Black Mamba

Yesterday evening, when I was busy baking pyrite at 650 degrees Celsius, Hans and Jaco went down to the Pongola River to do some fishing. This morning Hans informed me that while Jaco went fishing, Hans was chasing down warthogs (with a gun of course), which apparently arrive in droves after nightfall at the riverbank. The immediate area is actually engaged in a province-ordered cull of both warthogs and bush pigs which have been devastating the local farmers crops as of late.

As Hans was walking back towards the mine (some 300 meters above along a winding dirt road), he came across a rat that scampered out of the shrubbery, over the road, and disappeared into the bush on the other side. Then, following the rat closely, a large snake slithered into Hans' headlamp beam. Turns out it was a Black Mamba, the undisputed deadliest snake in the world. As Hans tells the story, the snake stopped in the middle of the road, turned and looked at Hans as he raised his gun, trembling with fear. The stand-off apparently lasted only a few seconds and the mamba continued into the bush in pursuit of the rat.

This is only the second black mamba sighting in the area since the mine was recommissioned back in June, but it proves that there are a few of them in the area. The good news is that form what I've heard, mambas are just as scared of people as we are of them, so if you make lots of noise while walking through the bush, the mambas will tend to go away long before you reach them. The only thing one must be careful about is if the situation arises where a mamba feels cornered, which is when they become aggressive. And apparently they can easily outrun humans, so that kind of sucks. Of course, Hans' solution is to carry a gun. They make special shotgun rounds called 'snake shots' designed as a lethal spray-shot for large snakes such as the mamba. So if I'm ever mapping out in the bush here in the future, I will definitely insist on one of those. Fortunately my duties now have been limited to mostly the plant and underground.

In other less dangerous news, it took me this long to figure out the 'Klip-wal' is Afrikaans for Stone-ridge or Stone-wall. It makes sense, as the boss' new company name is "Stonewall Mining".

Chakalaka

I've recently made an amazing food discovery, and it's called "chakalaka." It's a traditional South African condiment that I can best describe as a vegetable chili. They sell it in cans here and I've been having it on toast a lot. Traditionally it's served with pap or within a stew/curry type of situation. The taste lies perfectly between your classic American-style chili and a fiery Indian curry. Spicy and delicious!

It's probably fairly difficult to find it canned in stores that aren't located in South Africa, so if you like to cook and want to give it a try...

http://www.recipesworldwide.org/food-type/vegetable-dishes/chakalaka

The spicier the better!

Big Week Of Fun

It's been another extremely busy week at Klipwal, so I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Oh wait, today's Sunday? Work again tomorrow morning? What happened to the weekend? Well, flat tires, helicopters, and rich Canadians happened. Let me explain...

The past week itself was a fairly normal work week consisting of gathering samples, running them over the James Table, and organising the results. I was also writing a report for Lloyd as well as preparing for the big weekend visit from a Canadian investor. Lloyd called on Friday morning and said I was going to be giving a 30-minute presentation on the geology of the mine to the Canadian and his associate, who were going to arrive on Sunday morning in a helicopter. So while others were clearing the mine's helipad and scrambling to find a wind sock, I was writing my presentation.

On Saturday morning, I accompanied Nick who was going into town to pick up a new Land Cruiser we were renting for the weekend to move around our VIP guests. Lloyd was pulling out all the stops for these guys, more so than any of the potential investors that have been through over the past couple of months, so I'm assuming these Canadians have a fair bit of money to invest. Anyway, Nick picked up the Cruiser at the dealership, and I took over the pick-up we drove to town in. I made the obligatory stops at Pick n Pay (grocery store) and the butchers for their amazing biltong (beef jerky), sent of some letters at the post office, and proceeded back to the mine. With all the rain over the past month, the potholes on the way back to Klipwal have only gotten worse, and I managed to go over a couple pretty deep ones on this trip. Then, when I was only a few miles from the mine, my left rear tire exploded after presumably hitting a rock on the dirt road. I've never changed a flat tire on my own before but how hard could it be?

Well, luckily I was spotted by a few local Zulu kids who were hanging out at the bar I happened to stop near, and by the time I got the jack and the tools out, they were hovering over the busted tire. They helped me jack up the car and then we got to loosening the nuts on the tire. After putting the spare tire on and bolting it up, all seemed well until I started letting the jack down. Turns out the spare tire was very flat. Not completely destroyed like the tire we had just taken off, but there was not nearly enough air in it for me to continue driving on. So I ended up calling Petrus at the mine, who eventually arrived with an electric pump. Finally I returned home, thankful for the help of the friendly Klipwal Zulus and Petrus.

Sunday morning I was feeling a bit nervous with the impending presentation hanging over my head, but I knew they would arrive soon and that I knew my stuff, so I went to the office at 9 to practice a bit. Then I got the call from Nick that the helicopter, which was leaving from Johannesburg, was delayed due to the weather. The delay kept getting longer and longer until finally, just after 2 pm, we could hear the chopper blades humming and the helicopter descended from the clouds, making a pass around the mine and eventually landing on the helipad at the top of the ridge next to the main offices.

Lloyd introduced the Klipwal crew and I to the investors Bob and Chris, and we sat down in the board room for me to give the presentation. And I ended up nailing it, if I can say so myself. Bob and Chris were really nice guys too, so that helped. The rest of their stay was spent touring the plant and surface works, but their schedule was too tight for a visit underground. Just like that, they were rushed away back into the helicopter, which flew westward and disappeared into the clouds. The visit on the whole went extremely well, which felt good after everybody had been preparing for it so hard all week. It was kind of like what should have happened in Jurassic Park if the dinosaurs didn't end up escaping and eating Newman from Seinfeld.

Dinner For One

There's not a lot to report from the mine these days with business carrying on as usual. This morning I was running some of my samples over the James Table and began chatting with the guy who was on James Table duty at that time. His name is Nkosinathi, pronounced "Kohs-NACH-i", and he was telling me how he wants to be a sampler so he can go out in the field and down the mine. I felt for him, because it can get a bit old being stuck in the plant all day with the loud noises of the pump motors going. Naturally, we got on the subject of soccer, and when I asked Nkosinathi what his favorite teams were he gave the typical reply: Kaiser Chiefs and Chelsea. The Kaiser Chiefs play in Johannesburg, along with the rival Orlando Pirates. Everyone in this country seems to support either one of those teams. He said he also liked Brazil, and when I asked about his national time he replied, "Of course! Bafana bafana!"

In other news, I have just about finished moving fully into my new digs. I've got a nice couch, a little TV and DVD player, an enormous bathroom, and a generously-sized George Foreman grill that's substituting for a real cooker. Mine is broken at the moment. At some point I'll also have to build a braai area.

Now I don't know how I've forgotten about this, but I've remembered now to tell you about a great comedic discovery I made when I was up in Pilgrims Rest the other week. They were having a movie night in the pub I went to, and as a precursor to the main feature, they first showed the short film entitled "Dinner For One." This British comedy sketch originally written in 1920 and filmed in 1963 has since become a national tradition in Germany of all places, where every New Year, German TV channels all broadcast the 15-minute sketch for everyone to see.

With South Africa having heavy European ties, especially from the Netherlands and Germany, the Afrikaans community celebrates new years much in the same way as the Germans by watching this short. If you have 15 minutes, search for the short film on Youtube with old British comedian Freddie Frinton, I couldn't stop laughing. Same procedure as every year!!

More Illegal Miners

The illegal miner situation has reared its ugly head at Klipwal once again over the past few weeks after the problem seemed to have been solved. Lloyd detained two of the miners about a month ago and they were taken into police custody, given a court date, and have since been released on bail. Since then, a lock has been installed at the 6 level adit with a 24-hour security guard post as well. Nobody has been in or out after hours with that lock in place.

The only other known opening for the mine is on the opposite north side, where a ventilation shaft rises up next to the soccer field. There is a small manhole-like opening there covered with an iron cover. Below this cover drops a vertical shaft about 2 meters in diameter and down to 4 level over 100 meters below. I’ve seen the ladders in this north shaft, and they are very poorly connected to heavily corroded iron cross-beams. It’s an extremely dangerous place for people to go which is why nobody is allowed to go down North shaft.
Over the past few weeks, the security guards have reported seeing people going in and out of north shaft at various times during the night. A few attempted stake-outs by Lloyd and others at the mine have been fruitless, but on Saturday night, just I sat down to watch a movie at Nick’s house, he got a call from the security captain, Elvis. They had caught two miners as they were exiting the shaft, and had them detained. Just like last time, Nick called the Pongola police station and a car was sent to the mine right away. This time I went down to North shaft to see what was up.

When I arrived, the two illegal miners were handcuffed by the police who had just arrived. A lot of my co-workers were there, looking down the hole at Thys who went down to recover the miners’ tools. Eventually he emerged from the opening, struggling with the weight of the bags on his back. They were makeshift backpacks made from those plastic woven bags you get at places like Ikea. One bag, about the size of a standard backpacking backpack, was completely filled to the brim with rocks. The sheer weight was remarkable; just how these people carry these bags on these unstable ladders is beyond comprehension. The rocks themselves were mostly quartz that they were breaking off from the main mineralised zone. Along with the rocks they carried lamps, extra batteries, water bottles, food, and hammer and chisels.

It was another sad reminder of the ugly side of the gold mining business. Powered by corrupt businessmen trading this illegally-produced gold, these hapless illegal miners work through the night, sometimes staying underground for days at a time under the most difficult conditions with no safety equipment. And after milling the rock down and treating it with Mercury, they sell the product on for a fraction of its true price. When the police asked if there were more people down there, they said there were at least three more. Lloyd is due to arrive on Monday, and I know exactly what he’ll be doing when he gets here: going underground to look for them.

Back to Pilgrims Rest

This week I was assigned another transportation job to our sister mine TGME in Pilgrims Rest. Instead of transporting a ton of Carbon, this time I was driving up 5 drums of Potassium Cyanide. The cyanide is used in the treatment process to activate the gold and help it stick to the carbon in a during Carbon-in-leach processing. It is added to a mix of gold concentrate and carbon in large tanks, and must be done with close control of the pH and density of this mixture. If the pH is too acidic in the mixture and the cyanide is added, it creates cyanide gas, which can really ruin your day. Thankfully the cyanide I was transporting was locked up in a plastic bag which is in turn placed inside of a sealed drum, but I felt a bit like a bond villain or something driving around 5 drums with big pictures of the skull and cross bones printed on the sides.

Unlike last week, I also did not have Vincent as a second driver to share the journey with. It was my first solo adventure out on the road! Fortunately the load was a lot lighter this time and my truck more powerful, so it cut about 2 hours off of the driving time. I also took a different route, this time turning left after passing through Amsterdam and driving to Pilgrims Rest via Carolina, Machadodorp, and Lydenburg. Driving with a map and the road signs as my navigators, I only hit a small hitch between Machadodorp and Lydenburg. Lydenburg was well sign posted until I was about 40 km away, when the signs only pointed to a new town called Mashishing. I pulled over and couldn't find Mashishing anywhere on my map. I was sure I hadn't taken a wrong turn anywhere, and then it finally hit me. South Africa's government has been implementing a campaign to change many city names back to the original local tribal names they previously were known by before white European settlement. It's a nice idea in terms of cultural rehabilitation purposes, but it definitely can cause some confusion. Lydenburg had been changed to Mashishing.

With that figured out, I continued on, eventually climbing the mountain road and reaching the summit of the pass just West of Pilgrims Rest, which tops out at 5, 700 feet elevation and offers spectacular views across the imposing terrain of the eastern gold fields. The road then drops sharply down into the valley where the small town of Pilgrims Rest is accompanied by a sprawling township, a 9 hole golf course, and the mine. Arriving at the mine around 6:30, I dropped of the cyanide and drove back into town just as the sun was setting behind Mt. Sheba in the distance.

This time I was put up in the Royal Hotel in the old town, complete with a buffet dinner and breakfast. I did what everyone does at buffets, ate way too much food, and then ventured in to the adjacent bar owned by the hotel. That's when I ran into about 50 Swedish tourists, all in their 50's or 60's, who came in a tour bus that evening. With the bar mobbed, I walked down the road to Johnny's Pub where I had visited the week before and found some familiar faces. I got to talking to Henko, the guy who ran the golf course in town, and he begged me to come play sometime. Unfortunately I was working the next day.

The next morning I stuffed myself with bacon, eggs, and hash browns before driving back to the mine to take more samples of the tailings dam. The job was finished by 10 with the help of five guys with shovels and wheelbarrows, so I left much earlier than planned and headed straight to the golf course.

When I arrived, I was met by the typical "parking attendants" found in most parking lots in this country who watch your car in return for 5 or 10 rand. I entered the small clubhouse there where Henko sat filling out some paperwork. Except for him, the bartender, and a few greens keepers, the place was completely deserted. I was assigned a caddy named Oba and given a set of rental clubs and proceeded to go out and fire a spectacularly mediocre 45. It was nice to know I still have my swing after not playing for two months though.

I eventually drove back to Klipwal and arrived at 6 pm. A storm was already brewing on the way home, and just as it got dark, the power went out. I spent the evening sitting under the dim glow of my Lego man lantern reading Lord of the Rings with the lightning flashing relentlessly outside.

Quick Update

Apologies for the lack of posts lately. Excuse: We've all been working overtime the past two days and I'm exhausted. Here's what's happened since I got back from my road trip last Friday:

• Saturday - Slept and did absolutely nothing. It was great. At night there was a big party/braai not for Halloween but for the Durban Sharks winning the Currie Cup Final. I knew you'd be excited to hear that.
• Sunday - Began moving into my new house.
• Monday - Finished moving into my new house with the bare essentials: A bed, a refrigerator, and a clothes cupboard. Lloyd arrived at noon with his son Cameron, who brought his friend David. David and Cameron are the big ice hockey players, and David is actually visiting from Michigan and is trying to qualify to play for the South African National Ice Hockey Team. I guess it's a bit easier to crack than the US or Canadian squad. That afternoon Lloyd, David, Petrus, and I ventured down to 12 level, the deepest I have been in the mine so far at just over 400 m below the surface. It's also impossible to get any deeper at the moment because 12-15 levels are currently flooded with water. We went down to check the water level and see if another pump would be needed. Climbing up the ladders from 12 to 6 level (220 meters vertical) is a pretty good workout. That night we braaied. Lamb chops taste best over a flame!
• Tuesday - Monday night was my first night sleeping in the new house. I learned that there are many more bugs in this house, and the mosquitoes tormented me all night. Eventually I got up at 3:30 am and followed the Giants winning the World Series online. I went into the office at 5 am. My objective for the day was finishing the rough draft of a report for Lloyd and putting samples over the James Table. I finished this by 11 and Lloyd and I went over the report. Then he took me out to take more samples and I ended up working until 5 pm. It's been a long day, but the overtime pay will be nice.
• Tomorrow - Finish the report and then I'm back to TGME in Pilgrim's Rest for some more sampling!
• Almost forgot, I shot a few rounds of Lloyd's 9mm pistol at the tailings dam today. It was actually very frightening to feel how much power there was in such a small hand gun. I think I'll stick to the air rifle shooting pellets from now on.