First I notice that Mike Davis, who will head the new company, likes opera.  This is what the report notes:

The relationship between Davis, 53, and Glasenberg, 55, blew hot and cold. Davis, a burly man, is methodical. He likes opera. An orthodox Jew, he gives generously to charity. Glasenberg, also Jewish, is short, compact, speaks in staccato bursts and has a temper.

We add the opera-loving Xstrata-Glencore mining company to Goldcorp, another successful mining company, whose chief fellows also like opera—at least they sponsor the Vancouver opera as I have noted before. 

I know that the fellow who heads up Rio Tinto’s rock mechanics division in London is devoted to opera.  But I do not know if the rest of Rio Tinto likes opera.  somehow I cannot imagine the head of BHP going to the opera—but you never know. 

The new company is made up of a bunch of Witsies as we called ourselves way back then.  This is what the report says:

Glasenberg went to Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, where Davis lectured in accounting. While Davis took off into mining, Glasenberg went to work for Marc Rich, the oil trader accused of breaking sanctions against Iran and then pardoned by president Bill Clinton.

I spent eleven years at Wits.  Although I have not done as well as these two fellow.  Yet I wish them luck in their new venture, for in those days it was nowhere clear that there would be a place for graduates from a white, English-speaking university.  We dared not hope for Mandela who is also a Wits graduate. 

Starting in the early 1960s, emigration from South Africa got underway.  The first I became aware of the concept of emigration was when two of my Jewish friends at school announced that the families were emigrating.  We were  astounded, for this idea, this act, had not hitherto crossed the paths of our sedate and serene lives. 

At Wits we saw the brave ones protest.  Those of us on mining scholarships hid low, for we did not have an independent source of money; we could not afford to loose those bursaries.  But we secretly cheered for those brave enough to protest, to be carted away in police vans, and to flee the country. 

Once we graduated, the idea of emigration grew.  At one point, we looked around and said: “We have no friends from varsity days; they have all emigrated.  All we have are their dogs and desks handed down the day they left.”

Of the ten who did their masters with me in civil engineering, only one is still in South Africa.  They rest are in Canada, the USA, Australia, and England.  We have made our contributions to mining and civil engineering in those places to which we fled. 

Mining companies too have left South Africa and populated the world. Part of  BHP Billiton is the old Union Corporation for whom my farther worked all his mining career.  Union Corporation paid my university bursary.  Anglo American was the quintessential South African mining company.  And now we will have Xstrata-Glencore. 

Some have said this is reverse colonialism.  Others have claimed that fortunes made off apartheid financed the growth of the big international mining companies.  I think this misses the point.  There is a South African diaspora, which is sad, but the success of those who moved on is not to be attributed to the benefits we enjoyed in a racial society.  Rather it is the scare, the agony, the hiding when the police came to cart people away, the realization that to get out, reestablish, and succeed, you just have to work harder than the locals where you arrive or those who were left behind.

Today’s MET Opera Satyagraha by Philip Glass, sung in Sanskrit, set in old South Africa, is a mesmerizing theatrical experience.  What there is of a “story” is Gandhi arriving in Natal, then a British colony, finding racialism, leading Indian protests, and twenty years later leaving Natal, by then part of the new (1910) country of South Africa, to go to India to become famous. 

I had always considered Glass’s music repetitive and dull.  Thus did many others, for my usual opera companions stayed away.  There were but about a hundred of us uncrowding the Park & Tilford movie house this morning—die-hard opera lovers set for four hours of entertainment.  The music proved that what some say, namely that Glass’s music washes over you, is true.  I found my foot tapping, my brain soaring to high songs, and my emotions lead by delicate melodies.  As is all opera & rock, the human voice and superb singing added the greater dimension to the music that my brain needs to respond to music. 

In spite of being sung in Sanskrit, an old Indo-European language, we had few subtitles–this as insisted by Philip Glass who was in attendance at the opera.  No matter, for what few translations we had of the text from the Bhagavad Gita were no more than platitudes extolling the virtue of work, poverty, and compassion.  When sung, Sanskrit sounds sometimes Latin and sometimes Russian.  I know only that it is highly inflected like Latin and Greek; I will have to look deeper into the language. 

I thrilled to the corrugated iron, wicker, and old newspaper that are the main decorative elements of the staging.    My grandmother’s house had walls of corrugated iron.  All the houses I lived in had corrugated roofs.  Servants lived in corrugated iron shacks.  I thought of them as superhuman for they endured dirt, cold, and hardship beyond anything I could envisage enduring. 

The second act begins with the old boers and whites of the early 1900s taunting Gandhi.  I wonder what my grandparents, alive then thought of his doings, if they even knew of them.  One was recently from Ireland come to fight the British, only to have to settle for British dominion over the entire country.  One was a Boer girl swept from the Transvaal farm to a concentration camp by the invading British.  One was a German orphan from South West Africa, glad to have a small house in Brakpan. One was said to be the offspring of students who fled Dresden when their revolt failed.  I wonder if they had time or compassion for what was going on in Natal, far away, and even in my time considered a banana republic.  For Natal was different: inhabited by the English, Zulus, and Indians.

Growing up on a Transvaal mine, I knew of the Indians only because they ran the concession stores that lay beside every mine compound.  The Indian’s store were intended mainly for the Blacks working on the mine.  But the store’s goods were cheap and my parents often had to go shop there.  I still recall the hard cotton shirts of garish colors they bought me; or the socks and handkerchiefs that never got soft no matter how many times they were washed by hand–no luxury, for there were no washing machines in those days.

Once a year, the family would go to Natal and the beach.  My mother always insisted on visiting the Indian market in Durban.  This was a place of exotic color and smell.  She would circle the stalls for hours selecting a year’s worth of curries and spices to take back home for the many hot dishes the servants would cook up.  All the while, I marvelled at the Indian women and girls in silk that flowed like waves around them.  And my father would buy strange tobacco to smoke with raw brandy. 

The first Indian I met on a casual basis was the accountant that my aged mother took up with when she moved to Pietermaritzburg.  But that is another story.

Gandhi achieved little in South Africa.  Change had to await nearly eighty years and the saints De Klerk and Mandela.  But he did learn civic resistance and so was able to return to India and achieve what he did.  As thus little happens in the opera other than Gandhi maturing.  Thus we see him in relation to his past, Tolstoy, his present, an Indian poet, and the future, Martin Luther King.  And his readings of the Bhagavad Gita that inspired his philosophy and actions.  

We learnt nothing of Gandhi in school in South Africa–why tell of the failures and  later successful resistance of this man?  Why awake new protests by the Blacks.  No worries about the Indians who by then, were considered rich and not likely to protest, being so small a group in the overall population.  I wonder how they fare today?   Will they see this opera in South Africa?   I hope they do.  As I hope many others who avoided today’s performance will change their minds and see it.  It must surely be one of the high points of this year’s operas and of the modern operas of the past thirty years.

The news this week has been mainly bad: more crashing stock markets, more idiotic statements from Republican hopefuls, more countries seizing the mines of the country.   The saddest part is that the only idea Republican hopefuls have about resuscitating mining in the US is to abolish the EPA and treat companies like individuals. 

“It is as always.” one commenter consoled me. “It is still venial self-interest at work.  And a glaring absence of leadership from anybody.” 

“Proves as always, that it is good to invest in gold, and bad to invest in Africa,” is how another commenter consoled me. 

Scratching around the web for mining good news, I found  this link.  Here is part of what it says–read and then go to the link to see the photos:

Sierra Leone is a country at a crossroads. Decades of resource exploitation and a brutal ten-year war have taken a deep toll on the environment and the people, which are among the poorest and most uneducated in the world. Yet as the country celebrates its 50th year, Saloneans are appropriately proud of their success with post-war reunification and reconstruction. Children are learning, infrastructure is expanding, and healthcare is improving.

In Kono, the diamond-rich and war-ravaged district along the country’s eastern border, mining is a way of life for many people. During the dry season, when it is possible to dig down to the diamond-laden gravel, many young men head to the diamond fields. Some strike out on their own while others are hired by mining companies as short-term laborers, often for less than a dollar a day. With few alternative employment opportunities, most men don’t have a choice but to work in the mines for part of their lives, and many are forced to give up school to do so.

At this critical moment, it is imperative that Sierra Leone attracts the right kind of investors and NGO partners; along with diamonds and gold, the country recently made public discoveries of large deposits of iron and oil. Fortunately Saloneans, all of whom have been affected by the war, are strongly motivated to break free from the resource curse and craft their future to ensure that the value of their precious resources remains within their country and communities.

Now I would never invest in a diamond mine in Sierra Leone.  But it is fascinating to see how hard people will work when they are not able to go into debt, rely on the government for social support nets, vote, or even get educated.   I hope this case history does not mean that things will have to get that bad before we return to mining in the US.  

I know a number of Republicans who would cut off all unemployment benefits, tear up social support nets, and who truly believe people would then get off their buts to pick apples and strawberries, and go mining.  Some even point with pride to the independent gold miners of Alaska as an example of how people would work if they had no government support, no Chinese financing, and no Mexicans to collect food from the fields. 

It is good to contemplate a return by the US to more mining.  But it is as scary as hell to contemplate that a return to mining might be a replay of the old days of rugged and independent men tearing up every plot of land where they believe there is gold, diamonds, or some other substance needed for electric cars in distant cities. 

Or am I wrong?  Maybe Sarah Palin can make part of her presidential bid, a nationwide emulation of Alaska’s independent mining practices.

Here is a conundrum to ponder.  In the posting from yesterday (see posting below this one,) I write of why Vancouver has so many Junior Mining Companies.  Here is part of a private email I received from some-body commenting on what I wrote.  The author of the comment wishes to remain unnamed:

I know one of my South African colleagues, a grey head in the mining business, would comment, with tongue in cheek:  “Canadians are brilliant at planning, but when it comes to execution they are found lacking…….and obviously need South Africans to turn it into reality!!”   Typical South African humbleness….I am of personal opinion it’s got to do with your neighbors love for venture capital / stock exchanges, lack of regulation on juniors and easy access to mining rights in Canada.  My observations on Canada, are that juniors are welcomed, but big internationals need to know their place and not upset the status quo. (BHP Potash takeover)  In South Africa, on the other hand, I get the sense that juniors must know their place and big internationals are welcomed. Maybe it’s got to do with overheads, long lead times for permits and that African states rely on big companies to participate in infrastructure and social development?  Or might it be that Americans in general are so naïve and greedy that they just keeping giving money to juniors in Van?

The writer raises, seemingly in jest, many points of great significance.  Let us try to comment on a few—-and recall I am originally of South African origin. 

When I was in South Africa in mining, there were five big mining houses (companies.) They dominated the scene.  They employed the best.  Some of my friends had talented fathers who were important engineers in those imposing structures along 44 Main Street (the Anglo Building.)  My father was a mere mine captain on an obscure East Rand Mine called East Geduld. 

Some of my university friends joined the big mining houses and rose to do great work.  I recall both Tom Lloyd and Ken Llyle with admiration.  This concentration of talent no doubt lead to the success of so many South African mining ventures.  There was money and gold in the ground to succeed.  And there was a long-term perspective. 

By contrast,  the average Vancouver junior mining company can bearly pay the owners and promoters, net alone employ expensive engineers and even more expensive consultants.  All too often they do it by the seat-of-their-pants. 

In South Africa, in mining as in most walks of life, we were part of a powerful, privileged, conservative class.  There was no thought of individual success for oneself only.  It was all for the nation and the Volk.  That was drummed into us at school, in the newspapers, and on the state-controlled radio.  (No TV least it corrupt the Volk.)

By contrast, in Vancouver it is all individual.  The individual may try for themself, succeed or fail on their own accord, be a rich man or a poor man, according to ability and adventure.  

In South Africa mining was done according to strict formulas, in known geology, and with full support of the state that needed money to support the system and the military and conscription.  By contrast,in Vancouver it is all individual effort using available resources,

I could and should go on.  There are many reason for the differences.  But at this point I was interrupted for a discussion on project status and lost my train of thought.  Maybe you can comment and add to the debate.

Here is an advert for a job in Johannesburg, South Africa.  You would be working for an auditing firm (not entirely sure what they do).   Reading the particulars of this job, makes me wonder if there are comparable jobs in the Americas and even Australia. 

This cannot be a very exciting job.  Just checking cost estimates day after day.  For closure activities, which at best are an exercise in fiction writing.  And they want amazing qualifications—are there folk like that still left in South Africa: a postgraduate mining degree with over five years experience.  Maybe they need a retired old mining engineer–but then they would probably be too cynical for this position. 

Enough.  Here is the job description.  Let me know if you apply for it an get it.

Mine Closure Specialist
Leading Auditing Firm is seeking a mine closure specialist to perform assessments of mine closure liability  calculations and rehabilitation provisions. The role will also involve assisting on a variety of mining related work in the company (such as internal audit).

Qualifications
Engineering degree ideally mining or environmental engineering, preferably with a postgraduate qualification.

Experience
At least 4 to 5 years experience in the mining sector with significant experience in either the compilation or auditing of mine closure cost calculations/assessments
Good understanding of the environmental and social issues associated with mine closure and mine site rehabilitation
Previous experience in multi-commodity/cross sector mining
Proficient in the application of South African environmental and closure related legislation as well as a good understanding of international best practice in these areas
Health and safety experience will be advantageous
Previous experience in managing a team
Excellent report writing and communication skills
Ability to work as part of a team

Growing up on the East Geduld Mine, a gold mine at the far east end of the South African Witwatersrand, we often went to play around the slimes dams and the pools of orange, green, and blue waters that dotted the landscape.   Our parent forbade us to go there, for there were stories of kids sliding into pools, drowning, or worse, being entombed in collapsing caverns in the slimes dams.  But that made our adventures all the more exciting.

When the Bafokeng slimes dam failed it killed thirteen.  Less reported is the fact that a dozen or more skeletons were found in the slimes that flowed from the breach.  The conclusions was that these were people killed and dumped, or maybe in a drunken state fallen into the pond.  There was a path along the crest of the pond from the mine to a local village and many of the mine workers would traverse this path to and from work.  There were no records of that many people going missing but that was the way of mines in South Africa in those days.

   Close to East Geduld was the Black township Kwa Thema.  Our maid lived there with her family, and when purchase of houses was legalized, my parents helped her buy a house in Kwa Thema.

So it is with nostalgia and interest that I find a blog called kwathema monitor.  Here is an extract from one of the postings–I edit to ease reading, but try to retain the flavour of the speech patterns. 

The East Rand has been mined for more than a century. It is a gold and uranium mining basin with extraction from more than 50 mines. The East Rand basin covers an area of 1000km, and has some 400 square km of mine tailings dams.

Waste from gold mines constitutes the largest single source of waste and pollution in South Africa.

Kwa Thema, Paynville, and Daggafontein in the East Rand are townships which are highly affected by this waste from the mines called tailings dams which produce acid mine drainage (AMD) and heavy metals like sulphur.

Acid mine drainage is responsible for the most costly environmental and socio-economic impacts.  AMD pollutes water and soil and affects the health of communities living near these tailings dams, as is the case at Kwa Thema, Paynville, and Daggafonteim.  Acid mine drainage polluted water may lead to increased rates of cancer, decrease cognitive function, and the appearance of skin lesions. Heavy metals in drinking water could compromise fetal neural development, which can result in mental retardation.

In Section 9 in Kwa Thema are low cost houses built on the footprints of or adjacent to Vlakfontein mine, which is now closed.  The waste will continue to generate AMD for centuries affecting the poor community.

I took the initiative to talk the families who are living close to the waste.

The questions I ask them.

1. What they know about tailings dams?

2. Do they know about acid mine mine drainage?

3. Do their children play in the waste?

4. When these houses were built were they informed about the dangers?

Their responses:

1. They only know that this comes from underground from the mine.

2. They know acid but not aware that this waste is acid.

3. The kids do play in the waste.

4. They were happy for the houses; they did not ask anything about the waste.

I took some time to educate them about the dangers of these tailings dams to their health and the next generation.  I told them that they must not drink water that comes from the AMD. I did the same with the family of Zodwa Mkhwanazi and Mike Mokoena. I ask them to try and spread the information.

In Paynville I spoke to Simon Mahanzula who is a cigarette rep.  I used the same question above. His response is that, “Thou he has knowledge: the tailings dam is not fenced so people pass through when they go to the shops and kids play football.”

I made an appointment with community leader Zwelibanzi Mbatha.  He can be available after elections.  I left my particulars and took his.

I spoke to a local government spoke person known as Mr. Mahlasela. I ask him about the tailings dams in the three places. His response was that:

The Government has called a meeting with the mine owners in May.  He is not sure of the exact date.  He will find out for and email it. The mine owners must account for the waste and come with a way forward.

Daggafontien is next to attended to, because it a remote area.

Acid mine drainage has been estimated to be the greatest ecological risk next Global warming. If indeed the extent of problems related to mining waste may be rated as second only to global warming the East Rand mining area of South Africa is a serious risk especially the poor and woman.

Arguably the sin of our day is failure to care for poor in this Environmental destruction. I invite everyone to make awareness on this issue. I am still busy with matter.

 MESHACK MBANGULA, Kwa thema environmental org.

This is a vivid picture of the much bigger threat to the Witwatersrand.  As I understand it, now the mines are worked out, the groundwater table is rising and the water is acidic.  But in addition, there are still all those old ponds and slimes dams from my youth, still blowing sand, seeping water, and eroding solids to the surroundings.  If anything is to be done, it will cost billions.  

A fence is no good: it will be stolen within a week of erection.  The only solutions are to rework the tailings and place the residue in new, stable tailings impoundment facilities.  if this cannot be done, covers must be constructed.  Maybe people have to be relocated.  

To do all this will challenge the mining companies that remain, stretch the government, and put a lot of people to work.  And that is not a bad thing, if only there is money to pay them.

Meanwhile we must support the Kwa Thema blogger who is trying to do something.

On a joyous Sunday we would pile into the 1949 Mercury and head for the mine sand dumps. In the boot (trunk) of the car, we had stowed corrugated cardboard cut from old boxes. These precious pieces of cardboard we shaped, as best we understood, like sledges. My father regularly drove us out to those piles of golden sand, so soft and warm in the summer sun. And here we would spend happy hours climbing up the sand and sliding down, and climbing up and sliding down, until we were exhausted and covered in the golden sand.

This was better than the beach. We only got to the beach once a year after a grueling drive down steep mountains and once there we were constantly reminded of the sharks that waited in the water and we were able to be on the beach only in the mornings for the wind blew so hard in the afternoons and the sand got so hot, we sought shade on the grass around the hotel. We had plenty of grass at home.

Once I mastered my one-speed (one gear) bike I was allowed to ride down to the slimes dams (tailings impoundments). We would explore every nook and cranny of the vast silent lands around the slimes dam. I would wonder at the brilliant blues and greens and oranges of the ponds everywhere around the dams. When a kid was killed in the collapse of a cave he cut into the slime, we were forbidden to go there again. But we did. The injunction only made the slimes dam more exciting.

Many years later I went back to these sacred places. They had all gone. The sand and the slime alike had been taken back to extract the gold and the uranium that they did not get out the first time.

As a young engineer I went to a diamond mine in Botswana. I saw a mine sand dump there in the middle of the desert. I persuaded my host to drive me out and I walked around the dump and climbed the dump, and they thought I was mad. I enquired how they would stabilize this dump—for by now environmentalist awareness had begun to kick in. “No problem,” I was told, “the wind will simply blow this pile away in a few years and this place will be as flat as the desert again.”

In my readings of the geomorphology of the lands east of the Rockies I saw somewhere a calculation of the quantity of material eroded from the rising Rockies by water and by wind. About fifty percent of the erosion in the last 65 million years has been by water, the other fifty percent has been by wind. And you can believe this on a windy day in Iowa atop the rise where the farm house sits.

One of my first assignments as a new consulting engineer was to come up with a way to reduce dust from the slimes dams around Johannesburg. The dust really was a nuisance. This assignment gave me chance to wonder around all the old slimes dams again. I could not believe I was being paid to do what I was forbidden to do as a child on a bike. We did studies and deliberations and cost estimates and then we mixed cement with the upper layer of the slime. Vegetation really is no good for it gets cut down at the knees by the windblown sands. I think all the dams where I put concrete have gone back to the mills for gold and uranium extraction.

There were no fences around any of these places. If a mine did put up a fence one week, by the next it was gone. Stolen for its intrinsic value or use in those forbidding slums where the workers lived. Even today in Vancouver, theft of manhole covers for metal is a problem, so nothing really changes. Some good people muttered about the absence of a fence, about security, and about dead children, but that was Africa and that was the way it was.

Imagine my surprise when I asked why there were no fences planned around the reclaimed Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) project sites, and I was told because not even America can ensure the integrity of a fence over a thousand years. And so for five years I traveled to most of the UMTRA sites and got paid once again to climb on unfenced old mine slimes dams and sand piles and plan their remediation sans fence.

Annually the Fraser Institute comes out with a survey of mining countries and ranks them according to how good a place it is to try to find an ore body, to open a mine, to operate a mine.  The Institute gives you a good guide about where to invest.  I pay considerable attention to what they say.  For this is not some fusty old institute opining; it is the honest opinion of real mining men and women who are asked their opinions of mining countries.  This is no academic ranking.  This is what people who are trying to find ore bodies, open mines, and run mines think.  And their thinking is based on hard experience. 

As it is a Sunday that I compose and post this comment, I thought that I would enliven the dull issues  of incompetence and commercial interest with pictures that most epitomize the story.  Thus you will find a lot of reproductions of paintings of The Judgement of Paris.  Recall that Paris was asked by the three godesses, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, to decide who was the most beautiful.  Paris got Helen, wife of Agamenon’s brother, as the prize for the correct answer.  And then ensued the fall of Troy and the founding of Rome.   Helen, incedentally went back to her husband after the fall of Troy.

The judgement of the Fraser Institue is about as subjective and consequential as the judgement of Paris.   At the end of this posting, I give more on this fateful judgement.  Now enjoy the judgement of the Fraser Institute.  But be wary:  the following is not for the faint of heart when it comes to corrupt politicians, venial NGOs, and the voluptuousness of Medievial, Classical, and Modern art. 

The blog-sphere is awash in comments on the most recent survey.  Most of the blog comments are brief, repetitive of others, and fatuous, to say the least.  Here follows a survey of some of the things they are saying—and I use this as an opportunity to get to the heart of the rankings. 

Alberta has surpassed Quebec as the world’s most attractive jurisdiction for mineral exploration and development, From the Institute’s webpage:

“Alberta’s resource-friendly government, competitive taxation regime, and superior infrastructure render the province a standout for mining investment, not only in Canada but also globally,” said Fred McMahon, coordinator of the survey and the Institute’s vice-president of international policy research.

If you have ever tried to get to the oil sands mines from central Fort McMurray and spent a half hour going about four kilometers along Highway 63, you will know the claim of “superior infrastructure” is garbage.  Alberta and, in particular, the area around Fort McMurray is not blessed with infrastructure:  the roads are poor, they have been building bridges for two years and no progress, and the traffic is far worse than Los Angeles.  Maybe you cannot mine in California, but at least there are highways where you can move–by comparison with Alberta. 

Then you get to the mine, and better prepare yourself for a long wait.  The security system is a good example of gross inefficiency.  I calculate on the basis of observations over the past three years that at least $1,000 an hour is wasted by consultants and contractors waiting in slow lines to get in.  Work that out over a year and you see that only an industry awash in money could support such inefficiency and poor infrastructure.  The Fraser Institute did not seek my opinion on this one.

Enough realism about Alberta.  Overall, Canada did well:

This year, Canadian provinces claimed four of the top 10 spots, with Alberta jumping to first from forth, Saskatchewan climbing to third from sixth, Quebec falling to fourth from first, and Manitoba holding steady at ninth.  The other provinces and territories generally fared well, with Newfoundland and Labrador placing 13th, the Yukon 15th, Ontario 18th, Nova Scotia 19th, New Brunswick 23rd, British Columbia 36th, Nunavut 44th, and Northwest Territories 52nd.  “BC continues to be viewed poorly, with respondents citing land claims issues, environmental uncertainty, and political turmoil at the provincial level as reasons to remain hesitant about investing in British Columbia,” McMahon said.

At the bottom are the usual miscreants:

The bottom 10 scores went to Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Wisconsin, Madagascar, India, Guatemala, Bolivia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela, and Honduras.

Although the Escobar Silver Mine in Guatemala seems to be proceeding apace, and the Marlin Mine continues to make money in spite of the dishonesty of British Columbian academics (see posting below.)

South African ranks low—I have often on this blog said investment in Africa is for only British imperialists and crazy adventurers:

South Africa fell to 67th place out of 79 countries in a survey measuring the attractiveness of the government’s mining policies, Business Day reported, citing the Fraser Institute, which carried out the poll.  The latest ranking leaves South Africa just four places above Zimbabwe, the Johannesburg-based newspaper said. Last year, South Africa ranked 61st out of the 72 countries surveyed, Business Day said.

You almost have to sympathize with Shabangu:

The country’s poor showing is a blow to the aspirations of Mines Minister Susan Shabangu to improve South Africa’s standing.  The latest survey findings have been published just ahead of a roadshow to Canada and the United States by Shabangu and mining industry stakeholders to convince investors that “South Africa remains a good investment destination”.  On June 30 last year, Shabangu acknowledged the “profound influence” that the Fraser survey has on investment decisions globally.

Having read these blog pieces, I turned to the report to read it myself.  Here are some thoughts prompted by my reading.

I love Nevada as a place to recreate, mine, and invest.   Thus I was sadened to see this assessment in the survey:

After the Australian states, Nevada’s score suffered the biggest fall in the developed world, from 88.8 to 77.0 out of 100, and from a rank of 3rd to 10th out of 51.  According to miners, Nevada still re mains a good place to mine, but the results show that they were worried by an effort to put a huge tax increase to a referendum (the referendum petition failed to get enough signatures to be put on the ballot). The legislature did, however, enact and a new one-time mining tax.

One commenter is recorded as saying:

A recent decision in Nevada to levy a “one-time” tax on mining claim holders to pay off a State budget short-fall will prove to be fatal to exploration in Nevada. The long-term consequences will be devastating to mining in Nevada which already is burdened by high land-holding costs and a mature exploration regime.”

California came up.  From where to where I cannot fathom.  The survey says:  “California’s score rose by 15.2 points, but from a very low level.”  Searching through the many rankings and scores, all I can tell is that California is a place of high taxes, regulatory uncertainty, environmental laws of horrendous proportions, and general labor madness.  So much for the Terminator!

Actually the whole USA comes in for mild criticism.  One comment:

“In the US, generally, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona are mining friendly, but the preponderance of federal land is a problem as the US government is generally anti-mining and the bureaucracy can hold one up forever.”

As for Mexico, the opinions are unanimous:

 

The increase of criminal organizations in Mexico posing as anti-mining groups is problematic. These groups continue to extort mining companies and create false claims in the press which damages companies’ reputations.”

The more I read about the pernicious influence of drug cartels on mining in Latin America, the more I tend to the opinion that the mining industry should come out in support of the legalization of drugs. That does not mean you can use drugs and come work on the mine the next day.  All it means is elimination of those drug lords who pose as anti-mining do-gooders and impede honest mining. Afterall, miners want to operate unimpeded in a free society. Why should do they not they support the general principle, and say: “Legalize drugs, and let us get on with mining.”  I bet most Canadian anti-mining activists are active users of drugs.  At least all those that I know personally are. 

Finally back to Africa and the Chinese and what we all know: African politicians are corrupt, and the Chinese do not care and thus succeed.  Here is a quote that says this nicely:

The apparent hardening attitude towards mining in Africa is not simple. Lack of transparency and an absence of public understand ing of the industry is often manipulated by politicians/civil servants either for self gain or to cover for their failure to deliver meaningful service to the people. Add to this the Chinese way of doing things and risk will continue to increase unless we get out there and start educating.

I recommend that you download the full report for free and study it in detail before investing money in any aspect of mining.

PS. 

Here is how Wikipedia tells the story of Paris:

It is recounted^[3] that Zeus held a banquet in celebration of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis (parents of Achilles). However, Eris, goddess of discord, was uninvited. Angered by this snub, Eris arrived at the celebration, where she threw a golden apple (the Apple of Discord) into the proceedings, upon which was the inscription καλλίστῃ (kallistēi, “for the fairest one”).^[4]

Three goddesses claimed the apple: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. They asked Zeus to judge which of them was fairest, and eventually Zeus, reluctant to favour any claim himself, declared that Paris, a Trojan mortal, would judge their cases, for he had recently shown his exemplary fairness in a contest in which Ares in bull form had bested Paris’s own prize bull, and the shepherd-prince had unhesitatingly awarded the prize to the god.^[5]

Thus it happened that, with Hermes as their guide, all three of the candidates appeared to Paris on Mount Ida, in the climactic moment that is the crux of the tale. After bathing in the spring of Ida, each attempted with her powers to bribe Paris; Hera offered to make him king of Europe and Asia, Athena offered wisdom and skill in war, and Aphrodite, who had the Charites and the Horai to enhance her charms with flowers and song (according to a fragment of the Cypria quoted by Athenagoras), offered the love of the world’s most beautiful woman (Euripides, Andromache, l.284, Helena l. 676). This was Helen of Sparta, wife of the Greek king Menelaus. Paris accepted Aphrodite’s gift and awarded the apple to her, receiving Helen as well as the enmity of the Greeks and especially of Hera. The Greeks’ expedition to retrieve Helen from Paris in Troy is the mythological basis of the Trojan War.

Canadian academics and free speech advocates are up in arms over two mining multinationals’ use of libel law to bury their critics in lawsuits.  I quote the most indignant part of the report:

Canadian academics and free speech advocates are up in arms over two mining multinationals’ use of libel law to bury their critics in lawsuits. Alain Deneault, Delphine Abadie, and William Sacher published a book called Noir Canada. Pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique that detailed well-sourced human rights abuses by the multinational resource companies Barrick Gold and Banro Corporation. The companies have responded with $11 million in lawsuits, aimed at bankrupting their critics with court fees. Barrick Gold has threatened other publishers on the basis of brief summaries of yet-to-be-published critical books.

As the book is not available (or maybe it is at Amazon.com), I have not read it.  As it is in French, I could not read it, even if I had it.  I am a poor judge in this matter.  Still, as a blogger, I have the right to comment.

   Maybe this is an old story that I have not hitherto stumbled across.   Here from a 2009 report is an analysis of the issues:

It was just over a year ago, on April 15th 2008, that Alain Deneault, Deplhine Abadie and William Sacher officially launched Noir Canada: Pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique, published by Les Éditions Écosociété, despite legal threats of lawsuits by Canadian multinational Barrick Gold (see demand letter sent by Barrick Gold at the following address: http://www.ecosociete.org/t117-Mise_en_d_Barrick.PDF ).  Two defamation lawsuits followed, with Canadian mining companies Barrick Gold and Banro claiming damages amounting to $11 million dollars. The authors and publisher of Noir Canada have since had to deal with amendments to these claims, multiple and cumbersome judicial proceedings (requests for documents, endless interviews conducted by opposing counsel, etc.), the preparation of voluminous defence records for two different jurisdictions, numerous commutes to Toronto, the rejection of a request to transfer Banro’s Ontario lawsuit to Quebec, the appeal of that decision, along with the considerable costs that such proceedings require and the psychological and moral strain that comes with being put under such pressure.  In the meantime, the authors of Noir Canada remind us that “the Canadian pillage of Africa continues” ( http://www.alternatives.ca/IMG/pdf/Vol.15No7-ok.pdf ), while “the Canadian government has just consecrated Canada as being a judicial haven for extraction corporations worldwide”. During these trying times, university scholars, organisations, unions, religious groups, politicians, African associations, and citizens have all expressed their support towards Les Éditions Écosociété and the three authors of Noir Canada. They have helped continue this fight for freedom of expression, the freedom to research and the free participation in public debate. Their precious support has especially contributed to ensuring that the necessary debate surrounding the role that Canadian companies and institutions play in the suffering of so many Africans. This is an especially important debate for our democracy, considering the fact that so many Canadian pension funds, mutual funds, RRSP’s and others provide funding for an industry that is the target of so many worrying allegations across the globe.

Bloggers have just discovered the story.  Here is a quote from a few days ago:

A report commissioned by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada–that has since been suppressed–indicates some fairly significant problems in the industry with respect to commercial operations outside of Canada. Rather than actually deal with the issues, two Canadian mining companies have decided to file libel lawsuits against a team of academics who had previously undercovered very similar findings.

Barrick has spoken.  Here is a pretty lousy report on their response:

For several years now I have been following the growing movement against the activity of Canadian mining companies. Mostly I have focused on their presence in Latin America, but not exclusively.  I invite you to listen to a speech given by Peter Monk, founder of Barrick Gold at the last stockholders meeting. The speech is accompanied by photos that illustrate another side of his statements — in this sense it is not neutral. It will be for you to decide. However, I can also say that I have visited mines in several areas, especially of Latin America, and read a lot of documentation as well as listening to representatives of local communities in a wide range of areas. What the pictures show, as far as I can tell, is authentic.  (I should add that Barrick Gold is suing the authors and the publishing house of Noir Canada, a study of the operation of Canadian mining particularly in Africa. They want 5 million dollars in damages. The case will go before the Supreme Court of Canada, with the authors arguing that this is a case of an unjustified attempt to muzzle opposition, a case of a SLAPP suite designed only to intimidate people from speaking out.) 
Here is the reference for the VIDEO: PETER MONK.

   At this point all is tied up in legal playing—that act of trying to decide where to hear the case.  Here is the most recent I could find:

One way to get critics to shut up is to try them to death. That is, in classic David vs. Goliath fashion a company with deep pockets can institute legal proceedings against a smaller player which doesn’t have the means to defend itself. The result too often is that the challenger goes broke, and other people or groups are scared off from raising embarrassing question.  Barrick Gold has been after the Quebec publisher Ecosociété since 2008 when the small house put out Noir Canada : pillage, corruption et criminalité en Africa, The mining giant filed libel proceedings in Ontario, whose laws are different from those of Quebec. The maneuver has meant that Ecosociété’s resources are strained since it has to pay for a legal team in the other province. Furthermore, were the case tried in Quebec, it could come over that province’s legislation aimed at countering libel freeze.   The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear Ecosociété’s request to have the case heard in Quebec. There’s no guarantee that the court will allow the transfer, but the fact that it will decide will clarify the rules of the game, and just might make it harder for the big guys to intimidate the small ones.

    Most of the blog comment is in French.  I cannot easily follow the details.  But I can say that Barrick is loosing this one in the social media.  Maybe the book is indeed terrible and untrue.  Maybe the book is pure libel and prejudiced rubbish.  Maybe the author need to be taken down for lies and propaganda.  But in this instance the mining industry looks like the bully, not the innocent guy attacked unfairly. 

I am no judge of these matters. but my advice to Barrick is this: drop the whole thing.  Issue a press release saying that the book is rubbish and distorted and untrue.  And note that you have dropped law suites on the basis that, as Canadians, you support free speech, even though it is bullshit speech and attacks you for things you did not do.  And If you did do the nasty things of which you are accused, be American: say sorry and note that you won’t do it again and have taken steps to punish the guilty and to make sure it does not happen again.  In the U.S.A. both Democrats and Republican do this all the time and get away with it.  Let us not be so provincial in a matter of a mere book in French that no-one worth worrying about can read.

   I mean, at the end of the day Africa is Africa: a nasty place of dictators, rapists, tribal interests, death, and murder.  If you go mining there, you must expect the worst.  And if it happens, shrug it off as the price of doing business in a nasty place.  Contribute to Mugabe’s retirement instead.

The Mining Indaba is the great South African event on the mining calendar.  Here is a link to a report on the clash of elephants at the conference.  We quote:

The lack of clarity about the mining investment environment in southern Africa meant that [South African] Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu had to maintain a stiff upper lip as her government’s vacillating stances were dissected, principally by [Cynthia] Carroll [head of Anglo American]. She made no bones about the damage done by “the false prophets who argue for nationalisation”.

In a speech on Tuesday, she said mining companies “simply will not invest if they cannot be assured that the assets they create will be secure”. The false prophets were advocating “the road to ruin”.

Inevitably, Shabangu got into a spot of trouble with Malema’s youth league, but also was cut down by ANC general secretary Gwede Mantashe. Emphasising that nationalisation was “not an option”, at least in her opinion, she added that “given that there has been noise about the issue, as the ANC we have a responsibility to go out and investigate what it means to substantiate the decision that would be taken”.

One could tell she felt like she was between a rock and a hard place. She added a little unhelpfully: “We need to establish facts and substantiate what would drive us to reach a destination of nationalisation.”

Mantashe said Carroll and Shabangu were “not adding value” to the process, accusing Carroll of “a pre-emptive attack”, while the ANC was going to great lengths to research the implications of nationalisation in 13 countries.

  Who would ever have imagined that mining in South Africa would be distilled into a fight between two matriarchs, trying to keep their males in heat under control? 

  My take as a potential investor is this: enjoy the spectacle, but keep your money out of Africa and away from the greedy clutches of those bent on nationalization, however passionately Carroll pleads.