December 21, 2009 by Jack Caldwell
As befits the weekend before Christmas, we attended two parties, one in a West Vancouver and one in Whistler. Both were well-stocked with people working in the mining industry. The short story that received the most votes for capturing the feeling of the current times was this one:
Have you hear about the pessimist, the optimist, and the miner? They all walked into the bar. On the counter was a half-empty glass of beer. The pessimist bemoaned the half-empty glass and the lack of a complete serving. The pessimist happily praised the glass for having good beer to drink. The miner called for a small glass, poured the contents of the half-full glass into the small glass and loudly proclaimed: “Now we all have a full glass.”
Like all stories that make the rounds, this probably started life in a Roman legion’s camp on the eve of an invasion of Gaul. No matter, the party-assembled miners liked it and stated that that is the way they feel. It snowed in Whistler and that seemed like a full glass. It rained in Vancouver and that was decidedly a full glass, for while snow is beautiful, in Vancouver it is disruptive.
We trust you had a good celebratory weekend and have a short work-week runup to a long weekend. And here are links to two sites with mining jokes:
Posted in British Columbia, People | Tagged joke, mining, whistler | Leave a Comment »
December 17, 2009 by Jack Caldwell
A fine PowerPoint presentation is available at this link. I was privileged to be present when Bryan Farbridge, a student in the mining and mineral exploration program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) made the presentation. In the presentation he shows slides of his 2009 student work at the Hawthorn Gold’s Cassiar Gold Camp. Continue Reading »
Posted in British Columbia, Gold, People, exploration | Tagged brian farbridge, cassiar gold, hawthorne gold, mining, student | Leave a Comment »
December 16, 2009 by Jack Caldwell
The Toronto Sun reports re Platinex and a $5 million dollar payout from the Ontario government to settle a law suite: Continue Reading »
Posted in First Nations, Investing & Finance, Law (Mining), North America | Tagged Bill C-300, First Nations, Kitchenuhmaykoosib, ontario. mining, platinex, plitinex, settlement | Leave a Comment »
December 15, 2009 by Jack Caldwell
Christmas begun in earnest this weekend. I braved the minus thirty-four degrees of Edmonton to attend The Nutcracker with mining folk. Then supper at a fancy restaurant and much talk of the past decade—the first of the 2000s and soon to be over and done with. On Sunday night to a party to sing carols and eat and drink some more. And to argue with a climate change denier. Continue Reading »
Posted in About the news, Latin America, Law (Mining), People, opera | Tagged Bill C-300, chiapas, chicomuselco, mexico, mining, nutcracker | Leave a Comment »
December 14, 2009 by Jack Caldwell
I have just added to my blogroll a link to The Mining Blog. It hails from Australia and looks at the Australian mining industry. No indication of who writes it. And not many postings. But those that are there are interesting. From last week we have one comparing mining practices in some Australian and some USA mines. The author undertook a trip to the USA to see some mines. Here is part of what he says: Continue Reading »
Posted in Australia and New Zealand, Coal, blogs | Tagged Australia, blog, Coal, mining, safety | Leave a Comment »
December 10, 2009 by Jack Caldwell
Still on the theme of thirty-year olds in the work place. (See my blog posting below this one for an extended rumination on the topic of thirty-year olds in mining.) This afternoon two thirty-year olds came marketing. I must admire what they are doing. They are setting up and marketing a software company that specializes in geotechnical software. Continue Reading »
Posted in People, Software, soil mechanics | Tagged Geotechnical, novotech, Software | Leave a Comment »
December 9, 2009 by Jack Caldwell
Over the past three days I have compiled a large report for a client. I was helped in this regard by two other old men, both older than me. Our clients all, were young men. Nobody from that lost middle generation was involved.
A perfect example of the problems that lie ahead for the mining industry somebody is sure to remark: all the old, experienced guys gone in the next decade and nobody in the middle to take over. How will those young kids manage when they take over? Continue Reading »
Posted in Jobs and Salaries, Mining history, quality | Tagged jobs, mining, quality, six sigma, young, youth | Leave a Comment »
December 8, 2009 by Jack Caldwell
Tuesday is the day I try to blog about salaries, wages, and income in the mining industry. Here are some finds from the past week or so. Continue Reading »
Posted in Australia and New Zealand, Jobs and Salaries, People | Tagged Australia, mining, salary, South Dakota School of Mines | Leave a Comment »
December 7, 2009 by Jack Caldwell
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In spite of keeping a lookout for information on investing in mining I missed this one when it was published in October. That is but a month or two past, and little has changed since then, so let me share it with you. Continue Reading »
Posted in Investing & Finance | Tagged Behre Dolbear, investment, mining, russia | Leave a Comment »
