Poet - Susan Ioannou

AQUAMARINE

To mollify sea deities,
ancient lapidaries prescribed
blue amulets carved from aquamarine
whose inner lapping soothed
and as seasoned sailors believed
wore away the dark coast of worry.

Others cast their woes inside the gem,
then soaked it in a little bowl
beneath the waning moon.
Perhaps within a day or two
where crystals cooled and brittled
a six-rayed star would fan and twinkle
love light toward a long marriage,
restore youth, hope, and friends,
or calm a throbbing tooth.

Today Brazilian pegmatites
host the clearest and the bluest,
named (her birthstone) Santa Marias.
A famous one, unearthed in 1910,
was heftier than a bongo drum:
110.5 kilograms
—an amulet with cleansing tears enough
for a thousand sailors
not to drown.

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Northern Life, Greater Sudbury’s community newspaper, gave Republic of Mining.com permission to post this article. www.northernlife.ca (Originally published on September 16, 2008)

Taken with permission from Garson Mine: 100 Years of Mining Excellence, authored by Hans Brasch

1907 – Garson Mine came into existence, purchased by the Mond Nickel Company. Development work began on a vertical shaft, six by 14 feet. The shaft was sunk to a depth of 225 feet and opened up at the 100- and 200-foot levels. Workforce average (WA) – 100.

1910 – No. 1 shaft was deepened to 600 feet. Production – 70,004 tonnes of ore. WA – 250.

1914 – No. 1 shaft was sunk to 870 feet. The miners dry-house was enlarged and several other buildings were built during the year. Production – 123,143 tonnes of ore. WA – 420.

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Northern Life, Greater Sudbury’s community newspaper, gave Republic of Mining.com permission to post Laurel Myers’ article. www.northernlife.ca (Originally published on September 16, 2008)

LMYERS@NORTHERNLIFE.CA

Hans Brasch has been an avid photographer since the time he was 16. What started as a hobby, developed into a passion and a means by which to keep the history of mining alive.

At the age of 76, Brasch has now compiled three books, documenting the past 100 years of mining in the Sudbury basin. The books – Structure and Operation of the Steelworkers, Mining: Then and Now in The Sudbury Basin, and Garson Mine: 100 years of Mining Excellence – are a mixture of maps, timelines, general information and photography, courtesy of the author, that show an evolution underground from a miner’s perspective.

The retired miner, who spent 40 years – from 1952- 1992 – working in nearly all of the most hazardous underground jobs at Vale Inco’s Levack Mine, admitted the pictures took a bit of undercover work.

“At that time, we weren’t really supposed to take pictures (in the mine),” he said, explaining he used to sneak his camera into the mine with him. “But I’m glad I did. I recorded a very nice history.” Despite his camera being bulky with a big light on it, the private eye, of sorts, was
able to document Inco’s ever changing past.

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Northern Life, Greater Sudbury’s community newspaper, gave Republic of Mining.com permission to post Laurel Myers’ article. www.northernlife.ca (Originally published on September 16, 2008)

LMYERS@NORTHERNLIFE.CA

Mining isn’t what it used to be. Ninety-two-year-old Harvey Jarrett was part of the mining evolution. In 1945, he developed the first and only underground sand-fill plant at the time.

Dave Duncan, present superintendent of Garson Mine, explained a sand-fill plant is actually located only 90 feet below the surface, and is still in use today.

“We take in aggregate material (sand) from the pit across the road,” Duncan said. “There is cement silo on surface where we mix the sand with cement and water, then it flows down a funnel into a pipe a fills our stopes.”

Stopes are filled when they can no longer be mined, and are used as support to drill other stopes. After being a pilot in the war for three years, Jarrett returned to the Sudbury area and began work at the Creighton Mine as a mining engineer. He later moved to the Garson and Frood Mines.

“I did all the layouts,” he said. “This place (Garson) is unique. Garson was having a cave-in and it was very serious. “It was going to break through under the lake, and that would have been the end of the mine,” he continued. The supervisor at the time was trying to figure out how to save the place, Jarrett explained. “I happened to be standing there. I put my underground clothes on and just started looking around to find where I could find some fill. There was a sand plant nearby.”

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Northern Life, Greater Sudbury’s community newspaper, gave Republic of Mining.com permission to post Laurel Myers’ article. www.northernlife.ca (Originally published on September 16, 2008)

LMYERS@NORTHERNLIFE.CA

Vale Inco marked a century of operations at Garson Mine on Sept. 5. Company officials, local dignitaries, United Steelworkers Local 6500 representatives and Garson Mine employees, both past and present, were on hand to celebrate the milestone.

“For over a century now, Garson Mine has been producing high value ore that is vital to the ongoing success of our operations,” said Murilo Ferreira, president and chief executive officer of Vale Inco, in a news release.

“Not only has Garson Mine enjoyed continued success in production, it has also proven itself to be a leader in health and safety, and we are very proud of that.” In 1907, the first shaft at Garson Mine was sunk 225 feet from the surface, and in 1908, production for the mine began at a rate of 200 tonnes of ore per day. Today, with 253 employees and a shaft depth of 4,200 feet, Garson Mine produces 2,300 tonnes of high-value ore daily.

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Honourable Buyelwa Sonjica – South African Minister of Minerals & Energy

Programme director,
Minister of Land and Resources of the People’s Republic of China, Minister Xu Shaoshi,
Captains of the mining industry from South Africa, People’s Republic of China and elsewhere in the world,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honour for me to extend a warm welcome to you this morning to the South African Mining Seminar here in China. As South Africa celebrates the 10th successive year of diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, depicting the political will of the respective countries to co-operate on various areas on common interest, we deemed it appropriate to assemble a multi-stakeholder platform, with particular emphasis on reciprocal investment prospects between the two countries.

The seminar is intended to focus on existing opportunities for Chinese and other foreign companies here present to partner with South African companies and communities in the mining industry. Notwithstanding the current financial challenge, which we project will have a limited shelf life, I believe that the relationships envisaged between our respective companies are intended for long-term periods.

One of the oldest Chinese proverbs has never been more applicable than today, namely: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”. We all should remember that when former President Mandela announced South Africa’s intention to recognise the People’s Republic of China ten years ago, that was indeed a small step. In this context I believe South Africa’s journey with the People’s Republic of China has progressed remarkably towards its intended objective of increasing bi-national trade.

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