CompuServe Messages

Steve, >>Are you addressing mineral deposits and mining?<< Yes, we'll be looking at mining and mineral deposits from two main angles: the processes that gathered the resouces into seams in the first place (black smokers, continental collisions, tropical vegetation etc), and the finite nature of those reserves within a human timespan (we're taking the stuff out quicker than the earth can produce new resources). >>…gold and silver mines that were rather "lost" until just a few decades ago…<< Most of the precious artefacts that have been found are indeed made of "Irish" gold, but probably came from very rough and basic surface mining. I think people are beginning to discover "new" seams of gold and silver. Whether they're economically viable or not has yet to be proved. The one instance I know of is Croagh Patrick, a holy mountain in the West of Ireland. Commercial prospectors found gold there a few years back, built an access road without planning permission, and then had the wrath of the local and national clergy come down on them. They backed off, and what is regarded as the best seam in Ireland has been left untouched. Priests, huh! Gerry