From Prospecting To Selling

Jim Clanin writes:

From prospecting to selling: The life of a gemstone
Conventional mining engineering handbooks and courses have traditionally overlooked mining for gemstones and mineral specimens as an industry. This is mostly due to the fact that in ore mining, blasting is the first step in crushing the rock for processing and extraction of the valuable elements. In gem mining, the rock must be gently taken apart to avoid damaging the material.

Gem and specimen mining are different to all other types of mining. In all the other mining sectors from gold and silver to sand and gravel to oil and gas, there are four phases of mining. The only phase that gem mining has in common with the others is the first phase.

The first phase is prospecting: before any deposit can be assessed and exploited it must be found.

Phase two is exploration: during this phase, the ore deposit is drilled, mapped and sampled to give its overall size, shape, position, value and complexity. The operator will know whether this deposit is going to be profitable one or if it is marginal and the operator should wait until the value of the product gets to the level that a profit can be made.

Phase three is the development phase of the ore deposit. This means excavating haulage tunnels, if it is an underground mine, removing the overburden in surface operations and erecting processing plants to handle and process the material economically.

Phase four is exploitation of the deposit. The ore is mined, removed and process in the processing plant to a saleable form. It is in this phase that the profit is made when the stone is sold on the market.

Sometimes the development and exploitation phases can be carried out concurrently. An example of this could be in sand and gravel operations where the area around the pit develops as the pit expands. But the deposit will have undergone extensive exploration to show it has the necessary quality of material to produce a profit when exploited.

In gem mining the miner explores a deposit while developing (with tunnels or a pit) the structure until he finds something to exploit. He must gently take apart the rock so not to damage the minerals any more than they might already be. The deposit may have outward signs that it may produce minerals or gemstones of value but after some exploration the miner may find nothing valuable.

Useful link:
www.gemstone.org

Oil Sand = Alberta = New Kuwait

John Vidal writes about Alberta's vast oil sands + ecological devastations + the impact + other viewpoints @ http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/11/fossilfuels.pollution

Useful links:
www.pembina.org
www.albiansands.com
www.shell.ca
www.syncrude.ca
www.suncor.com

Art In Action

The 31st Art in Action craft festival will be staged in Oxfordshire, UK, from 17 – 20 July, 2008. The festival includes everything, from painting and printmaking to ceramics and textile design. Don't miss it!

Useful link:
www.artinaction.org.uk

Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby was an American popular singer and actor whose career lasted from 1926 until his death in 1977. Everytime I watch a Bing Crosby movie it brings back a wave of nostalgia. I really miss the good old days!

Useful link:
www.bingcrosby.com

Random Thoughts

Biggest Fear: High tech = supersonic speed. Business models = Porsche speed. Organizations = bike speed. Policymaking = snail speed.

- David Bosshart
CEO, Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute

Nicholas White Update On Jewelry Markets

Nicholas White's analysis on Gitanjali Gems's possible purchase of Whitehall Jewelers @ http://www.glgroup.com/News/Will-Whitehall-Jewelers-be-Acquired-By-Indian-Manufacturer-Gitanjali-Gems--26321.html was interesting because if Gitanjali is able to buy the stores it will represent the beginning of a new era in the US jewelry industry + the question remains if the company has the luster and financial strength to compete with Kay, Zale, Helzberg, Fred Meyer, and discounters like Wal-Mart and grow in India too. Only time will tell.

The Gods That Failed

The Gods That Failed: How Blind Faith in Markets Has Cost Us Our Future by Larry Elliott + Dan Atkinson is an interesting book on current problems, the way money has been created and lent beyond the worth of assets and incomes. And who is to blame for this mess? I think pinning the blame on any one participant isn't fair, they all did it.

Useful link:
www.thegodsthatfailed.co.uk

Dabbawalas

Economist writes about dabbawalas, their strong teamwork, strict time-management + analytic models, technology, efficient business practices vs human and social ingenuity + other viewpoints @ http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?source=hptextfeature&story_id=11707779

Useful link:
www.mydabbawala.com