North Western Coal and Navigation Company

The North Western Coal and Navigation Company, also known as Alberta Railway and Coal Company or Alberta Railway and Irrigation Company, was a coal mining company formed in London, England in 1882 by Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, one of Canada's Fathers of Confederation. As part of his vision for Canada, Galt was committed to finding industries that would bring settlers to the District of Alberta of the Northwest Territories. The company was founded to create a coal mining industry that could bring settlers to the Northwest Territories. It was based in Lethbridge, Alberta, with his son Elliott Torrance Galt, managing day-to-day operations. The company's superintendent was William Stafford. Money for this company came from a consortium of investors from Canada, England, and the United States.
Galts' narrow gauge railway.
NWC&NC built the steamboat 'Baroness' along with a number of barges in 1883 to ship coal to Medicine Hat, by the Oldman River. However, this soon proved to be impractical, as the time of navigable high water was short and undependable, and shoals and sandbanks proved hazardous. Only 3200 tons of coal was delivered to Medicine Hat in two years. Sir Alexander Galt had already conceived the idea of a narrow gauge railway, and in 1884 the Federal government confirmed the British charter, and empowered the NWC&NC to build a narrow gauge railway from Dunmore, Alberta, to its coal properties at Lethbridge. NWC&NC contracted Canadian Pacific Railway to buy a minimum of 20,000 tons of coal a year for five years at $5 a ton delivered to Medicine Hat. Canada's Governor General, the Marquis of Landsdowne, demonstrated the Dominion government's support of the Galt enterprises, by opening the Galts' narrow gauge railway on October 19, 1885 in Lethbridge.
Alberta Railway & Coal Company.
In 1889, the Alberta Railway & Coal Company was incorporated by NWC&NC to build a narrow gauge railway from Lethbridge to the Canada–United States border, a distance of 65 miles. Coincident with the building of the AR&CC line in 1890, the Galts received a Montana charter for the narrow gauge Great Falls and Canada Railway (GF&CR). The line ran from Sweetgrass, opposite Coutts, to Great Falls, Montana. By extending their railway into the United States, the Galts were able to enlarge the market for Lethbridge coal. In 1901, the GF&CR line was converted to standard gauge, and was purchased by the Montana Great Northern Railway, a subsidiary of the Great Northern Railway (U.S.).
Originally leased to the CPR in 1893, the line from Dunmore to Lethbridge (the AR&CC had acquired the properties of the NWC&NC in 1891), the line was upgraded to standard gauge, and was purchased outright in 1897 and became the first leg of the Crow's Nest Pass branch railway to the CPR's mineral properties in the Kootenay area of south-eastern British Columbia, with the right to extend the line to Hope.
Alberta Railway & Irrigation Company.
To further the AR&CC's aims to develop the granted land and attract settlement, Elliott Galt was made aware that farming, not ranching, was the appropriate means of development, and Irrigation was the key. He was approached by Charles Ora Card of the Utah-based Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints), familiarly known as Mormons, who detailed his vision of using the local river systems for irrigation. Card had visited Canada in 1886 and had returned in 1887 with a group that settled on Lees Creek and established the village of Cardston, Alberta. Under Brigham Young, the Mormons had established a thriving community centered on Salt Lake City and had pioneered and gained expertise in farming by irrigation in an area of deficient rainfall.
An agreement was reached with the Mormons in 1891, whereby they would lease 700,000 acres of land, bring in settlers, and provide labour for building the canal system. Economic depression and the lack of capital ended the project. Though temporarily thwarted the Galts continued to pursue their plan for irrigation and soon afterwards, with an upturn in the economy and a new Liberal Party of Canada, government with Clifford Sifton, as Minister of the Department of the Interior, who pursued a vigorous policy of Immigration, the fortunes of the Galt enterprises changed for the better. An agreement was reached with the Government of Canada, whereby in an exchange of lands the AR&CC was able to assemble a solid block of 500,000 acres adjacent to the St. Mary River thus making large-scale irrigation feasible. A new contract was signed with the Mormons in which they were to construct the canal system and in return for their labour they were to be paid "one-half in cash and one-half in land, the land with water rights being valued at three dollars per acre, to a total of $75,000 and 25,000 acres. A remission of the survey fee of ten cents per acre was also granted by the government. The church-sponsored immigrants, to whom Galt advanced the costs of transportation, were to establish themselves in hamlet, one each in the tracts twenty and thirty miles south of Lethbridge, the communities of Stirling & Magrath, Alberta were established in 1889 as per contract with AR&IC. The main canal was completed in August 1900.
That same year the "St. Mary’s River Railway Company" was incorporated to provide access and serve the settlers benefiting from the irrigation system. It reached Cardston in 1903, with permission to extend the narrow gauge line. At Raymond, Alberta a sugar beet factory was erected. A further consolidation of land took place in 1900, followed in 1902 by the purchase of the adjacent 500,000 Acre Tract at one dollar an acre after the awarding of credits amounting to two dollars an acre. Payment was to be made in ten equal annual installments. The stipulation was that the land could not be sold for more than five dollars an acre, and the unsold balance, after 15 years, would revert to the government. In 1904 the Galt companies were merged into a new corporation, the Alberta Railway and Irrigation Company (AR&IC). The St. Mary's Canal was enlarged and a beginning was made on a canal from the Milk River, halted by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 between the United States and Canada, dividing the waters of the two rivers equally between the two countries. In 1912 the Canadian Pacific Railway leased the AR&IC for 999 years thus ending the independence of the Galt enterprise.


Donald Hogarth

Donald McDonald Hogarth (June 15, 1879 – June 27, 1950) was a politician and mining financier from Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing the riding of Port Arthur from 1911 to 1923 and again from 1926 to 1929. He served with the Canadian Army in World War I where he achieved the rank of Major-General. He was a well-known mining financier who founded some of the biggest gold mines in Northern Ontario.
Background.
Hogarth was born in Osceola, Ontario in 1879, the son of William Hogarth, and was educated in Mattawa. As an associate of real estate promoter and politician John James Carrick, he moved to Port Arthur in February 1905.
In 1914 at the start of World War I, he enlisted in the army and rose rapidly through the Canadian military ranks, from lieutenant to captain to major in 1915 in charge of military supplies and transport in London. In January 1917 he was appointed a lieutenant-colonel and made director of supply and transport for the Canadian forces. He was awarded the DSO (Distinguished Service Order) in June 1917, the year he became acting quartermaster-general of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. In February 1918 he was appointed Quartermaster-General with the rank of Brigadier-General, and left the military in 1919 with the rank of Major-General.
As a mining financier and political operator, he was associated with the Little Long Lac gold mine near Geraldton. His greatest venture was the development of the Steep Rock Iron Mines Limited at Steep Rock Lake near Atikokan. He was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. He died in Toronto in 1950.
Politics.
He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for Port Arthur riding in Northern Ontario as a Conservative in the December 1911 provincial election. He was re-elected in 1914 and 1919, serving until May 1923. Re-entering provincial politics, he was elected as an Independent-Conservative in December 1926 and re-elected as a Conservative in October 1929, ending his political career in May 1934. During his long political career he focused his efforts on the development of the mining and pulp and paper industry.


Ronchamp coal mines

The Ronchamp Coal Mines were an area of coal mines located in the Vosges and Jura coal mining basins, in eastern France. They covered three municipalities; Ronchamp, Champagney and Magny-Danigon. Operated for more than two centuries, from the mid-eighteenth century until the mid-twentieth century, they have profoundly changed the landscape, the economy and the local population.
Mining began in Ronchamp in the mid-18th century and had developed into a large industry by the late 19th century, employing 1500 people.
Extraction started in adit before being dug at coal mine Saint Louis in 1810, introducing the first real extraction mine-shaft. The shaft seams sunk more and more, and became deeper until the well, owned by (Civil Society coal Ronchamp), eventually became the deepest mine in France beating the coal mine du Magny (694 meters) in 1878 and the coal mine Arthur de Buyer (1010 meters) in 1900. After the nationalisation of mines in 1946, the shaft and the thermal power station was entrusted to Electricité de France.
After closing in 1958, the mining sites and infrastructures were demolished and workers had to convert to other professions. Later, a museum and two associations were created to preserve the memory of the mining heritage and several sites were redeveloped to become tourist attractions.
The museum looks back at the miner's work, their techniques, tools they used and their social life. A collection of miners lamps are also on display.
Geography.
Situation.
The zone exploited and influenced by the coal mines corresponds to the Ronchamp and Champagney mining basin which is at the heart of the Vosges and Jura coal mining basins, on the eastern part of the French department of the Haute-Saône, in the northern part of the French region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, close to Alsace and the industries of Mulhouse. The coal mines are then an essential source of energy for both regions. The Alsatian catchment area is between the towns of Mulhouse, Thann et Cernay.
The concession of Ronchamp, Champagney and Éboulet, where the mines are exploited, has 4503 hectares and includes the communes of Ronchamp, Champagney, Magny-Danigon, Clairegoutte, Andornay, Palante and La Côte (only the first three have coal mines). It is surrounded by the Mourière concession to the northwest, the Saint-Germain concession to the west and the Lomont concession to the south but also by other exploratory mines to the east.


Coromandel Gold Rushes

The Coromandel Gold Rushes on the Coromandel Peninsula and around the nearby towns of Thames and Waihi in New Zealand in the nineteenth century were moderately successful. Traces of gold were found about 1842. A small find was made near Coromandel in 1852; and a larger find in August 1867 when there was a modest rush. But Thames acquired a reputation for speculative holding of unworked ground despite regulations designed to check it, and some miners left for Queensland. Most of the gold was in quartz reefs rather than in more accessible alluvial deposits and had to be recovered from underground mines and extracted using stamping batteries.
The decline in New Zealand gold production was halted in the 1890s. The Waihi Mine had been discovered in 1878, but was not seriously worked until 1887, when English capital set up a cyanide process plant. Hence, with these mines and gold dredges extracting gold from the Molyneaux River in Otago, the gold production of New Zealand again exceeded half a million ounces in 1902. The Golden Cross Mine closed in 1920 but reopened from 1991 to 1998. The Martha Mine closed in 1952 but reopened in 1987 and is still operating.
Reward for gold.
A group of Auckland businessmen offered a reward of £100, increased to £500 for the finding of gold in the Auckland region. The Auckland Provincial Council then offered £2000 for the finding of a goldfield in the Hauraki region south of Auckland, though southerners like the "Otago Daily Times" regarded the potential Coromandel goldfields as a "Complete Hoax".
First gold rush.
In October 1852 Charles Ring who had been on the California goldfields and his brother Frederick found some gold flakes on the banks of Driving Creek. The government leased land from the local Maori, but accessible alluvial gold ran out after a month, The field was reopened in 1862.
Thames goldfields.
Hunt discovered the Shotover quartz lode at Thames in 1867; usually said to be William Albert Hunt but possibly his brother (the confusingly named) Albert William Hunt. His brother was responsible for the Hunt’s Duffer incident on the West Coast in 1866, when he escaped from a large crowd of miners who followed him to Bruce Bay. He had previously discovered the rich Greenstone field near Hokitika in 1864.
The more lasting Thames field to the south was proclaimed on 30 July 1867; in Grahamstown near Thames, and in Shortland in the southern part of Thames. The field produced £18,000 worth in 1867 and £150,000 worth in 1868 from underground mines. From 1867 to 1924 the total value was £7,178,000, giving a boost to the northern North Island. At its peak Thames had a population of 15,000 (rivalling Auckland).
A contemporary description in 1868 said that the population of the Thames Gold Fields was at least 18,000, with 11,000 miner’s rights issued, “but many persons who hold shares do not reside upon the diggings”. About 2,000 claims employ an average of 4.1268 men each. Various stampers employ 185 men, averaging five to a mill. About ten steamers ply between Shortland and Auckland fifty miles away, and a wharf is being erected.
The five leading companies in the 1870s were the Caledonian, Moanataiara, Alburnia, Kuranui (Barry’s Claim), Long Drive and Una Hill (Hape Creek); but there were scores of failures. In most Thames and Coromandel mines the rich patches were interspersed among low-grade ore. The Waiotahi Company was notable for being prudently managed by James Smith from 1873 to 1904 so not requiring "reconstruction".
In 1889 the Crown Mine at Karangahake was the first in the world to use the McArthur-Forrest cyanide process developed in Scotland which increased recovery from low-grade ores and discarded tailings.
The government purchased the patent rights to the cyanide process in 1897 and leased the rights to small companies; the purchase price was recouped in ten years.
Gold output dropped during the First World War, and in 1916 the Minister of Mines announced proudly that gold-miners led the call to arms. Postwar the annual value of Waihi production was steady at £320,000, and some mines at Thames (e.g. the Sylvia Mine) and Coromandel reopened. In 1926 a conference was held in Dunedin to invigorate the industry. In 1935 gold output peaked during the depression, with two-thirds by the Waihi Company which was the largest of the four major companies. That year for tax reasons the Waihi Company was split into three, including the Martha Company which controlled the Martha Mine.
Thames and the Coromandel today.
Some preserved relics are relatively accessible, such as the Crown Mine at Karangahake and the Golden Hills Battery at Broken Hills. Other relics may have hazards like disused mineshafts hidden by undergrowth and visitors should keep to marked tracks and observe warning signs. Thames has many historic buildings including the Golden Crown Battery building, and the Thames-Hauraki and Saxon Shaft pumphouses. The former Thames School of Mines (1886–1954) is now a museum.


John Efford

Ruben John Efford, (born January 6, 1944) is a former Canadian politician.
Early and private life.
The son of Reuben John and Diana Efford, he completed a business administration program and became the owner and operator of Efford’s Wholesale, Snow's Plumbing Ltd and the Della Lee retail clothing store. Efford and his wife, Madonna, have three children: Jacqueline Ann, John III and Joseph Lee and three grandchildren: John Efford IV, Jenna Emily Suzanna Efford and Cali Jean Efford Fitzgerald. In 2019, Efford revealed that he has been battling Alzheimer's disease for two years.
Provincial politics.
From 1985 to 2001, he served as a Member of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly. He was Opposition critic for consumer affairs, public works, fisheries, health and social services. He later served as minister of social services, minister of works, services and transportation, and minister of fisheries and aquaculture. He lost the 2001 leadership convention to become Liberal party leader to Roger Grimes by 14 votes in a divisive contest. Efford and fellow leadership contestant Paul Dicks subsequently left provincial politics saying that they could not work with Grimes.
Federal politics.
Efford was elected to the House of Commons in a by-election in May 2002 and was re-elected in the 2004 general election. In 2003, he was named Minister of Natural Resources. He has served as a member of the standing committees on Canadian Heritage and on Fisheries and Oceans. He has also served on the standing committees on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities and on Aboriginal Affairs, Northern Development and Natural Resources.
Retirement.
On September 1, 2005, after considerable speculation that he intended to resign his federal cabinet position due to ill-health, Efford announced, to much surprise, that he had no intention to resign. He later stated on NTV that he would not run again in the 2006 federal election or run for the leadership of the Newfoundland Liberal Party.
In November 2005, it was reported that Efford was retiring from politics due to poor health from diabetes.
In February 2011, Efford criticized the leadership of provincial Liberal Leader, Yvonne Jones and called for her to consider resigning. Efford stated that her low poll numbers were the main reason for his request. He referenced a Telelink poll released that week by NTV, in which 11 percent of respondents said they would prefer Jones to lead the province. Jones responded by saying Efford was an absolute nuisance to the Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal party, and another poll done in March showed that Jones' popularity was now up to 18% from the 11% that the February poll showed.


Zhalanzhangzhi mine

The Zhalanzhangzhi mine is a large iron mine located in central China. Zhalanzhangzhi represents one of the largest iron ore reserves in China and in the world having estimated reserves of 200 million tonnes of ore grading 45% iron metal.


Sukari mine

The Sukari mine or Alsukari mine (Arabic: السكري "Al-Sukkari", Egyptian pronunciation: "El-Sokkari") is a gold mine located in the Nubian Desert/Eastern Desert near the Red Sea in Egypt, in the south-east of the country in the Red Sea Governorate, 30 km south of Marsa Alam. It is exploited jointly by the Egyptian Ministry of Mineral Resources and Centamin. It is Egypt's first modern gold mine, an industry considered to have scope for expansion in the country. Egypt was known in the ancient world as being a source of gold, and one of the earliest available maps shows a gold mine at this location.
It is a combination of an open-pit mine and an underground mine, with estimated reserves of 15.4 million ounces of gold. The site is supplied by a 30 km long pipeline bringing water from the Red Sea.
History.
The $265-million project began gold production in 2009 with 850 workers. The initial yield was 2 g/t, with future yields expected to rise to between 5 g/t and 10 g/t.
In October 2012 Centamin's licence for the Sukarim mine was annulled by an Egyptian court, and in December operations were suspended over a payment dispute and exports halted. Within a week significant parts of the dispute with the Egyptian state were resolved and exports were resumed.
By 2014 production had risen to 250,000 ounces in the first nine months, with a target figure for the entire year of 420,000 ounces.


Amakusa coalfield

The Amakusa coalfield consists of a group of coal mines on the main island of Amakusa, Kumamoto, Japan.
History.
The northern Amakusa coalfield has been discovered under the Kyoho era (between 1716 and 1736), while Oniki, the southern part of the coalfield was discovered under the Tenpo era (between 1830 and 1843). The exploitation started in the northern part under the Meiji era. In 1897, a railroad was constructed for the transport of coal between northern mines and Tomioka Bay now Reihoku, Kumamoto by Dainippon Rentan Company. Between 1900 and 1912, a monthly production of 4000 tons was recorded. In other areas, horse-drawn vehicles were employed. However, Amakusa coal mine was characterized by relatively thin layers of coal (30 cm - 100 cm) and the mining condition was relatively difficult. So, only small-sized or medium-sized enterprises took part in the ventures. On the contrary, the characteristics of coal were good, such as anthracite, and the Japanese Imperial Navy bought Amakusa coal mine in great quantities.
The Change of the Government Policy.
Around 1950, the Japanese government changed its policy and started importing cheap coal from foreign countries, and many Japanese coal mines had to be discontinued. Amakusa coal mines were no exception. One of the southern Amakusa mines, Okini coal mine discontinued in 1975. Since there were no big enterprises, it is believed that more than 5,000,000 tons of coal remains there.


Equinox Minerals

Equinox Minerals is a mining and exploration company with corporate offices in Perth, Australia and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has operations in Peru and Australia. In Zambia it owned the Lumwana Mining Company, but that was bought by Barrick Gold in 2011.
Through Liontown Resources Limited and Alturas Minerals Corp., the company has gold and copper-gold exploration interests in Peru and Australia.
The Lumwana project which had enough reserves to be productive for 37 years, cost the company one billion dollars to develop.
In Zambia it has been credited with supporting social development through projects which aim to build schools, attract professionals to areas around its mine sites. 2010 copper production was 323.4 million pounds (146,690 tonnes) 68% higher than in 2009 (192.1 million pounds).
The company produced slightly more copper than it sells (In 2010 323.4 vs 290.2 million pounds up from 2009 when it was 290.42 vs 179.72 million pounds), 77% of production occurred during the first nine months of the year (production was 113 kt, sales were 98kt); capital expenditure amounted to $66 million. In September 2010 company debt was $433 million, long term debt fell significantly in the last quarter of 2010 from $422 million down to $295.57 million. Even though Equinox doesn't produce gold Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold company (both in terms of reserves and production) acquired Equinox Minerals in April 2011; the deal will lower the fraction of revenue Barrick receives from the sale of gold to 80%.
History.
The company formed after a merger between Equinox and Equinox Resources in January, 2004, and was incorporated the same month as a Canadian company. It began operations in Zambia in 1996.
Prior to being acquired by Equinox in 1999 at least 10 different companies failed in their attempts to develop the Lumwana project, which covers 2 major copper mines and 1355 km squared in area.
In 2010 Equinox was involved in a couple major transactions; first it acquired the Jabal Sayid copper-gold-silver project 350 km from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, capable of producing 2.6 million tons of ore per year starting in 2012. In February it launched a $4.8 billion hostile takeover bid for copper producer Lundin Mining, at the same time Lundin was attempting its own takeover ($9 billion Inmet Mining merger which would result in the creation of Symterra Corp). (As of April 2011 none of those deals have been finalized, combination with Lundin Mining would raise Equinox production growth rate 23%). In April 2011, Equinox rejected a takeover offer by China Minmetals, but later accepted a bid by Barrick Gold.
On April 25, 2011, Barrick Gold Corporation announced the acquisition of Equinox for $7.69 billion.


D. J. Williams (politician)

David James Williams (3 February 1897 – 12 September 1972) was a British miner and checkweighman who became a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP).
Coal mining career.
Williams was born in Tairgwaith in the Amman Valley to a South Wales family and went only to elementary school, leaving to work as a coal miner. Active in the South Wales Miners' Federation, he was eventually promoted to the job of checkweighman, away from the coal face. In 1924 he wrote a Book as a result of his studies at Ruskin College in Oxford, which denouncing mine owners and the development of their combines in swallowing up the coal industry. The book was published by the Labour Publishing Company under the title "Capitalist Combination in the Coal Industry". H.Francis & D Smith, The Fed, A History Of The South Wales Miners In The Twentieth Century, Cardiff University Press, 1998.
Political activity.
In 1931 Williams was elected to Pontardawe Rural District Council near Neath as a Labour Party candidate, and also elected to the Executive Council of the South Wales Miners' Federation. He was a member of a Miners' delegation to Russia, and also studied at the Central Labour College in London.
Election.
Sir William Jenkins, the MP for Neath, died in December 1944. As a local candidate, Williams won the sponsorship of the miners and was chosen to follow him; he was elected to Parliament at a by-election in May 1945. At the 1945 general election a few weeks later, his majority was among the highest in the country.
Parliament.
Williams was strongly opposed to continuing conscription and voted against the Labour whip to end it. He denounced Welsh Nationalism, supporting greater control of Wales by the rest of Britain, and lauded the Attlee government for its achievements in promoting full employment. In 1948 he agreed to speak to a group of miners on unofficial strike to urge them to accept a new wages settlement, which led to a solution of the dispute. Williams disliked the Soviet Union and denounced it for threatening the smaller nations of Europe.
Williams opposed the Macmillan government's application for Britain to join the European Economic Community. In 1964, he urged the Conservative government to intervene in a dispute in the private Welsh steel industry by setting up a Court of Inquiry. Later that year Williams announced his retirement, stating that on medical advice his health would not stand up to another Parliament.
Williams and his wife Jenny, lived in Cilfrew on the outskirts of Neath.


Allan Birchfield

Allan Birchfield (born 1949/1950) is a coal and gold miner from the South Island's West Coast of New Zealand. He is chairman of the West Coast Regional Council and known for his controversial views on climate change.
Biography.
Birchfield's family has a long history of coal and gold mining and sawmilling on the West Coast. His father was Maxwell John Birchfield (1923–1990). Birchfield farms land at Ngahere, works an alluvial gold claim near Hokitika, and is director of Birchfield Coal Mines Ltd, owned with his three siblings. Birchfield Coal Mines, started by Birchfield's parents in 1977, employs 20 people at a mine near Reefton, and in 2016 bought the Liverpool and Strongman mines from bankrupt mining company Solid Energy.
Birchfield is the owner of the "Kanieri", the last gold dredge operating on the West Coast and the largest remaining alluvial bucket gold dredge in the world. The dredge was built in 1938 to work the Kaniere area, and recovered of gold from around Hokitika and from the Taramakau River before stopping operation in 1978. It was salvaged and rebuilt by US company R.A. Hanson Co. (also known as RAHCO) in 1989, who went into receivership eight months later. The dredge was purchased by Birchfield Minerals in August 1992 and ran at Ngahere, inland from Greymouth, until 2004 before being mothballed as unprofitable. It restarted operation in 2009 with a NZ$2.2 million loan from Development West Coast, mining the Grey River flats near Blackball and ran until 2012, when falling gold prices and resource consents led to it being mothballed again. In 2013 Birchfield successfully defended eight charges by the Department of Conservation of undertaking commercial gold mining without authority and damaging conservation land at Blackball and the Grey River. In 2016, then 65, he announced he was retiring from gold mining and put the dredge up for sale, but was still operating it during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 when he argued gold mining should continue as an essential service. He petitioned then-Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage to allow alluvial gold mining on Department of Conservation land.
Birchfield was elected chairman of the West Coast Regional Council in 2019, after six terms as a councillor, and reinstated an opening prayer at Council meetings. "New Zealand is a Christian country, and Christian standards are good ones," he claimed. He is a member of the Te Tai o Poutini One Plan Committee, which is legally required to identify significant natural areas (SNAs) such as native forest or wetland remaining on private land. Ecologists Wildlands Consultants Ltd were hired to physically inspect features on private land that might qualify as a SNA, but Birchfield vowed to bar any ecologists from accessing his own land. "As far as I'm concerned, it's theft. If the government wants to save this stuff it should buy it." he said.
Birchfield denies human-caused climate change and sea-level rise, calling it "a gigantic fraud" and "the biggest rort in the history of human civilisation". He refused to accept a report to the regional council about future hazards to the region from sea-level rise, calling it "bullshit". When Kiwibank announced it would no longer do business with the fossil fuel industry, he accused them of "trying to destroy the economy."
Birchfield was rebuked by the New Zealand Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon for referring to Covid-19 as the "Chinese virus". He claimed "It's not racist at all, we all know where it started." Buller mayor Jamie Cleine and Greymouth mayor Tania Gibson distanced themselves from Birchfield's remarks.
Birchfield is an admirer of US President Donald Trump, wearing a MAGA cap in photographs and posing in front of a framed portrait of the President. He is a staunch National supporter, but in the 2011 general election ran as the ACT candidate for West Coast-Tasman, receiving 487 votes.


Alfred Tremblay

Alfred Tremblay was a Canadian prospector, explorer and an officer of the Order of Canada.
In 1912 Tremblay was working as a prospector, when he joined an expedition lead by J.E. Bernier to Pond Inlet, seeking gold. In 1913 his guides lead him south, to Igloolik. Tremblay published an account of this expedition in 1921.
Tremblay would eventually walk a circuit of Baffin Island, a distance of more than .


Doe Run Company

The Doe Run Resources Corporation, known by the trade name The Doe Run Company, is a privately held natural resources company and global producer of lead, copper, and zinc concentrates. It owns four mills, six mines and a lead battery recycling plant, all in southeast Missouri, United States, and a subsidiary Fabricated Products Inc. with locations in Arizona and Washington. It also owns two former primary lead smelter sites in the U.S. that are currently being remediated. It is wholly owned by The Renco Group, Inc
History.
The company that would become The Doe Run Company was founded as St. Joseph Lead Company in New York in 1864. In the "Old Lead Belt" of Southeast Missouri where the company operated, it was the dominant mining group. In 1887, the company purchased land to build a smelter in Herculaneum, Missouri. The lead processing smelter was built on 540 acres by the Mississippi River and began operations in 1892.
During its early history, St. Joseph Lead Company developed many tools, techniques, and safety processes that became widely adopted by the mining industry. Notable accomplishments included the roof bolt in the 1920s, and the St. Joe Shovel in 1922, which replaced hand shovels and increased daily employee productivity from 21 tons of rock to nearly 300 tons. St. Joe was also the first mining company to employ a dedicated researcher, starting in 1930, which expanded into a department.
With the gradual exhaustion of the Old Lead Belt after World War II, St. Joe explored other areas in southeastern Missouri and in 1955 found extensive deposits in an area that became known as the Viburnum Trend. The company owns six mines and four mills along the trend. Other companies also developed the area, but Doe Run owned all the mines and mills in the district by 1992.
The company changed its name to St. Joe Minerals in 1970, and was acquired by the Fluor Corporation in 1981. In 1986, St. Joe and another mining company, Homestake Lead, formed The Doe Run Company Partnership, which added Homestake's Buick mine, mill and smelter to St. Joe's operations. The Buick smelter was later converted to the Buick Resource Recycling Division for lead recycling in 1991.
The Renco Group, Inc., acquired The Doe Run Company from Fluor and renamed the company The Doe Run Resources Corporation in 1994 (although it continued to be registered to do business as "The Doe Run Company"). In 1996, Doe Run established Fabricated Products, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, and acquired lead fabricating facilities. The following year, Doe Run more than doubled in size with the purchase of the La Oroya smelter and Cobriza copper mine in Peru from state-controlled Centromin for $247 million. Doe Run's Peruvian holdings would eventually be separated into a separate subsidiary of the Renco Group in 2007.
In 2001, regulators reported high levels of lead around Doe Run's Herculaneum lead smelter as well as in the blood of local children. Following this finding, Doe Run undertook a large-scale cleanup effort, purchasing approximately 160 homes and replacing soil for over 700 properties to bring the site back into compliance with the U.S. Clean Air Act. In 2010, Doe Run agreed to close the Herculaneum smelter and pay $65 million for past violations of federal Clean Air and Clean Water acts. The same year, Doe Run announced plans to replace the Herculaneum smelter with an electrowinning plant. However, in 2012 these plans were put on hold indefinitely. In December 2013, Doe Run closed the Herculaneum smelter, retaining just a small operation for refining specialty alloys and maintaining the site.
After the closure of the Herculaneum primary lead smelting facility in 2013, the company altered its business model to focus on its mining and recycling operations. In 2016, citing falling prices and environmental regulations, Doe Run downsized its lead production by approximately 10 percent and eliminated 75 jobs in its Missouri facilities. In 2016, the company sold 18 acres of its former lead smelter site in Herculaneum to Riverview Commerce Park LLC for redevelopment as a commercial port. Doe Run began demolition on the five main buildings of the Herculaneum smelter in 2017 as part of its redevelopment announced in 2012.
Operations.
Overview.
The Doe Run Company manages various parts of the lead lifecycle, including mining, milling, fabrication, and recycling, and provides lead metals, alloys and lead concentrates to companies globally. The company's headquarters are in St. Louis, Missouri, and Doe Run has holdings in Missouri, Washington and Arizona. Jerry Pyatt has been president and CEO of The Doe Run Company since 2012.
Doe Run employs approximately 1,100 people, and it invests in locals schools and infrastructure both financially and through employee community service.
Holdings and products.
In the Southeast Missouri Lead District, Doe Run's mines are all on the Viburnum Trend, a 64 km long mineralized shoot with an average width of 150 meters, thickness of 3 to 30 meters and average depth of 300 meters. It is a classic Mississippi Valley type lead/zinc deposit in Cambrian carbonate rocks though it contains an unusually high proportion of lead. The principal minerals are galena (lead, PbS) and sphalerite (zinc, ZnS) with lesser amounts of chalcopyrite (copper, CuFeS2). Lead concentrates from the area contain more than 75 percent lead, versus an industry average of 45 to 50 percent lead.
Doe Run owns six mines on the Viburnum Trend: Brushy Creek, Buick, Casteel, Fletcher/West Fork, Sweetwater and Mine No 29. These mines produce ore that is milled at the company's four mills to extract lead, zinc, and copper concentrates. Approximately 90 percent of the primary lead supply in the United States has been derived from the ore from these mines over the years. Following the closure of the Herculaneum smelter, metal concentrates from the mines are shipped overseas for smelting.
Doe Run's other Missouri holdings include a recycling smelter in Boss, Missouri. The secondary smelter recycles metal from old lead batteries and scrap lead. The process creates secondary lead that can be manufactured into new products.
The smelter processes about 13.5 million lead-acid batteries annually, recovering lead from the batteries for reuse. Doe Run is one of only a few North American facilities capable of removing lead from glass in cathode ray tubes that were once common in televisions and computer monitors. Safety precautions at Doe Run lead facilities include washing trucks that come into contact with lead, as well as having exposed workers shower and change clothes after each shift.
In addition to mining operations and its secondary smelter, The Doe Run Company has a wholly owned subsidiary called Fabricated Products, Inc., that has locations in Vancouver, Washington and Casa Grande, Arizona. These facilities manufacture and market fabricated metal products, including lead oxide for batteries, lead shielding used for radiation protection in hospitals, extruded shapes used in plating and pollution control, lead-lined drywall and plywood, and sheet lead for roof flashing.
Doe Run also owned a primary lead smelting facility in southeastern Missouri in the unincorpated region of Glover. The company acquired the facility in 1998 from ASARCO, but it was closed in 2003.
Environmental issues.
La Oroya, Peru.
In 1997, Doe Run purchased a smelter and copper mine in La Oroya, Peru from the Peruvian state-controlled company Centromin during a privatization scheme. In doing so, Doe Run agreed to reduce emissions at the heavily polluted site to acceptable levels within 10 years. Despite substantial investment in site improvements and local infrastructure, health and environmental problems persisted. Studies conducted by the Director General of Environmental Health in Peru in 1999 showed that ninety-nine percent of children living in and around La Oroya have blood-lead levels that exceed acceptable amounts. The drinking water of La Oroya has been shown to contain 50 percent more lead than the levels recommended by the World Health Organization. These studies also showed high levels of air pollution, with 85 times more arsenic, 41 times more cadmium and 13 times more lead than amounts considered safe.
A 2005 study found that the town was facing a serious environmental health crisis. Not only were there elevated lead levels in children, the study also found above-normal levels of cadmium, arsenic, and antimony throughout the population. Exposure to these toxic heavy metals is associated with kidney failure, cancer, and other problems. In an interview, the author of the study said he was "scandalised" by the breadth and depth of the contamination because he "found levels of lead in children that you don’t even see in the USA in adults who work with lead."
Because Doe Run Company is a major employer in the city, union leaders and the mayor were often persuaded to side with the industry and circumvent government attempts to address the pollution, but the political tide finally started to shift in the mid-2000s
In 2006, the Peruvian government granted Doe Run a three-year extension to meet emission level standards. In February 2007 Doe Run's Peruvian assets were spun out as an independent subsidiary of Renco Group, Doe Run Peru. In a 2007 press release, Doe Run Peru announced that it would appeal a fine levied on it by Peruvian regulators for surpassing emissions standards in La Oroya. Jose Mogrovejo, Doe Run Peru's vice president for environmental affairs, said that infractions were not of a magnitude that could harm the environment: "Our concern is that people could infer from reading the resolution that it says we have damaged the environment, and that is not the case."
In September 2007, environmental health organization Blacksmith Institute listed La Oroya as one of the "World's Worst Polluted Places" because of pollution generated at Doe Run Company's poly-metallic smelting plant:
From 2007 to 2013 nearly one thousand individuals who had been exposed to toxic metals in La Oroya as minors initiated ongoing civil lawsuits in St. Louis against "Renco, Doe Run Resources Corporation (DRRC), and other companies and officers associated with Renco for injuries caused by poisonous emissions." In 2009, Doe Run Peru shut down the smelter after the Peruvian government cited the company for environmental violations. In April 2011, Renco Group filed an $800 million lawsuit against Peru, alleging Peru had violated the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement. The case was dismissed in 2016.
Herculaneum, Missouri.
In 2001, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources found that street dust in the town of Herculaneum contained 30% lead. Testing the same year by the United States Environmental Protection Agency found high levels of air pollution. Test results also showed elevated levels of lead among more than half of pre-school age children who were tested living near the smelter in Herculaneum.
In 2002, Doe Run undertook a voluntary buyout of homes in the area and over the next few years purchased approximately 160 homes. In addition to the buyout, Doe Run invested $14 million in the removal of lead-contaminated soil. It replaced soil for more than 700 properties, including residences, schools, public parks, and other land. By the end of the year, Doe Run was in compliance with the Clean Air Act lead standard. According to a company representative, another $12 million was spent in 2007 in an effort to further reduce air pollution from the smelter.
In 2010, after issuance of new stricter EPA lead standards, Doe Run agreed to close the Herculaneum smelter and pay $65 million to correct past violations of the federal Clean Air and Clean Water acts. The same year, the company announced plans to replace the Herculaneum smelter with an electrowinning plant, which would replace smelting with a contained wet chemical process, reducing emissions by nearly 99 percent. The plans were a result of research the company had been conducting for decades to find a new way to produce lead. Doe Run invested $30 million in developing new technology until the plan was put on hold in 2012.
In December 2013, Doe Run closed the Herculaneum smelter, though refining operations of specialty alloys continue. The company allocated more than $8 million for cleanup of the property following its closure. Between 2010 and 2015, Doe Run spent $289 million on environmental expenditures across its various holdings. The funds have been used in part for remediating old mining sites and for the construction of water treatment plants to treat waste from mining operations.


Golden Cross Mine


Levi Lovett

Levi Lovett (2 February 1854 – 7 April 1929) was a British trade unionist.
Born in Hugglescote, Leicestershire, Lovett worked in coal mining from the age of 12. A devout Methodist and lay preacher, he was elected as checkweighman at Snibston No.2 colliery in 1885, then in 1887 was the founding President of the Coalville and District Miners' Association. He served in this post until 1902, when he became the union's agent.
Although generally politically liberal, Lovett was asked to stand for the Labour Party in Bosworth at the 1918 general election, although he did not end up being the party's candidate. He continued as agent of the renamed Leicestershire Miners' Association until 1923, when he was replaced by Jack W. Smith.


Bothwellhaugh

Bothwellhaugh was a Scottish coal mining village housing Hamilton Palace Colliery workers and their families. Locals referred to the village as The Pailis. It was located near to the towns of Motherwell, Bellshill and Hamilton in Lanarkshire, being occupied from the mid-1880s until it was demolished in 1965.
Pre-mining History.
The remains of the Bothwellhaugh Roman Fort and a Roman bath house were found in the park; it is around a day's march from the Antonine Wall.
James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, became notorious for being the assassin of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland, at Linlithgow in 1570.
Mining Village.
There were two coal mines on the site operated by the "Bent Colliery Company". Housing was developed from the late 1880s until 1905. Before WW1 over 2000 tonnes of coal a day were being produced by over 1000 miners. The mining from this pit led to the demolition of Hamilton Palace due to subsidence.
Decline and flooding.
The pit shut in May 1959 as flooding in the pits which went under the River Clyde meant that pumping became a major cost. The houses had fallen into poor state of repair and sewage was becoming a problem.
The site of the village has now been flooded to produce Strathclyde Loch, within Strathclyde Country Park. about ten miles south-east of Glasgow.
The Bothwellhaugh name is retained in a set of football/rugby pitches operated by North Lanarkshire Council, near to the M&D's amusement park and the "Raith Interchange" of the M74 motorway / A725.
Memorial.
There is a cairn at Strathclyde Park to remember the village. Former residents of the village hold an annual reunion, meeting at the cairn. A memorial to the village and visitor centre has been proposed at the old Raith farm workers cottage.
Bibliography.
"Bothwellhaugh: A Lanarkshire mining community, 1884-1965" Robert Duncan, Workers Educational Association, 1986


Fred Chester Bond

Fred Chester Bond (June 10, 1899 – January 23, 1977) was an American mining engineer. A graduate of the Colorado School of Mines, he worked in the mining equipment and ore milling equipment business of Allis-Chalmers from 1930 to 1964.
Bond Work Index.
In the 1930s through early 1950s, Bond developed a new theory of comminution that introduced an index, called the 'Bond Work Index', which relates power consumption in crushing and grinding to the feed and product size distribution. His theory and index were introduced in a widely cited 1952 journal article. Bond called his theory the "third theory of comminution", counting those of Peter von Rittinger and Friedrich Kick as the first and second. This term and the terminology of "laws of comminution", as in "Rittinger's law", "Kick's law", and "Bond's law", are sometimes used in the field, along with those of subsequent researchers including Walker and Hukki. Whereas Rittinger's theory held that the work done in breaking rock is proportional to the new surface area produced (that is, inversely proportional to the diameter of the product particles), and Kick's theory held that the work done is directly proportional to the reduction ratio (ratio of feed particle diameter to product particle diameter), Bond's theory held that the work varies inversely as the square root of the product particle diameters. Bond's theory and index brought a greater measure of openness to the calculations for selecting the type, size, and power ratings for ore milling equipment.
Bond was inducted with its first class into the National Mining Hall of Fame posthumously in 1988, and received a Distinguished Achievement Medal by his alma mater, the Colorado School of Mines, in 1952. He received the 1965 AIME Robert H. Richards Award "[f]or major contributions to increased knowledge of crushing and grinding processes and for achievement in industrial application of this knowledge to advancement of the milling industry."
Career and personal life.
Bond's autobiography describes life in Colorado in the 1920s and shows some ways in which it was still somewhat pioneering compared with today. It also describes the experience of working as a foreign engineer in South America and some of the poverty encountered, discord argued, friendships made, and mining projects worked on. An interesting account of uranium mining in Canada at Port Radium is given.
Bond and Margaret Jean Lowe were married in Denver, Colorado, on August 29, 1925, and remained married until his death in Tucson in 1977. Margaret Jean died in 1988, also in Tucson. They had two sons, Robert F., born 1926, and Bruce F., born 1933. In addition to his vocation of engineering, Bond had an avocation of thinking and writing on metaphysical subjects.


Nikita Izotov

Nikita Alexeevich Izotov () ( — January 14, 1951) is sometimes referred to (at least by specialists) as the "First Stakhanovite," because he was the first Soviet worker singled out by the press for a superhuman act of labor. In his case, he was praised for having mined far more coal than anyone else—dozens of times the quota.
For a brief period of time, beginning with a May 11, 1932, article in "Pravda", Izotov was held up as a model worker, giving rise to the short-lived movement of "Izotovism," which was later eclipsed by Stakhanovism.


Bonnyrigg

Bonnyrigg () is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, eight miles (13 kilometres) southeast of Edinburgh city centre. The town had a population of 14,663 in the 2001 census which rose to 15,677 in the 2011 census, both figures based on the 2010 definition of the locality which, as well as Bonnyrigg and the adjacent settlement of Lasswade, includes Polton village, Poltonhall housing estate and modern development at Hopefield. The estimated population for 2018 is 18,120, the highest of any town in Midlothian. Along with Lasswade, Bonnyrigg is a twin town with Saint-Cyr-l'École, France.
History.
Early maps of the locality show various versions of the village name. It first appears as a small hamlet on William Roy's map of c.1750 as "Bonnebrig". From 1763, it is called "Bannockrigg" or "Bannoc Rig". In 1817 the village is named "Bonny Ridge", then "Bonny Rigg" in 1828, "Bonnyrig" in 1834, "Bonny Rig" in 1850 until, finally, the Ordnance Survey map of 1850-1852 standardises the name as "Bonnyrigg".
In 1865, the villages of Bonnyrigg, Red Row, Polton Street, Hillhead and Broomieknowe combined to form the burgh of Bonnyrigg, and then, in 1881, the village of Lasswade and part of Broomieknowe combined to form the burgh of Lasswade. In 1929 the two burghs joined together to form the burgh of Bonnyrigg & Lasswade. This burgh lasted for 45 years until it was abolished in 1974/75, when local government changes were introduced. Bonnyrigg was a mining village until the 1920s, while its carpet factory was demolished in 1994. 20th century expansions included the Hopefield, Poltonhall and Waverley neighbourhoods.
The town centre mostly dates from the 19th century, though buildings at the main crossroads were rebuilt in the 1960s. In 2006, Bonnyrigg town centre benefited from £1.5m of environmental improvements. Natural stone paving replaced the existing concrete paving slabs in areas across the town centre and new street lighting and furniture were installed.
Under the "Midlothian Local Development Plan", the area's population is to rise considerably during the 2020s, with ongoing developments at Hopefield and Burnbrae south-west of the town centre augmented by another substantial project in the fields at Dalhousie Mains to the south-east.
Transport.
Bonnyrigg lies on the B704 (High Street)/(Dundas Street) and the A6094 (Polton Street)/(Lothian Street) which cross at Bonnyrigg Toll. The most frequent bus service is the Lothian Buses service 31 which goes from East Craigs in the west of Edinburgh via Princes Street, passing Bonnyrigg Toll every 10 minutes at peak times and terminating alternately at Hopefield and Polton. The X31 service runs from Haymarket in Edinburgh to Rosewell via Bonnyrigg Toll and Hopefield. Lothian Buses service 49 from The Jewel (ASDA) to Rosewell and East Coast Buses service 140 from Musselburgh to Penicuik also serve the town.
Bonnyrigg railway station served the town from 1855 until 1962 for passengers, freight services continued until 1965 when the station closed completely. The opening of the Borders Railway in September 2015 has re-connected Bonnyrigg to the national rail network via nearby Eskbank railway station.
For walkers the Penicuik–Dalkeith Walkway passes close by, and for cyclists National Cycle Route 1 plus NCN 196 pass through the town.
Churches.
Bonnyrigg is served by several churches of different denominations. The local Church of Scotland congregations are Bonnyrigg Parish Church in the town centre, plus Cockpen and Carrington Parish Church to the south of the town. Bonnyrigg Parish Church was originally built as Cockpen Free Church. The local Catholic church is Our Lady of Consolation on Hawthornden Avenue.
Sport.
Bonnyrigg is home to the football club Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic, who play in the Lowland League having gained promotion from the East of Scotland League in 2019. They were previously a junior club, winning the East Region Super League four times, and are a joint force with Bonnyrigg Rose F.C (Boys Club). Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic play their home games at New Dundas Park and also have their own social club; Bonnyrigg Rose Social Club. Bonnyrigg Rose Boys Club play their home games at the Staiside Park, Bonnyrigg. They have teams all ages, ranging from under-7s, to under-17s.
Lasswade Rugby Football Club was founded in 1921 and initially played in a field to the west of Dobbies Road before moving to their current ground at Hawthornden in 1974. They compete in Scottish National League Division Three.
The local golf course is Broomieknowe Golf Club. It is an 18-hole course with a par of 70. Mark Patchett is the resident professional.
Other points of interest.
King George V Park in Bonnyrigg contains a monument to the miners leader, Mick McGahey.


Mulga Rock

Mulga Rock (also called Mulga Rocks) is a proven uranium deposit in Western Australia which contains Australia's third largest undeveloped uranium resource.
The uranium deposits were discovered between 1978 and 1998 by PNC Exploration Australia, a Japanese government-owned company. The deposits are named Emperor, Shogun, Ambassador and Princess.
The project is owned by the ASX-listed company, Vimy Resources. Test pits were dug at the site in 2016 and the mine received approval on 16 December 2016. In September 2020, the company announced that all of its required environmental management plans had been accepted by the Government of Western Australia. The project's environmental and indigenous cultural impacts and economic projections have been criticised by the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Conservation Council of Western Australia and The Australia Institute respectively.


Waisoi mine

The Waisoi mine is a large copper mine located in the southern Fiji in Namosi Province. Waisoi represents one of the largest copper reserve in Fiji and in the world having estimated reserves of 950 million tonnes of ore grading 0.43% copper.


William Young Craig

William Young Craig (May 1827 - 1924) was a mining engineer, colliery owner and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1885.
Craig was the son of John Craig of Burntisland, Fife, but was himself born at Haggerston, a village near Lindisfarne, Northumberland. He became a mining engineer and a coal and ironstone proprietor in North Staffordshire. He was president of the North Staffordshire Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers in 1879 and 1880.
At the 1880 general election Craig was elected Member of Parliament for North Staffordshire. He held the seat until 1885. In the 1880s he purchased the Brynkinalt colliery near Chirk.
Craig died at Wrexham the age of 96.
Craig married Harriet Milton Stanney daughter of Captain Richard Stanney of the Isle of Wight in 1857. Their daughter Jean married Sir Walter Palmer, 1st Baronet MP for Salisbury.


Safyanovskoe mine

The Safyanovskoe mine is one of the largest lead mines in Russia. The mine is located in southern Russia in Novosibirsk Oblast. The mine has reserves amounting to 19.2 million tonnes of ore grading 0.1% lead.


De Winton

De Winton & Co (1854–1901) were engineers in Caernarfon, Wales. They built vertical boilered narrow gauge locomotives for use in Welsh slate mines and other industrial settings. At least six De Winton locomotives have been preserved. But these quarry tramway locomotives, for which in the 21st century they are largely remembered, were just a small part of this company's engineering output.
Overview.
The company had its origins in a small foundry built on the slate wharf at Caernarfon by Owen Thomas in the 1840s. He subsequently went into partnership with Jeffreys Parry de Winton and the firm developed as the Union Foundry. Manufactures included street gaslight columns and all manner of street furniture. When the Carnarvonshire Railway was being built under Castle Square, the tunnel roof was supported by iron beams supplied by De Winton's and their name can still be seen at the entrance to the tunnel, which is now used as a road underpass.
The foundry was a major supplier to the Caernarfon and Liverpool ship building industry. The firm built marine steam engines up to 200 bhp powered by boilers that they also made. These marine engines influenced the quarry locomotives that they made. Over 60 were produced over a 25-year period. They also built stationary steam engines and the engine preserved at Parc Glynllifon near Caernarfon is the second oldest working stationary engine in Britain.
De Winton's supplied the quarry industry and made whatever might be needed. At the large and very profitable Dinorwic Quarry in Llanberis, in 1870, De Winton's built and equipped an entire workshop with machinery powered by overhead shafting that in its turn was driven by the largest water wheel in the United Kingdom (over 50 feet in diameter), which remained in daily use until 1925 when it was replaced by a Pelton wheel but retained as standby. The wheel is the subject of a preservation order but in fact the entire workshop complex is preserved as the National Slate Museum.
Jeffreys Parry de Winton (born Wilkins 1828–1892) was mayor of Caernarfon (1870–1872) when his company was one of the rising enterprises in the town. The Company remained in his hands and important in Caernarfon's maritime activities until about 1890. In its decline from that time it appears to have been badly managed and heavily committed to a French invention that failed and brought bankruptcy in 1901. Some of the De Winton works in St Helen's Road survives. Since 1988 it has been the home of a local plumbing and heating business; before that the foundry was used as a bonded warehouse and wine merchants. It stands opposite Caernarfon station of the Welsh Highland Railway.
The steam engine at Glynllifon was restored by Fred Dibnah after he was originally called to the park to quote for the demolition of the chimney.
De Winton locomotives.
The De Winton records were not preserved, so the complete list of locomotives produced is not known.


Bluestone River (Alaska)

Bluestone River is a waterway located on the Seward Peninsula in the U.S. state of Alaska. A tributary of the Tuksuk Channel from the south, Bluestone is a north-flowing stream situated southeast of Teller. It was named in 1900 by Edward Chester Barnard, topographer of the United States Geological Survey.
History.
After gold was discovered in the early summer of 1900, mining operations commenced. Gold was mined on Gold Run, Alder Creek (a Gold Run tributary), and on Bering Creek (a Right Fork tributary), while the Bluestone Placer Mine was established south of the U.S. government's Teller Reindeer Station, which had been in operation for about eight years. Settlements sprung up near and on Port Clarence, the larger being Teller, which, by autumn 1900, had a post office and a population of about 1,000. The Bluestone placer mines were located about from Teller with the trail between the two characterized as uphill, covered with moss, and "very poor walking for both man and beast". A second settlement on Port Clarence, Bering City, afforded ships closer proximity to the shore and was only from the Bluestone mines, but had only a fifth of the population of Teller, which was to the north.
Placer mining operations have been noted at several locations in the river since 1969.
Geography.
The headwaters of the Bluestone River form in a valley, where it drains the region between Grantley Harbor and the Bering Sea, an area known as the Bluestone region. The drainage is situated between the Kigluaik Mountains and Port Clarence. The area contains flat-topped hills. For about above the river's mouth, Bluestone traverses a rolling plateau with an elevation of . Here, the river valley is characterized as being broad, with flood plains measuring at least in width. Above this section of the river the valley contains a steep-walled canyon noting flat-topped mountains in height. The river's average gradient measures approximately per mile. Where the river valley broadens, it forks instead of expanding into a broad flood plain. The eastern branch, Gold Run, measures approximately in length (has the settlement at Sulivan ) and has a crooked course, traveling northwest before turning east–west; Alder Creek is an eastern tributary (short length of ). The western split is known as Right Fork. It, too, follows a crooked course, traveling westward before turning to the east at the junction with Gold Run; Right Fork also has several tributaries.
Geology.
The geological formations recorded in the river basin consist generally of a metapelitic sequence. Mafic intrusives have been noted in the locally metamorphosed zones. The Bluestone basin features mica and chlorite schists, beds of limestone, intrusive mafic masses altered to greenstone, and small quartz veins, particularly in the Gold Run Creek, a southern and eastern tributary of the Bluestone River. In some areas, minerals recorded are blueschist facies and retrograde greenschist facies. The geological age of these formations is conjectured as Paleozoic. Gold found on benches and in the main drainage was reported to be fine grained material and some nuggets were also recovered. The gold–bearing gravels were found to have cinnabar and platinum-group metals. Gold was also found in a tributary mining location on Skookum Creek.


Merthyr Vale

Merthyr Vale ( or "Ynyswen") is a linear village and community in the Welsh county borough of Merthyr Tydfil. Lying on the A4054 road it is on the east bank of the River Taff.
The community includes the villages of Aberfan on the opposite side of the Taff, Mount Pleasant and the village of Merthyr Vale itself.
History.
The area was referred to and written as Ynys Owen as early as 1630, noting that the narrow valley was heavily wooded, with various traditional longhouse ("tyddyn") farms marking out the rural territories. Ynys Owen, which translates from Welsh to English as "Owain’s riverside meadow", has been claimed by some possibly to commemorate Owain Glyndŵr, whose followers were involved in an uprising around 1400.
There had been small scale coal extraction at Danyderi and Perthygleision, but in 1869 John Nixon started development of the Taff Colliery, later to be known as the Merthyr Vale Colliery. The village immediately grew up around the shaft development, as did the later communities of Aberfan, Nixonville and Mount Pleasant. Completed in 1875, when the first commercial coal was brought up, there was a celebration called in the local Windsor Hotel.
As the colliery was not the first developed in the area, and as colliery developers and owners were known to generally restrict spending on surrounding communities in which they housed their workers, Merthyr Tydfil council insisted on Merthyr Vale being developed with both adequate sanitation, as well as community infrastructure. Resultant planning regulations stipulated that the parish had effective sanitary and water supplies from the beginning.
Religious buildings included chapels and churches for: Zion, Baptist, Calfaria, Welsh Baptist Bethel, Wesleyan Methodist, Disgwylfa, Calvinist Methodist and Trinity, Presbyterian denominations. Zion and Calfaria merged in 1974 to form the modern Baptist Church at Nixonville, which contains the first fibre-glass baptistry built in Wales. St Benedict's Roman Catholic Church was built in 1932. The Anglican Church of St Mary and Holy Innocents was built in 1974; replacing the earlier church which was built, with help from Merthyr Vale Colliery, in 1926.
The former Merthyr Vale School was built in 1879, while the Mount Pleasant School dates from 1912. Merthyr Vale railway station opened in 1883. The Gordon Lennox Constitutional Club was built in 1901, by the proprietor of the Brown-Lennox Engineering Company in Pontypridd, also the President of the East Glamorgan Conservative.
The village developed sufficiently to create The Merthyr Vale Silver Prize Band - which won the Gwent Eisteddfod in 1905 and 1905, under conductor G. H. Thomas.
Travellers' hotels and pubs that opened within the community included: The Aberfan Hotel, The Mackintosh Hotel (closed) both in Aberfan, Mount Pleasant Inn, Station Hotel (closed) and Windsor Hotel in Cardiff Road Merthyr Vale.
In World War II, while on a training exercise from No. 53 Operational Training Unit, two Royal Canadian Air Force Supermarine Spitfires collided over the village on 7 July 1941. The aircraft (X4024) of Sgt Gerald Fenwick Manuel (R/69888), 25, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, crashed into the home of the Cox family, claiming the lives of Doreen Cox, 33, and her two daughters Phyllis, 14, and Doreen, 3. Husband James Cox, who was a shift worker at a munitions factory and was asleep in the house at the time of the crash, was thrown to safety; their three boys, Donald, Thomas and Len, were out playing. Neighbours tried to rescue the family - who had just returned from a shopping trip - but the heat from the fire was too intense. The second aircraft (X4607) of Sgt Lois "Curly" Goldberg (R/56185), 27, from Montreal, crashed into a field in Mount Pleasant, Treharris. The bodies of Sgt Manuel and the deceased family members were buried two days later in Ffrwd Cemetery, Merthyr Tydfil, while the body of Sgt Goldberg was interned in the Jewish cemetery at Cefn-coed-y-cymmer. A mural was painted by local school children and unveiled by the Canadian High Commissioner shortly afterwards on the same site, while there is an ongoing campaign by the Cox family for a permanent memorial.
21st century.
The Coventry Playground was built in 1972 on the site of the old Merthyr Vale School, with the monies collected by the people of Coventry. The playground was officially opened by the mayor of Coventry but closed to children many years ago and now is Coventry Gardens, a small housing estate with 11 bungalows.
In 2009, 100 homes in two streets of Merthyr vale were demolished to make way for a redevelopment on the site of the old Merthyr Vale Colliery. It was to include 230 new homes, a new school, two shops, a restaurant and offices. After the first phase of the project – Ynysowen primary school – was completed, the school received its first pupils in 2010. Project Riverside was being jointly funded by the Welsh Government and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, who were to invest £8.2 million in the scheme.
Mount View.
Mount View, which translates from English to Welsh as "Trem Y Mynydd", is a small village within Merthyr Vale, located at the bottom of Mount Pleasant
In culture.
The village appears in Richard Fleischer's 1971 film, a British crime drama "10 Rillington Place" starring Richard Attenborough and John Hurt. As Timothy Evans (Hurt) comes back to Wales, various scenes then shot inside the main village are seen. The locations include: Merthyr Vale Station, Coronation Place Aberfan, and Cardiff. The film dramatises the case of British serial killer John Christie (murderer), who committed many of his crimes in the titular Notting Hill (London) terraced house, and the miscarriage of justice involving his neighbour Timothy Evans, played by John Hurt who won a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal. Timothy Evans was a Welshman born in Merthyr Tydfil wrongfully convicted and hanged for the murder of his wife and infant daughter at their residence at 10 Rillington Place in January 1950; after new evidence emerged, he was granted a posthumous pardon.


Rees Thomas

Rees Thomas (1882–14 June 1926) was a Welsh international rugby union back row player who was utilised usually as a flanker or Number 8. Thomas played club rugby for Pontypool and county rugby for Monmouthshire. He won eight caps for Wales and played between 1909 and 1913, representing Wales during two Triple Crown winning seasons.
Rugby career.
Thomas was first selected to play for Wales in a friendly game against France in 1909 as a prop forward. He was reselected for the next game which was against Ireland in the final match of the 1909 Home Nations Championship. The win over Ireland sealed a perfect tournament for Wales and made Thomas a Triple Crown tournament winner in his first competitive game. Thomas was not called upon for the 1910 Championship, but was back in the Wales team for the 1911 tournament. It was during the 1911 competition that Thomas scored his only points for Wales when he scored a try in the game against Scotland. A record eight tries were scored against Scotland by Wales, and Thomas was the only person not playing for Cardiff to score for the Welsh team in that game. Wales won all four of the games of the 1911 Championship giving Thomas his second Triple Crown win. Thomas played in two games of the 1912 Championship, both under the captaincy of Dicky Owen. The first was a loss to England at Twickenham, followed by a more convincing display and a win at St Helen's over Scotland.
At the end of 1912, Thomas was selected to represent Monmouthshire against the touring South African team. Thomas was one of three capped players in the Monmouthshire team, the others were Newport's Reg Plummer and Abertillery's Jim Webb. Although the South African's won 16–0, Thomas was chosen to play for Wales when they faced the same touring South African team. Wales lost to the South Africans at Cardiff Arms Park, their first defeat in Cardiff since 1899. This was followed by a defeat by England on the same pitch a month later, which was Thomas last game for his country, and was seen as the end of the First Golden Age of Welsh rugby.
International matches.
Wales


Majdanpek mine

The Majdanpek mine is a large copper mine located in the east of Serbia in Bor District. Majdanpek represents one of the largest porphyry copper reserves in Serbia and in the world having estimated reserves of 619.5 million tonnes of ore grading 0.33% copper. The mine also has gold reserves amounting to 7.68 million oz and silver reserves of 56 million oz.


Zamin Ferrous

Zamin Ferrous is a privately owned mining company owned and run by the Indian former billionaire, Pramod Agarwal.
Zamin is in a protracted legal dispute with ENRC over a Bahia, Brazil iron ore mine.


Witwatersrand Gold Rush

The Witwatersrand Gold Rush was a gold rush in 1886 that led to the establishment of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a key part of the Mineral Revolution.
Origins.
There had always been rumours of a modern-day "El Dorado" in the folklore of the native tribes that roamed the plains of the South African highveld and in that of the gold miners who had come from all over the world to seek out their fortunes on the alluvial mines of Barberton and Pilgrim's Rest, in what is now known as the province of Mpumalanga.
But it was not until 1886 that the massive wealth of the Witwatersrand would be uncovered. Scientific studies have pointed to the fact that the "Golden Arc" which stretches from Johannesburg to Welkom was once a massive inland lake, and that silt and gold deposits from alluvial gold settled in the area to form the gold-rich deposits that South Africa is famous for.
Discovery.
The first discovery of gold in the region is recorded as being in 1852 in the Pardekraal farm by J.H. Davis, an English miner. He sold £600 of gold to the Transvaal Treasury and was subsequently ordered to leave the country. Another find by Pieter Jacob Marais was recorded in 1853 on the Jukskei River, but was subject to similar secrecy. Though there were smaller mining operations in the region, it wasn’t until 1884 and the subsequent 1886 discovery at Langlaagte that the Witwatersrand gold rush got under way in earnest.
Explorer and prospector (1840-1914) was the first and original discoverer of a Witwatersrand gold reef in June 1884 having prospected the area since the early 1880s, as well as co-operating the Kromdraai Gold Mine in 1883 to the NW of present-day Johannesburg together with his partner Johannes Stephanus Minnaar in an area known today as "The Cradle of Humankind". However, these were minor reefs, and today the general consensus falsely holds that credit for the discovery of the main gold reef must be attributed to George Harrison, whose findings on the farm Langlaagte were made in July 1886, either through accident or systematic prospecting. This at the time was a British attempt to give credit for the discovery to the Anglo sector in an attempt to justify claiming the Witwatersrand fields as British. This move was one of the factors leading to the Anglo Boer War of 1899-1902. Harrison declared his claim with the then-government of the Suid Afrikaanse Republiek (ZAR), and the area was pronounced open. His discovery is recorded in history with a monument where the original gold outcrop is believed to be located, and a park named in his honour. Harrison is believed to have sold his claim for less than 10 Pounds before leaving the area.
News of gold spread rapidly and reached Cecil Rhodes in Kimberley. Rhodes and his partner Robinson with a team of companions were curious and rode over 400 km to Bantjes' camp at Vogelstruisfontein and stayed with him for two nights near what would later become Roodepoort. Rhodes purchased the first batch of Witwatersrand gold from Bantjes for £3000. This purchase would be the first transaction of the newly formed company Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa.
The world's largest gold rush ever had begun and South Africa would never be the same. News spread around the world and prospectors from Australia to California began arriving in masses and the first lanterns of a soon to be Johannesburg began flickering along dusty streets. For a number of years all went well, but then President Paul Kruger of the South African Republic (ZAR) began getting worried so many foreigners would soon outnumber the Boers, and the first of certain "measures" were put into place. Bantjes, whose father Jan Gerritze Bantjes had educated Kruger when he was a boy during the Great Trek, had discussions with Kruger regarding those "measures." One of them was to place heavy taxes on the sale of dynamite to the foreigners so as to slow the momentum. This only agitated the miners and gave the British another reason to make a grab for the gold fields and take the lot for themselves. The disastrous Jameson Raid followed which put Cecil Rhodes in the spotlight. The Jameson Raid was supported by Rhodes and led by Sir Leander Starr Jameson. Its intent was to overthrow the Transvaal government and turn the region into a British colony. There were 500 men who took part in the uprising; 21 were killed and many arrested, tried and sentenced.
Founding of Johannesburg.
It did not take long for fortune-seekers from all over the world to flock to the area, and soon what was a dusty mining village known as Ferreira's Camp was formalised into a settlement. Initially, the ZAR did not believe that the gold would last for long, and mapped out a small triangular piece of land to cram as many plots onto as possible. This is the reason why Johannesburg's central business district streets are so narrow. There is some dispute as to the origin of the name Johannesburg and to which Johannes, a common Dutch name, the city was named after. It is thought to be named after two state surveyors who were sent to choose an area for the layout of the new town, Johann Rissik and Christiaan Johannes Joubert.
Within 10 years, the town was already the largest in South Africa, outstripping the growth of Cape Town, which was more than 200 years older. The gold rush saw massive development of Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand, and the area remains the prime metropolitan area of South Africa. One consequence of the gold rush was the construction of the first railway lines in this part of Africa. As a result of the rapid development of the goldfields on the Witwatersrand in the 1880s and the demand for coal by the growing industry, a concession was granted by the ZAR government to the Netherlands-South African Railway Company (NZASM) on July 20, 1888, to construct a railway line from Johannesburg to Boksburg. The line was opened on March 17, 1890 with the first train being hauled by a 14 Tonner locomotive, became known as the "Randtram", even though it was actually a railway in every aspect and not singularly dedicated to tram traffic. This was the first working railway line in the Transvaal.
The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand also created a super wealthy class of miners and industrialists known as Randlords. Many Randlords built large estates and mansions on the Parktown Ridge.
Second Boer War.
The Witwatersrand Gold Rush was a major contributing factor of the failed Jameson Raid of 1895 to 1896, and of the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899. Boer resentment over the large number of foreigners (Uitlanders) in the Witwatersrand led to heavy taxes and the denial of voting rights for the gold miners, and in response the Uitlanders and the British owners of the mines began to pressure the overthrow of the Boer government.


Omolon mine

The Omolon mine is one of the largest gold mines in Russia and in the world. The mine is located in Magadan Oblast. The mine has estimated reserves of 4.3 million oz of gold.


Mount Gee

Mount Gee is located in the northern Flinders Ranges within the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, and is part of the Mount Painter inlier. It was named after a mining warden, Lionel Gee.
Recently Mount Gee came to prominence in 2008–2011 because of uranium exploration occurring in an area that was commonly (and mistakenly) believed at that time to be protected from all mineral exploration. This situation was altered in 2011–2012 when the Government of South Australia created the Arkaroola Protection Zone and passed the Arkaroola Protection Act (2012) which prohibits all mining activity in the Arkaroola Protection Zone.
Geography.
With its peak rising 600 metres above sea level Mount Gee is one of several peaks located in the visually spectacular and geologically significant range north-east of the Gammon Ranges and south of the Mawson Plateau. Mount Gee was entered on the Register of the National Estate in 1982 due to its "spectacular mass of quartz crystal and vughular, lining the cavities of crush breccias".
History.
Mineral exploration in the Mount Painter region began in the 1860s with the discovery of copper at a number of sites in the region, including the Yudnamutana copper field and the Lady Buxton mine, and numerous small diggings throughout the Mount Painter area. Professor Sir Douglas Mawson first identified samples of torbernite (a copper uranium phosphate mineral) in samples brought to him in 1910 by the Greenwood brothers from what is now called Radium Ridge. Various syndicates were formed in 1911–1935 to try to exploit the radium from Radium Ridge (immediately to the west and adjoining Mount Gee). During World War II investigations into the area of Mount Gee-Mount Painter were carried out by the Commonwealth Government, and the No.6 workings (see adjoining photo) was developed, as well as a number of workings in the East Painter Gorge (immediately to the north of Mount Gee-Mount Painter) and Yudnamutana Gorge. Sporadic exploration occurred during the 1950s adjacent to Mount Gee, culminating in the efforts of Exoil NL and Transoil NL during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was during this exploration phase that the "Ridgetop" track was constructed. The numerous exploration tracks across the southern and north-eastern faces of Mt Gee were constructed by Exoil-Transoil at this time. Exploration ceased during the 1970s as a result of large uranium finds elsewhere and the "Three mine policy" introduced by the Federal Government in the early 1970s. CRA resumed exploration in the area during the early 1990s, focusing on the Streitberg Ridge and Armchair Basin areas, immediately to the north of Mount Gee, as well as other areas within the Arkaroola Sanctuary. Bonanza Gold Ltd pegged an exploration license over the Mt Gee area in the early 2000s. Several exploration holes were drilled into the Mount Gee-Mount Painter area before Marathon Resources took over the project and intensified the exploration efforts, focusing once again on the southern and northeastern sides of Mount Gee, by opening up many of the (still existing) Exoil-Transoil tracks. None of the uranium deposits have been proven to be economic, although Marathon Resources claim that the Mount Gee deposit complies with a JORC inferred and indicated resource of 31,400 tonnes of U3O8, potentially the sixth largest known uranium deposit in Australia.
Tenure and legal status.
The Arkaroola Protection Zone in which Mount Gee is located, is situated in the Arkaroola pastoral lease. The pastoral lease was purchased by Reginald and Griselda Sprigg in 1967 for the purposes of "wildlife preservations and conservation of the environment", with this objective being recognised by the South Australian Government initially in 1969 and again (after a long period of limbo) in 1996 with the property being granted official status as a wilderness sanctuary.
This status was reinforced with the inclusion of the Mount Gee area within the "Environmental Class A Zone" defined in the South Australian Development Plan, which has as its objectives: "The conservation of the natural character and environment of the area" and "The protection of the landscape from damage by mining operations and exploring for new resources... Mining operations should not take place in the Environmental Class A Zone unless the deposits are of such paramount importance and their exploitation is in the highest national or State interest that all other environment, heritage or conservation considerations may be overridden. Deposits which may potentially have the required degree of significance have been identified in the following localities only:
the western face of the Heysen. Ranges [sic]; portion of the Moralana Valley; portion of the Mount Hack and Mount Uro areas; portion of the Stirrup Iron Range; portion of the east Gammons and the Mount Painter-Freeling Heights area [my emphasis]." which includes the Mt.Painter and Mt. Gee areas.
Following the public outcry that resulted from Marathon Resources' misconduct in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary -- including the illegal dumping of a small amount of waste in several shallow pits and the alleged excavation and removal of mineral specimens unrelated to the mineral exploration program, the South Australian government promised to introduce legislation to ban all mining activities in the sanctuary, with the premier stating that "we have decided to give the region unprecedented protection", and dismissing suggestions from Marathon Resources that the government may be liable for compensation claims by Marathon Resources. Any and all mining in the entire Arkaroola Protection Zone is now prohibited, including Mt Gee and the Mt Painter inlier. This protection is provided by the South Australian "Arkaroola Protection Act (2012)".
Recent developments.
Mining company Marathon Resources gave notice on or around 14 September 2007 of its intention to apply for a mining lease allowing extraction of uranium ore from Mount Gee. To satisfy the environmental objectives cited above the application forwarded by the proponent indicates an underground mine (as opposed to open-cut) which would be serviced via a tunnel allowing access to infrastructure and processing facilities located away from the immediate vicinity of the Arkaroola area, on the plains near Lake Frome. The proposal is opposed by the owners and operators of Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary in which the proposed mine would be located as well as conservation and anti-nuclear groups.
In January 2008 the owners of Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary were alerted to environmental contamination at Mount Gee. An investigation by the South Australian Government found that around 22,800 plastic and calico bags containing exploration samples, drilling material, cardboard and paper waste, plastic jars, PVC pipe, packing and other material were buried by the drilling contractor in two large trenches approximately 35 metres long x 4 metres wide x 2.7 metres deep. Under the terms of the EWA and DEF, Marathon was required to pour remaining drill samples back down drillholes, however this is often impossible as the drillholes quickly become plugged with sample. If the samples cannot be poured back into the drillholes it is then permissible to bury them, however the sample bags and any other rubbish must be removed. Under ARPANSA regulations, any radioactive samples must be buried with a minimum of 50 cm of soil. In addition Marathon Resources have admitted in a subsequent Rectification Plan the company was required to submit that twenty drums of samples were buried in a nearby site, as well as various food packaging and personal protective equipment waste at another nearby site. There is also evidence that samples of fluorite have also been removed from the side of Mount Gee. There is no evidence to suggest that Marathon or its contractors were responsible for this. The removal of mineral specimens from the Mount Gee area has been ongoing since before the Arkaroola Sanctuary opened in the late 1960s, and collectors have prised prized examples of green and purple banded fluorite, Fluorite pseudomorphs, "nailhole Quartz" and "Cowstitite" from the outcrops of Mount Gee, aided by the continued ease of access via the well-maintained "Ridgetop Track" 4WD tourist route (see photo above).
In response to this investigation the SA Minister for Mineral Resources Development found this method of disposal of non-drill sample waste constituted a "significant breach of exploration licence conditions" and suspended the exploration licence granted to Marathon Resources to conduct mineral exploration on Mount Gee. Marathon then spent considerable time, effort and money in recovering the dumped rubbish and drill samples, which were then transported to the Hawker rubbish dump for disposal. Additionally, many of the drillsites and access tracks were rehabilitated as best as possible. However, in October 2009 the Government granted a 12-month exploration licence to Marathon Resources. On 27 October 2009, the Rann Government released a draft management Plan for the Northern Flinders Ranges, called 'Seeking in Balance'. According to its opponents this Plan allows for mining activity right in the heart of the Arkaroola Sanctuary, including Mount Gee.
After the exploration Licence was re-granted, Marathon Mining conducted low-impact exploration, including stream sediment sampling and some geophysics for a time, concluding some time before the Arkaroola Protection Act was passed in 2012, prohibiting all mining activity in the Arkaroola Protection Zone. Marathon was awarded a $5 million compensation payment by the South Australian Government. Marathon had spent in excess of $15million on their Mt Gee exploration program.


Uchalinsky mine

The Uchalinsky mine is a large copper mine located in Russia about 75 km northwest of Yekaterinburg, in Sverdlovsk Oblast. Uchalinsky represents one of the largest copper reserve in Russia and in the world having estimated reserves of 1.94 billion tonnes of ore grading 1.05% copper.


Derbeke-Nelgesinsky mine

The Derbeke-Nelgesinsky mine is one of the largest silver mines in Russia and in the world. The mine is located in the Nelgesin Range area, Sakha Republic. The mine has estimated reserves of 160 million oz of silver.


Kochbulak mine

The Kochbulak mine is one of the largest gold mines in Uzbekistan and in the world. The mine is located in Navoiy Province. The mine has estimated reserves of 3.84 million oz of gold and 12.8 million oz of silver.


Buli mine

The Buli mine is a large mine in the east of Indonesia in Halmahera. Buli represents one of the largest nickel reserve in Indonesia having estimated reserves of 161.2 million tonnes of ore grading 1.37% nickel. The 161.2 million tonnes of ore contains 2.2 million tonnes of nickel metal.


Samuel Newhouse

Samuel Newhouse (October 18, 1853 – September 22, 1930) was a Utah entrepreneur and mining magnate.
Life and career.
Newhouse was born in New York City, of European Jewish immigrant parents but studied and practiced law in Pennsylvania. He moved to Colorado in 1879. In Leadville, he became involved in the freighting business.
In 1883, he married Ida Stingly, whose mother ran a local boarding house. She was 16 at the time. While they ran a hotel in Leadville, Samuel acquired mining properties in Ouray, Colorado. He later sold these for several million dollars and moved to Denver, where he became a speculator and promoter, with extensive contacts back East and in Europe.
In 1896, he moved to Utah, where partnering with Thomas Weir, he became instrumental in securing English investment in the fledgling copper mining operation in Bingham canyon, which later became the great Bingham Canyon Mine. He also developed silver mining in the San Francisco Mountains near Beaver, Utah, investing approximately $2 million to build a mine, mill and develop the town of Newhouse, named after himself. He was instrumental in driving the Newhouse Tunnel (now called the Argo Tunnel), a major mine drainage tunnel in Idaho Springs, Colorado.
He maintained residences on Long Island, New York and in London and a chateau in France. He preferred living in Salt Lake City, where he developed a large tract of downtown, trying to shift the center of town four blocks south from Temple Square. He built the city's first skyscrapers (11 stories), the Boston and Newhouse buildings.
At one time he owned the lot where the future Flatiron Building in New York City would be located. However, "his financial empire crashed in 1916".


Bataraza

', officially the ' (), is a in the province of , . According to the , it has a population of people.
The municipality was named after Datu Bataraza Narrazid, a locally influential Muslim chieftain and father of the town's first mayor and former mayor of Brooke's Point, then Datu Sapiodin Narrazid. Bataraza was part of the municipality of Brooke's Point until 1964 by the virtue of Philippine RA 3425.
Main industries of Bataraza includes farming, fishing, and nickel mining and processing.
History.
The town was named after Datu Bataraza Narrazid who served as the father of the town and as the town's first mayor.
Cityhood.
House Bill No. 6278 was filed last February 12, 2020 for the conversion of the municipality of Bataraza into a component city in the province of Palawan. The bill is currently pending with the committee on local government since February 18, 2020.
Geography.
Bataraza is located on the southernmost tip of Palawan Island, approximately from Puerto Princesa City and about five to six hours by land. It has total land area of 957 km².
Bataraza is situated some south-west of Manila, between roughly 8.3 and 8.75 degrees latitude north of the equator. It stretches approximately in north-easterly to south-westerly direction along the Sulu Sea, from the Malis River to Cape Buliluyan in the south. On the western side, it extends up to Wangly River.
It is bounded in the east by the Sulu Sea, in the west by a great mountain range, extending from Mount Mantalingahan (the highest peak in the province) to Mount Malitub, which serves as the divider between Bataraza and Rizal, and in the south-west by the South China Sea. Two large crocodiles were recovered here and were taken to Crocodile Farm in Puerto Princesa City.
Barangays.
Bataraza is politically subdivided into 22 barangays:
Rio Tuba is one of the populated barangays of Bataraza and known for its nickel mineral reserves. The primary mine site of Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation is located within its jurisdiction.
Demographics.
In the , the population of Bataraza was people, with a density of .
Culture.
The Molbog people dominate the municipality of Bataraza, as well as the municipality of Balabac in the south. The area constitute the homeland of the Molbog people since the classical era prior to Spanish colonization. The Molbog are known to have a strong connection with the natural world, especially with the sacred "pilandok" (Philippine mouse-deer), which can only be found in the Balabac islands. A Muslim tale tells the Philippine mouse-deer once tricked a prince into giving up his bag of gold and facing a hive of angry bees. Another tale depicts him as a clever guardian of the environment, using his wisdom as an advantage against those who destroy forests, seas, and wildlife. The coconut is especially important in Molbog culture at it is their most prized agricultural crop.


Okulovsky mine

The Okulovsky mine is a large mine in the south of Belarus in Gomel Region. Okulovsky represents one of the largest iron reserve in Belarus having estimated reserves of 1 billion tonnes of ore grading 26% iron.


2008 Shanxi mudslide

The 2008 Shanxi mudslide was caused by the collapse of an unlicensed mine landfill in Xiangfen county, Linfen, Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China which caused 277 dead, 4 missing and 33 injured. Around 8:00 a.m. on September 8, 2008, the retaining wall of a waste iron ore reservoir collapsed after torrential rain, causing a major mudslide which inundated a village and crowded marketplace. The unlicensed Tashan Mine was operated by the Tashan Mining Company.
History.
The ore reservoir was built in the 1980s, halfway up a mountain, about 50 meters above an office building, marketplace and some residences. It was built only 100 meters away from the nearest residence. The reservoir was supposedly decommissioned a few years later, but its new owner, Zhang Peiliang, put it back into use when he took over the company in 2005. In 2006, the Tashan Mining Company did not renew its safety production license, and in 2007, the mining license of Zhang also expired.
Damages and casualties.
The entire village of Yunhe was inundated by the mudslide, including an outdoor market crowded with customers. As of September 24, the Chinese state media reported that the death toll was 267, and the number of injuries 34. Only 128 bodies, mostly of locals, have been identified. Some 268,000 cubic meters of mudslide sludge flooded over an area of 30.2 hectares in the disaster, and the mud was up to six meters deep in some parts.
The final official count is: 277 dead, 4 missing and 33 injured.
A worker had said "It's not because of the rain. It wasn't a natural disaster, it was man-made." Up to 500 people may still be buried, according to the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.
Rescue efforts.
5,300 police and rescuers, using more than 110 excavators, were looking for survivors. The rescuers covered about 90% of the mudslide zone so far. In addition, 2,100 medical workers were at the site to provide medical care.
Aftermath.
1,047 people are displaced because of the mudslide. The provincial level government says relatives of the dead will receive 200,000 yuan (US$ 29,215). The Communist Party chief, the head of Taosi township, work safety bureau director, and chief engineer in Xiangfen county were dismissed for neglect of duty. Thirteen mine executives, including Zhang Peiliang, were detained by Chinese authorities, and four other local officials were also dismissed. The State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) said that an investigation is pending, and that the people responsible will be "punished in line with the relevant laws." Wang Jun, the director of SAWS said, "It is the most grave accident that involves the largest death toll so far this year. The rising accidents disclose local governments' poor supervision on work safety. Those responsible must be dealt with seriously." Meng Xuenong, Governor of Shanxi, resigned a day after the event, on September 14. Wang Jun was subsequently transferred to become Governor of Shanxi.
In September 2010, 58 people, including 34 former government officials, were handed out sentences in relation to the collapse.