MINER DETAILS — Mining an off-the-wall enterprise

The mining industry and its personalities have on occasion made interesting fodder for books that generally fall into two categories, the trash-for-cash expose or those so glowing they transform even the most dubious promoter into a pillar of society.

That’s why Morris Kaufman’s new book, Mountains of Ore and Rivers of Gold, Stories of a Contemporary Prospector, is a rare find. It has the usual tales of great mineral discoveries such as Kidd Creek, Carlin and Hemlo. But it also delves into some big fiascoes, and Kaufman acknowledges that his views may anger some industry people.

To Kaufman, mining isn’t your typical off-the-wall enterprise; it’s in a class all by itself. For the uninitiated to rush in is to court disaster, and for proof, Kaufman points to the experience of oil companies. After considering the whole picture, Kaufman rates oil company investment in mining as “one of the costlier debacles in North American business history.” As a prospector, Kaufman considers geologists — or certain types of them — as fair game for parody. He does have a soft spot though, for the “dogmatic model worshipers” (academics who dismiss properties that don’t fit prevailing theories) because they leave fertile ground for prospectors to make big discoveries. He also pokes fun at the pedantic types, and the timid souls who need to satisfy a raft of scientific criteria before consenting to drill a single hole lest they suffer technical embarrassment or risk a corporate pension.

While Kaufman tends to emphasize deposits found by “crazy people doing stupid things in places where smart people wouldn’t have gone,” he concedes scientific thinking was critical for the Yellowknife, Kidd Creek, and Carlin discoveries to name a few.

Misguided greenies and greedy corporations aren’t spared, either. But the toughest tongue-lashing is saved for the “1970s-1980s incestuous hairball which was the interlocking directorate of the Canadian Dome group of companies.” According to Kaufman, this “high-class men’s club” brutally abused shareholders by allowing Dome Petroleum to go on an ill-fated binge “using other people’s money” and infect the healthy gold mining companies of the group.

I’ve met Kaufman, and can vouch he’s not nasty and mean-spirited as certain parts of his book might indicate. Copies can be obtained from Dos Vulturous Co., P.O. Box 14336, Spokane, Wash.