You are currently browsing the daily archive for March 30th, 2007.
The troglobite will soon be a common mining word, or at least a swear word. Rio Tinto is seeking to expand iron ore mining near Pannawonica in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They want to develop a new mine to replace the existing mine that will be worked out in the next decade or so. At the site of the new mine they have found troglobites. These are described as four millimeter subterranean creatures related to spiders. Apparently if this new mine does not go ahead, they local town will have to be deserted. So here we have to decide between:
- Extinction of a species
- Extinction of a town (should I call it a community or culture?).
Are you being paid as much for working in a mine as you are worth? Bet somebody, somewhere, doing the same job as you, is earning more. The question is, are you prepared to move to that other place to get a higher salary? Is more money worth the family disruption and settling in to a new and maybe less nice place? To help you decide whether to stay put or to pull up and go, here is a summary of 2006 mining salaries. The salary numbers come from the three books Jennifer Leinart of CostMine sent me yesterday:
How the world has changed. Can you imagine this: China is letting the United Nations in to launch a project to improve safety for Chinese coal miners. Here are extracts from the Canadian Press report:
The United Nations launched a project Tuesday to improve safety for Chinese coal miners, who average 13 deaths a day [there are more than five million Chinese coal miners.]. The US$14.42 million plan will train and educate miners in five provinces where numerous fires, floods and other disasters strike mines every year despite repeated government promises to improve safety.
