Editorial: Mining’s still deadly work

We were reminded again of the inherent dangers involved in mining and mineral exploration during the week ended Nov. 17, the 46th trading week of 2007.

* In the Ukraine’s southeast, there was more misery in the coal fields, with a massive methane explosion and fire occurring more than 1 km underground in the Zasyadko mine, a part of the Donbass complex in the Donetsk oblast. On Nov. 18, Reuters reported that at least 63 miners were dead and 37 missing, with little chance of survival. Of the more than 350 miners who were brought to surface alive, 27 miners were in hospital, with one in serious condition.

In terms of death toll, this accident may eclipse the explosion in March 2000 that killed 80 miners near Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

The accident has political ramifications, too, with Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko, the longstanding rival of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, denouncing the Yanukovich government as having made insufficient efforts to reorganize the mining sector, particularly with regards to mine safety.

However, Zasyadko had been considered one of the Ukraine’s most modern, efficient and profitable mines, unlike many others in the country that still use worn-out, Soviet-era equipment and work attitudes.

The Ukrainians clearly have problems handling methane: Another 20 people were killed last month in a gas explosion in an apartment complex in Dnipropetrovsk, in central Ukraine.

* In an Angolan storm on Nov. 16, the exploration community lost another five members in a helicopter crash during a flight to BHP Billiton’s Alto Cuilo diamond camp in the country’s northeast.

The deceased are: Australian David Hopgood, chief operating officer of BHP Billiton Angola; Britain’s Kevin Ayre, operations manager of Angola Technical Services; South African Kottie Breedt, pilot for Wild Dog Helicopters; Britain’s Guy Summerfield, of MMC; and Namibian Louwrens Prinsloo, of Prinsloo Drilling.

BHP has suspended all operations in Angola and an investigation is under way.

* Northern Chileans were shaken by a series of major earthquakes beginning at 10:40 a.m. on Nov. 14, with the city of Tocopilla being the worst hit. The first quake, registering 7.7 on the Richter scale, killed two people and displaced some 15,000. This was followed by less-damaging earthquakes in the general region of Antofagasta of magnitudes 6.8 and 6, one and three days later, respectively.

With northern Chile being the world’s biggest copper supplier, there was a huge spike in COMEX copper futures on Nov. 14. But these gains were given back the next day, as the major miners — including Codelco, BHP Billiton and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold — reported in succession that mine production, power generation and port activity, while all interrupted, were already getting back to normal. Metal prices were little affected in London as the first quake occurred after market close on Nov. 14.

* Yet another Canadian corporate icon disappeared this week, with Rio Tinto announcing on Nov. 14 that it had acquired all the remaining outstanding shares of Alcan, formerly Canada’s largest metals company, via a compulsory acquisition provision relating to its successful, friendly takeover offer. Alcan was thus delisted from the major stock exchanges on Nov. 15. The hunter is now the hunted, however, with BHP Billiton outlining on Nov. 12 its gutsy, semi-hostile bid for Rio Tinto.

* An automatic “buy” for anyone with a touch of gold fever is British author Timothy Green’s new book The Ages of Gold, which traces gold’s role as money and a symbol of power and wealth over the last 6,000 years.

With multiple revisions of his 1968 classic The World of Gold and many other gold-related books under his belt, Green has marked out territory as the English language’s best popular gold historian and, in his work, has avoided the moralizing tone that mars so many similar popular books on the gold and diamond industries.

The 480-page book is available for 33 from publisher GFMS at http://shop.gfms.co.uk or by telephone at +44 (0)20 7478 1750.

* Another stocking-stuffer for that special, young mining executive in your life would be Get Smarter: Life And Business Lessons, written by Canadian mining mogul and philanthropist Seymour Schulich, with help from business journalist Derek DeCloet. The book dispenses frank and valuable advice to men and women in their 20s and 30s who are stepping up their game in the challenging world of business.

Send your Letters-to-the-Editor and other op-ed submissions to the Editor at: tnm@northernminer.com, fax: (416) 510-5137, or 12 Concorde Pl., Suite 800, Toronto, ON M3C 4J2.