David, perhaps you would care to _name_ the geologist, and the two mines that he single-handedly staked for the first time in a region void of past operating mines for the last 120 years, with no prior activity to springboard from, without assistance from any other sub-contractors, contractors, researchers, geological surveys. Please tell us how he wandered the country side on mule or in jeep, pick in hand, and stumbled onto these largest coal finds. Also, let us know how he identified and verified the size, scope, and economic viability or the two projects singlehandedly. _Then_ please tell is if your friend believes this occurance, if it did happen this way, is the exception or the norm in modern mining.
I believe the theme and meaning of my post was quite clear and I don't understand what positive contribution semantic hair-splitting achieves.
If it is your strong conviction that the subtext of _Ron Struthers_ wording of Le Furlongs past experience is an intentional attempt by Mr. Furlong to mislead and take undue credit; then make such judgement, please avoid proclaiming it is a fact in absentia of specific knowledge, and adjust your portfolio accordingly. Judging by you resume here on SI that anyone can see clicking on your name I would imagine you trade frequently and this type of adjustment would not be unusual or a problem.
As a clarification, please consider the following caveat as an addendum to my original post:
First it is not possible _in the vast majority of cases_ for one person to "discover" a modern mine...
Second, note that I was defining "discovery" in pragmatic real-life terms, and this involves a process that can include:
1.Research
2.Identifying areas to explore
3.Physical intitial sampling and staking
4.Beginning and intermediete drilling/testing.
5.Similar prefeasibility study.
And that,infact, a series of "discoveries" are involved. In lay terms: "discovering where to look for something. Discovering something might be there"... "discovering something is there", "Discovering how much of it is likely there", "Discovering how it got there" and finally "Discovering if there is enough obtainable to justify developing a mine". It is my understanding that even part of this is rarely done by one man, and the term is being mis-used in the current plethora of posts.
Please note it is my understanding that this section of Mr. Furlong's resume clearly has the intent of listing (with brevity as a resume should) *major projects he was involved with* and it is done so under the header DISCOVERY/DEVELOPMENT, and that common sense as well as industry norms and the dates of the projects clearly indicate the majority fall in the Development category, and nowhere is there the implication of "single-handedly".
In terms of Black Rock, should it become a major mine, there will always be a very valid arguement that Dale Runyon "discovered it"... yet perhaps he took over claims, or was influenced by past claims and mines adjacent. In any event, Mr. Runyon looked for someone who could turn his claims and hopes into something viable and went to Le Furlong, confident that his past experience would make him a good choice to assemble the right _team_ to undertake such a daunting task.
Finally, I am truly sticking to a limit to the amount of posts I will do on SI, in order to help increase the number of substantive ones. I think I have now fully clarified my post and it's _relevance_ to IPM, and will not post further on _this_ subject unless I feel I have gained a new, substantive or definative insight or conclusion that can help clarify rather than obfuscate the issues at hand.
Lew Green |
