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Gold/Mining/Energy : Yamana Resources INC. T- YRI -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Yorikke who wrote (1447)	7/26/1998 1:16:00 AM
From: Tupulak	Respond to of 2346

M.N. Good advice, thanks. Good story also. Curtis

To: Yorikke who wrote (1447)	7/27/1998 11:33:00 AM
From: Greg W. Taylor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2346

mnm: That really was a wonderful story. (Such diversions add a great deal to this thread, I think.) It reminded me of a situation I encountered a couple of years ago. I was visiting a gold project in Tanzania, near Lake Victoria, which we were considering becoming involved with. (The simple object of our trip -- potential acquisition-- is evidence enough that it was two years ago.) The most striking part of the trip, for me, was encountering the artisanal miners who were illegally working the area around the deposit in question. There were often a couple of dozen of them working together in each area, with many watching and learning and a few doing the actual work. And it was a privilege: apparently, it was up to the village leaders to decide who would be allowed to participate. These were amongst the poorest people I have seen -- although, being in the plains and not in a city like Jakarta, they didn't seem so very, very badly off -- and were digging through the rock with anything they could get their hands on. A few had worn rock hammers, the rest contented themselves with tools make from pieces of rock and even their hands. The hands, knees and feet of these "miners" tended to take on the look of the rocks they were breaking. The main task at hand was to dig out promising rocks and then pulverize them in search of gold flecks, which they sold for about $1 per ounce, to travelling gold buyers/brokers (i.e. thieves). Many times, they would dig straight down, as if sinking a well. And when the vertical hole was too deep to climb out of -- they often cut small hand and foot holes in the rock but it didn't allow them to carry much back to the surface -- they would construct a pulley system, with a bucket. This "apparatus" looked very much like an old-fashioned well. At one end of the log that was the pulley, a small square hole would be cut, into which the handle would be inserted. These smooth, hand-hewn red-coloured pieces of wood look much like an arm, with an elbow in the middle. I wanted one as a souvenir and, through the translator, negotiated a price (US$3) with the claimant. His fellows watched with barely stifled laughter. They could tell that I was a fool for paying so much for a worn piece of wood. I picked up a number of observations from this experience, but the relevant one (for me) here is simply, the value of a thing is as much a reflection of my own needs as it is obvious and intrinsic for the rest of the world. I realize that you and your policeman friend know this as well. Greg