safety, decent jobs, up-skilling of employees improved salaries the loss of traditional skills because of HIV/Aids and the low-esteem in which the mining industry is held, globally and especially in South Africa, as an employer. I often think people consider mining as a small step ahead of the noble pursuit of sewer engineering. Truth however is, despite the negative perceptions of mining, perpetuated by the ANC Alliance, and their obsession with so called “decent and meaningful” jobs, millions are still prepared to work in mines for market driven wages, a view reinforced by the recent exposure of the extent of illegal mining activities in defunct mines.

It is however not a coincidence that the mechanisation  initiatives in the South African mining industry coincided with the liberalisation of labour law and the rise of black trade unionism on the mines. That chrome mines, despite their relatively low profitability, became leaders in mechanisation is also no coincidence. Chrome mines were always beset by highly volatile markets and wildly oscillating price curves, with the commensurate fluctuation of labour requirements. They recognised the potential opportunity proffered by mechanisation to effectively counter the potential crippling cost of retrenchments and disruption associated with it. Power of machines meant less power to radical unions. Higher skilled people not only meant higher pay, but also higher productivity and less hidden cost associated with a large lowly skilled but powerful workforce. The combination of out-of-control input cost, driven largely by the labour component, unreliable output levels and the physical threat to life and property, posed by militant and highly politicised trade unions, made for a compelling argument in favour of mechanised operations.

Government policy and trade unions must accept a large proportion of causal blame for this economic anomaly. By turning an industry, which should be the backbone of our economy, into a pariah industry, stigmatising it as an “enemy of the people” on par with the apartheid regime and the National party, was irresponsible and devoid of truth and reason, but possibly understandable. It is unforgivable for union leaders and people in government to persist with the perpetuation of that myth at this point of our history, thus continuing the fostering of distrust. To suggest that mining companies are singularly obsessed with the exploitation of workers borders on economic “hate-speech”. The single-minded objective to create a protected competition-free workplace at any cost cannot be tolerated any longer. As long as these “heroes of the poor”, with the active support of government, persists with this madness, jobs will be destroyed and poverty will increase.

It is estimated that the mechanisation of chrome and platinum mines resulted in the loss of at least five thousand conventional jobs in the last eight years. This loss in jobs could have been bigger, had it not been for the slow rate of skills development. The lack of adequate skills has been the single-most critical constraint in the rapid advance of low-profile mechanised mining.

In the mean time, initiatives to turn resources into profit will drive the innovators to find solutions. As things stand, the mechanisation of ultra low, flat dipping, ore-bodies are well advanced and requires skill development and fine tuning before it will inevitably, become the stoping method of choice in platinum mines. Continues Rock Cutting is far advanced and current unrealistic wage demands puts a smile on the faces of the pioneers of this groundbreaking, pardon the pun, technology.

To correct the situation whilst creating a competitive business environment a change in attitude by stakeholders are required. I am not advocating a free-for-all attitude bur rather a joint strategic approach focused on realistic market related wages and the best mining techniques, taking in consideration technical aspects, sound business principles and socioeconomic requirements.  To survive in a competitive world we need to be competitive and smart, face up and understand mistakes, and as stakeholders commit to elevating the South African mining industry to global leadership.

A proposta de fusão envolvendo 40 bilhões de euros (o equivalente a US$ 64,4 bilhões) feita pela mineradora Xstrata à Anglo American ruiu de vez após os acionistas da Anglo rejeitarem a oferta. Todos os principais investidores institucionais da Anglo supostamente recusaram a proposta da Xstrata de fusão entre iguais, que não oferece prêmio.

Os acionistas que expressaram uma opinião sobre o preço disseram ao jornal britânico "The Times" que querem um ágio de 30% a 50% para concluir o negócio. Se a Xstrata conseguir esse valor, os acionistas provavelmente obrigarão a administração da Anglo a negociar. No entanto, isso exigiria da Xstrata um aumento de capital de 10 bilhões de euros.

Analistas de mercado duvidam que a mineradora anglo-suíça consiga levantar esse montante. "É difícil ver como eles poderiam levantar esse dinheiro para um prêmio, uma vez que o acordo está praticamente morto", afirmou analista não identificado.

Monitor Mercantil

Link: Anglo: acionistas rejeitam US$ 64,4 bi da Xstrata

                                                                                                            July 4, 2009

The President

Association of Mine Managers of South Africa

PO Box 61709
Marshalltown 2107

Dear Sir,

Application for Membership (Class – Ordinary)

I wish to apply to become a member of your esteemed organisation. There is however a number of issues I need to clarify. Your constitution clearly states the requirements for ordinary membership but there may be a few grey areas in my case. Let me explain.

I am manager of a mine in the Free State, Elands Mine, an operation you may be familiar with since we have been, like many other mining operations the world over and particularly in South Africa, on the receiving end of some negative and, may I say, unfair and unwarranted media attention. The media campaign against us because of an unfortunate, isolated incident of minor consequence resulting in the fire that killed a few unfortunate workers can only be described as a travesty and exceeded the norms of fair reportage. Truth be known, had it not been for the lack of cooperation from the so killed called, “formal mining sector“, this incident would never have occurred. Matter of fact, had it not been for this misguided action of a confused worker nobody outside our organisation would have known about the incidence. As a mining man, you would understand these things.

In support of my application, I have a Mine Managers Certificate of Competency, which I legally purchased when I was working on the Platinum mines in Rustenburg. A friend, employed at the DME’s office in Klerksdorp, will confirm it is kosher, should anyone decide to do checks.

There are currently about 1500 people employed in the operation, this number fluctuates since workers disappear in the “madala sites” from time to time, others just abscond, a cultural trait of my brethren that will never seize to amaze me, resulting in a need to recruit replacement which, as you well know is not so easy these days. Not with the lowly skilled and lazy riff-raff out there. It is also not possible to give you an accurate estimate of tonnage mined in the operation. We have learned that “grade is king” and we measure output in ounces only. I found that linking earnings to ounces, I get better performance and we do not need “hangers on”, such as surveyors and grade controllers.

I believe my experience can add substantially to the body of knowledge of your esteemed organisation. The nature of our operations necessitates unorthodox methods and entrepreneurial thinking, which can assist people like you and I to reverse the shrinking trend that besets our industry. The fact that we are successfully mining in areas, abandoned by the formal mining sector, proves beyond any doubt that we have a working model.

Areas of operations in which my knowledge can be of particular importance is training and multi-skilling of employees, most of our people are skilled in the entire value chain, from exploration to final product. We have people in our employ who specialise in logistics, a particularly daunting challenge if you consider workers live underground for extended periods, quite an achievement since we do not have the luxury of hoisting facilities as you know it. I always say, “We find, we mine and we process”.

Although we are not bound by DME rules and even though the Minister denies us our constitutional rights to make a living, we do take safety seriously. Excluding the unfortunate fire that resulted in the so-called, “Illegal Mining Disaster”, we have been doing very well in work place safety, with our safety record improving every year. Last year we had an estimated fifty fatalities and this year, excluding the fire deaths, we had only forty. The real improvement can be seen in the number of amputations reported. It came down from 150 last year to an estimated 90 this year. These numbers, I can assure you are correct. My son, who passed Mathematics Literacy at school, is the chief statistician for the company and he can teach you a lot about statistics.

I will also contribute my experience in the in safeguarding of investments against the likes of Jelly Tsotsi Malema, his Buti Malemela and Ballcrusher Vavi with their plans for a hostile takeover of the mining industry. We have established tried and tested defense systems against this type of hard-line guerilla tactics. Our people had training from the best in anti-insurgency and defensive warfare, which we adapted for underground conditions and include the use of grenades, anti-personnel mines, deadly gas, not to mention guns, that’s right, we are the reason the President can’t find his machine gun…we’ve got it. We do not use guns too often underground, only in close combat; ricochets can be dangerous in that environment, whilst poisonous gas, ingeniously used with the ventilation flow, is very effective.

Cynthia Carroll will vouch for us on this one, I recently advised her on defensive systems against the threat posed by that Swiss company with the funny name and Swiss Army Knives as main weapon for “hostile” mergers. We know how devious the Swiss can be. War after war they pretend to be on the fence just so they can lay there frostbitten hands on the gold. It will not surprise me in the least to find they swindled the poor Paul Kruger out of his gold, for all we know the Kruger Millions have been stashed in a UBS vault, in Zurich all the time, whilst treasure hunters are running all over the Mpumalanga countryside looking for gold . It is also quite conceivable that Paul Kruger set this up all those years ago to take revenge against Anglo, whose founding fathers, were in many quarters considered British agents and conspirators in the oppression of the “Boere”.  

I can tell you a lot more, but I’m sure you get the picture. I’m looking forward to the many opportunities, we will have to chew the fat, or shall I say chew the Crayfish, whilst drinking copious amounts of John X Merriman and Blue Label at those famously wild monthly meetings I heard about.

Yours in Safety

Sticksaait Chugumisa

Gone Fishin' | Photo: www.alaskaseafood.org

In a world full of leaders with massive, blinding egos, ours takes the cake. To say that Sarah Palin is inconsistent is like saying Michael Jackson is not getting enough press coverage. Just days after announcing her ‘official’ premature extraction from Alaska’s highest office, Sarah Palin is now fishing in Bristol Bay. Yes, the very same Bristol Bay in which she is in favor of exploiting for mineral wealth via the Pebble Mine.

Her support of Anglo and Northern Dynasty Minerals is now common knowledge (see: http://tspey.wordpress.com/2008/08/27/down-but-not-out/) made more evident by the fact that the Palin family has taken gifts and paid trips from pro-Pebble Mine suppporters (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/25/AR2008092503988_pf.html).

In an age when one’s actions speak louder than their lies even steadfast supporters of Palin are now smacking into the broken glass-lined wall of reality. Yes, we have been hoodwinked into thinking that this person was much more than what she really is.

Alaskan politics of late has been marred with corruption. Speculation abounds that Palin’s decision may be a pre-emptive action against this nasty ‘c’ word. Alaskans have been forcefully spoon-fed this type of mush for too long. The time has passed for personal-gain politicos who have worn out their welcome.

The decision to quit makes no sense politically. What is the real reason for Palin’s fall? Family? Tired of the spotlight? Greed? So far up in Alaska, the latter is the speculative and all too common assumption.