Corris Railway

The Corris Railway () is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire (now Gwynedd) and Montgomeryshire (now Powys) in Mid-Wales.
The line opened in 1859 as a horse tramway, running originally from quays on the River Dyfi at Morben and Derwenlas, skirting the town of Machynlleth and then following the Dulas Valley north to Corris and on to Aberllefenni. Branches served the slate quarries at Corris Uchaf, Aberllefenni, the isolated quarries around Ratgoed and quarries along the length of the Dulas Valley.
The railway closed in 1948, but a preservation society was formed in 1966, initially opening a museum; a short section of line between Corris and Maespoeth was re-opened to passengers in 2002. The railway now operates as a tourist attraction. A new steam locomotive was built for the railway, which was delivered in 2005. The two surviving locomotives, plus some of the original rolling stock, are preserved on the nearby Talyllyn Railway.
The gauge of the railway is which is unusual, and was shared by only three other public railways in the United Kingdom: the Talyllyn Railway, the short-lived Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway and the Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway.
History.
Commercial history.
Precursor schemes: 1850 to 1858.
The first proposal to construct a railway to connect the slate quarries in the district around Corris, Corris Uchaf and Aberllefenni with wharves on the estuary of the Afon Dyfi west of Machynlleth was made in November 1850 with Arthur Causton as engineer. At this time slate from the quarries was hauled by horse-drawn carts and sledges to transport their output to the river. The proposed "Corris, Machynlleth & River Dovey Railway or Tramroad" would have run down the Dulas Valley and then along the north shore of the Dyfi past Pennal to Pant Eidal, near the later main-line Gogarth Halt. The bill was initially withdrawn, then resubmitted in December 1851. The bill specified the tramroad's gauge as ; due to the narrow gauge selected, the House of Lords committee imposed a restriction in the bill that forbade the use of locomotives.
This 1851 scheme was not constructed, and was followed by two further proposals in the early 1850s. Following the plans for a railway along the Dyfi valley, these early proposals were shelved.
In December 1857, a fourth bill was set before Parliament to create the "Corris Machynlleth & River Dovey Tramroad" (CM&RDT). This was similar to the 1851 scheme, proposing a tramway from the "machine house" (i.e. the slate mill) at Aberllefenni, down to the wharf at "Cae Goch on the River Dovey" with a short onward branch to Morben. The gauge specified for the tramroad was increased to , and the same restriction forbidding locomotives was imposed. This bill was passed on 12 July 1858.
The Tramroad Era: 1858 to 1878.
After more than eight years of proposals, the 1859 scheme was the one that was built. Construction proceeded quickly, and by April 1859 the tramroad opened between Corris and Machynlleth. The line through to Aberllefenni was built later, as was the southern line to Derwenlas. It is thought that the tramroad never reached Morben.
On 3 January 1863 the standard gauge Newtown and Machynlleth Railway had opened, followed on 1 July of the same year by the Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway's line from Machynlleth to Borth. These two lines became part of the Cambrian Railways by August 1865. The opening of the standard gauge line to Borth made the section of the CM&RDT from Machynlleth to Derwenlas obsolete. It was much easier to transship slates to the main line at Machynlleth, so the lower section of the tramway was abandoned.
In 1862, a new Bill was deposited, seeking to extend the Upper Corris Tramway to iron ore mines at Tir Stent, near the pub at "Cross Foxes". The bill also sought powers to raise further capital for the tramroad and allow the use of locomotives. But the directors of the Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway (A&WCR) objected and the Bill failed. Another similar Bill was deposited in December 1863, and again the A&WCR opposed it. This time, however, they withdrew their objection; the CM&RDT company had been acquired by Thomas Savin, who was the principle contractor in the construction of the tramroad, and Savin had offered to sell the company to the A&WCR. The second Bill passed on 25 July 1864; it formally converted the tramroad to a railway changing the company's name to the "Corris Railway Company", allowed the use of steam locomotives and allowed the abandonment of the section west of Machynlleth.
It took until the 1870s for work to begin to upgrade the Corris Railway to a standard where locomotives could be used. The original tramroad was laid with light bridge rail suitable for waggons to traverse as they were pulled by horses. These rails would not support the weight of much heavier steam locomotives. In 1878 control of the railway passed to the Imperial Tramways Company of London. The new owners saw the potential for passenger traffic on the Corris Railway and ordered the first passenger carriages for the railway, even though the Act of 1864 did not permit passengers to be carried. They also appointed Joseph R. Dix, son of the main-line stationmaster at Machynlleth, as Manager in successor to David Owen.
The Dix Years: 1879 to 1906.
In 1880 and 1883, two new Acts were obtained which adjusted the tolls on the railway and permitted the carriage of passengers. The second of these Acts was necessary because the owners of the quarries served by the railway objected that passenger trains would interfere with their mineral traffic. Initially the railway ran a test passenger service on the local roads; this proved to be so popular that they were able to pass the parliamentary act over the opposition of the quarry owners. It was also the first instance of a long history of the Corris Railway operating passenger road services in the area.
In December 1878 the first steam locomotive purchased from the Hughes Locomotive Company arrived. By February 1879 it had been joined by the other two that had been ordered and all three had begun work. Although the carriages arrived in 1878 it was not until 1883 that the Act of Parliament was secured to allow the formal commencement of passenger services. A semi-official passenger service had been running since the early 1870s using adapted waggons to convey quarry workers and visitors.
The line was now in its settled form and began to operate a full service under Dix's energetic management. The railway was widely promoted to visitors as the best route to Tal-y-llyn Lake and Cader Idris (ignoring the claims of the rival Talyllyn Railway). The initial passenger service ran from to , with new stations at and opening in 1884. The track was upgraded beyond Corris so that passenger services could reach the line's northern terminus at , with services starting on 25 August 1887, and in the same year stations were also opened at and .
The railway developed a network of horse-hauled road services, including providing a link between Corris station and Abergynolwyn station on the Talyllyn Railway. This was promoted as part of a circular "Grand Tour" which took in the two narrow gauge railways and the Cambrian service between Tywyn and Machynlleth.
In 1892 control of Imperial Tramways moved to Bristol and George White of Bristol Tramways became chairman and Clifton Robinson became managing director. In the 1900s Bristol motor buses were sent by the parent company to run the road services.
Decline: 1906 to 1930.
Following a dispute with the directors Dix was dismissed and replaced by John J O'Sullivan (formerly of the Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway). The closure of Braichgoch Quarry in 1906 brought the railway its first loss, and although the line continued on through subsequent decades, serving the quarries around Corris and Aberllefenni, it never again showed a profit. As well as slate and passengers, the line hauled timber extracted from the Dyfi forest in the 1910s through 1930s. There was also a constant traffic in coal and general goods to the quarries and communities served by the railway.
After World War I, the decline in slate traffic continued as cheaper foreign slate and alternative roofing materials became popular. O'Sullivan had died in office in 1917; the parent company's Secretary, Frederick H Withers, acted as manager until a new manager, Daniel J McCourt (who had worked on Imperial's Middlesbrough system until that was taken over by the local municipality) took over in 1921 and was responsible for developing and extending the connecting bus services as partial compensation for the decline in rail traffic.
Takeover and nationalisation: 1931 to 1948.
In late 1929 Imperial Tramways sold the Corris to the Great Western Railway (GWR), who by that time were the owners of the main line serving Machynlleth, whose primary interest was taking control of the railway's bus routes. After running a bus in direct competition with the railway in 1930, the railway's passenger service was withdrawn at the beginning of 1931. While the GWR did not relish owning another Welsh narrow gauge line, they did perform some track maintenance, and on at least two occasions the rolling stock was repainted.
On 1 January 1948, the line was nationalised along with its parent company, becoming part of British Railways (BR). While the GWR had tolerated the Corris, BR was looking for an excuse to close the loss making railway. In August 1948, that excuse came when the River Dyfi flooded. The waters began to undermine the Corris Railway embankment on the south side of the Dovey Bridge, and although the track was never breached, it was the excuse that BR needed to close the line. The last train ran on 20 August 1948 and the following day the railway was closed, without notice. The Aberllefenni to Corris section was lifted in November 1948, and 10 tons of the rail was purchased by Henry Haydn Jones for use on his Talyllyn Railway. By the end of 1950, track lifting had reached Machynlleth station.
In 1951, the Talyllyn Railway became the first railway in the world to be preserved. The Talyllyn purchased the two remaining locomotives, which had been stored out of use at Machynlleth, along with several goods waggons and the brake van - see "List of Talyllyn Railway rolling stock". In 1958, the Talyllyn also purchased one of the Corris carriages, which had been in use as a summerhouse in a garden in Gobowen.
Preservation.
Early days: 1966 to 1980.
In December 1966 a group of enthusiasts led by Alan Meaden, formed the Corris Society (which later became the Corris Railway Society) with the aim of preserving what was left of the railway, opening a dedicated museum, and to explore the possibility of reviving some or all of the line. Many of the founding members of the Society were volunteers on the nearby Talyllyn Railway.
Other than at Aberllefenni and Braichgoch quarries, no rails remained in situ along the Corris route. Initially the Society sought to purchase Machynlleth station for its museum, but when this proved impossible it turned its sights elsewhere. The main buildings of Corris station were demolished in 1968 leaving only the adjacent railway stable block standing, and these buildings - badly in need of maintenance - were acquired, along with a short section of trackbed leading southwards. In 1970 the first part of the building was opened as the Corris Railway Museum. A short length of "demonstration" track was laid in 1971.
During the 1970s the Society undertook lengthy negotiations with the relevant authorities to establish the requirements for re-opening the line for passengers, while steadily building up funds and equipment. A new Corris Railway Company, reviving the original name, was incorporated to act as the Society's trading and operating arm, while the Society achieved charitable status. The Museum was extended as more of the building was returned to satisfactory condition.
Restoring from Maespoeth: 1981 to 2001.
In 1981 the line's original locomotive shed at Maespoeth was acquired and became the railway's operational base. During the 1980s light track was laid between Maespoeth and Corris, a distance of just under a mile (1.6 km). The formal "first train" back to Corris ran in 1985. In the following years the track was upgraded to passenger standards while negotiations with the authorities continued.
Passenger services resume: 2002 to present.
In the summer of 2002 passenger services resumed after a break of seventy-two years, initially diesel-hauled. The railway built a new steam locomotive, to a design based on the Kerr Stuart No.4, which arrived on the railway on 17 May 2005 and runs as No.7 (the Corris Railway never officially named its locomotives). No. 7 went into service on 20 August 2005, fifty-seven years to the day since the last train on the original railway, and now hauls the regular passenger service between Corris and Maespoeth.
The railway is also actively pursuing a southwards extension towards Machynlleth, with the initial aim of extending the line to Tan-y-Coed, midway between Esgairgeiliog and Llwyngwern and some 2½ miles south of Corris. As always, this is involving lengthy negotiations with the authorities, not least due to the line south of Maespoeth running immediately adjacent to the A487 trunk road. While these are continuing the railway has consolidated its facilities at Maespoeth with the construction of a new two-road carriage shed in the adjacent field (the original carriage sheds at Corris and Machynlleth having been demolished). In 2015 work began on building the new diversion embankment to enable the southerly extension.
During 2009 the railway marked the 150th anniversary of the first train on the Corris with a series of events, including demonstration horse-worked freight trains and gravity runs of rakes of waggons.
The revived Corris Railway has maintained friendly links with the Talyllyn Railway, which resulted in both of the original Corris locos and rolling stock returning to the railway. In 1996 ex-Corris loco No. 4 returned to celebrate its 75th anniversary. In 2003 ex-Corris loco No. 3 returned on the occasion of its 125th anniversary with a heritage train of coach No 17, brake van No. 6 and two trucks. Corris No. 5 visited the Talyllyn Railway in 1983 and 1990, and No. 7 in October 2011. It hauled a few charter trains and played a part in the TR's Corris Weekend, when it ran with the two surviving ex Corris engines; No. 4 ("Edward Thomas") and No. 3 ("Sir Haydn") and stock.
Both the surviving original locomotives have visited the Corris since its reopening. In 2012 No. 3 featured in a steam Gala over May Bank Holiday weekend along with the railway's resident steam loco No. 7.
No. 3's boiler ticket expired on 17 May 2012 and the loco was on static display at Maespoeth until February 2013 when the loco left the Corris to tour heritage railways and museums in the UK to raise awareness of the Talyllyn and to raise funds for its overhaul.
About the railway.
The Corris Railway had several unusual features:
Route.
Branch lines and tramways.
The Corris Railway had numerous branch lines, mainly built to serve the slate quarries along its route. The principal branches were:
Only the Aberllefenni Quarry tramway may have been locomotive worked, and in the 1960s and 1970s a tractor was used to haul waggons along it. The rest of these branches were operated by gravity and horses.
Other temporary branches were built to aid forestry works from the First World War until the 1930s.
Quarries served.
The principal reason for the existence of the Corris Railway was to serve the slate quarries of this district. Although usually referred to as quarries, those on the Narrow Vein were usually underground mine workings, following the course of the vein, while those on the Broad Vein were more usually opencast quarries. The outliers in the south of the valley were also opencast. This list shows the main quarries that the railway served:
The railway also served Y Magnus (Matthew's Mill), a slate enamelling works situated between Aberllefenni and Garneddwen with its own tramway.
Locomotives.
Original railway.
Three locomotives were supplied in 1878, and partially rebuilt between 1883 and 1900 from s to s. By the 1920s the locomotives were badly worn. A new locomotive, No. 4, was supplied in 1921. In 1923, parts from Nos. 1 and 3 were combined to produce one working locomotive, which carried the number 3. The remaining original locomotive, No 2, was held in reserve until 1928. A report dated 12 October 1929 stated that locomotives 1 and 2 had been "marked off for some time as scrap" and the remains of both engines were handed over to a local scrap merchant and excluded from the assets taken over by the GWR.
The locomotives that ran on the original Corris Railway between 1878 and 1948 (none carried names on the Corris) were:
Preserved railway.
Locomotives brought to the restored Corris Railway since 1967 have been numbered in the original locomotive numbering series, from 5 onwards. They are:
Usage.
Locomotive 7 is the only steam engine, but will share passenger duties with locomotive 10 on completion. Locomotive 11 is the main diesel motive power unit for both works trains and out of season passenger trains, supported by the lighter diesel locomotives 5 and 6, which are currently the main works and shunting units.
Carriages.
Historic.
The CM&RDT carried passengers from as early as 1860, despite this being explicitly prohibited by its authorising Act. Until 1874, passengers travelled in open waggons attached to the quarry trains. From October 1874, the railway ran separate, timetabled passenger trains. Around 1875, at least two wagons were converted to crude, almost windowless closed carriages.
In November 1878, ten four-wheel, tramcar-like carriages were delivered from the Falcon Works, Loughborough. They were numbered 1 to 10, with a brake van from the same source taking the number 11. The first bogie carriage, also from Falcon, which looked like two four-wheel bodies mounted on a single chassis, received number 12, and the four-wheelers were rebuilt over a five-year period on new chassis to form five bogie vehicles. A renumbering had the rebuilds as 1 to 5 and the former 12 becoming 6.
Two all-new carriages to a similar design were built by the Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd and numbered 7 & 8. Nos. 1 to 6 disappeared, presumed scrapped, after 1930; however Nos. 7 and 8 were used by a GWR employee at his home in Gobowen and subsequently preserved. No. 8 (used as a greenhouse-cum-garden shed) was recovered in 1958 and rebuilt for use on the Talyllyn Railway as their No.17 while No.7 (used as a chicken coop) was recovered ten years later and is on display in the Corris Railway Museum. The brake van was also preserved on the Talyllyn but has been substantially rebuilt after being damaged in a fire.
Current.
As nineteen passenger vehicles (ten four-wheel carriages, eight bogie carriages and the brake van) ran on the original railway, the preservation Society has numbered its new build carriages from 20 onwards.
Carriage 7 is an original bogie carriage, but not available for service. It is on display in the railway museum at Corris.
Carriage 20 is similar in appearance to the bogie vehicles, but on a shorter, ex-National Coal Board four-wheel chassis. The southern compartment has now been adapted for the use of the train guard.
Carriage 21 and carriage 22 have been designed to appear as similar as possible to the original 19th Century bogie vehicles, but constructed to 21st Century safety standards with a steel chassis based on the Talyllyn Railway's standard bogie carriage design and a steel skeleton with timber cladding for the body. Carriage 21 (completed in May 2003) has a plain roof, and carriage 22 (completed in July 2015) has a clerestory roof, similar to those carried by two original carriages in the 1920s. Since September 2015 the railway has been able to run an authentic-looking "1920s" train with the "Tattoo" locomotive and two bogie carriages 21 and 22. Carriage 23 is another plain roof example; assembly of the woodwork for the body commenced in autumn 2015, with the panelling and beading completed by the end of 2017; painting and fitting of seats continued during the Coronavirus lockdown, and the completed carriage was mounted on its bogies and test run in July 2020.
Carriage 24 is currently under construction at Maespoeth. It will be a first class carriage, with a clerestory roof. The main frame is constructed, and the metal body frame has been added.


List of countries by copper production

This is a list of countries by mined Copper production.
Copper concentrates are commonly exported to other countries to be smelted. A nation's smelter production of copper can differ greatly from its mined production. "See: List of countries by copper smelter production".


Suranskoye mine

The Suranskoye mine is a large mine located in the south-western Russia in Bashkortostan. Suranskoye represents one of the largest fluorite reserves in Russia having estimated reserves of 2.01 million tonnes of ore grading 42.6% fluorite.


Jowdat Waheed

Jowdat Waheed is a senior Canadian mining executive and Chartered Financial Analyst.
Waheed worked as Chief Executive Officer of mining company Sherritt.
He resigned, for personal reasons, in 2009.
According to "Business Week" Waheed has two Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, the first, in Economics, from 1985, the second in System Science and Engineering, from 1986.
In early 2010 he worked as a consultant for the Baffinland Iron Mine, a firm with plans to build a huge open-pit mine in northern Baffin Island, expecting to exploit almost $100 billion Canadian dollars of iron ore.
Later in 2010 Waheed helped lead a hostile takeover attempt of all of Baffinland's stock. By December 2010 Waheed and his partners had secured a 30 percent stake in Baffinland.
In January 2012 "The Globe and Mail" reported that some senior executives were suspected of profiting from "insider trading" of Baffinland stock.
According to the "Mining Weekly" Jowdat Waheed and Bruce Walter tried to exploit information Waheed learned when he worked for Baffinland in early 2010 to try to mount a hostile takeover later in 2010.
In February 2012 "CBC News" reported that a hearing before the Ontario Securities Commission had been scheduled for January 2013.
In August 2014 the OSC cleared Waheed and Walter.
The take-over led by Waheed competed with a bid led by European-based mining giant
ArcelorMittal.
ArcelorMittal's attempt was described as a friendly takeover bid—while the one led by Waheed was described as hostile.
When the Ontario Securities Commission declined to make a quick ruling over the allegations that Waheed had violated the rules against insider training ArcelorMittal declined to extend the deadline for its takeover bid.
ArcelorMittal and Waheed's Iron Ore Holdings became partners on January 14, 2011.
Reuters reported the four month bidding war had tripled the stock price.
On August 23, 2016, "Canadian Underwriters" wrote that an appeal by Baffinland shareholders allowed them to sue Waheed, for misrepresentation.


Cuadrilla Resources

Cuadrilla Resources is an oil and gas exploration and production company founded in 2007. It is headquartered in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, and has operations in the United Kingdom. The company intend to develop shale gas in the UK by using hydraulic fracturing. Its chairman is Roy Franklin, OBE, who is also deputy chairman of Equinor. Its chief executive is Francis Egan.
Corporate structure.
Cuadrilla is a privately owned company with headquarters in the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 2007, financed with investment from the Australian engineering company A.J. Lucas and the Anglo-American equity firm Riverstone Holdings. It is owned 47% by AJ Lucas, 45% by Riverstone Holdings, while Cuadrilla employees (including former employees) own the remaining 8%.<ref name="ajlucas3/16"></ref> In 2009, Riverstone had settled corruption charges in New York through its partner The Carlyle Group.
In April 2015, Roy Franklin, OBE, Deputy chair of the Board of Statoil ASA, and board member of Santos Ltd, Kerogen Capital Ltd and Amec Foster Wheeler, replaced Lord Browne, who had been chairman since 2007. The chief executive is Francis Egan.
Operations.
, the company held licences for ten sites in the UK and had drilled three wells, all in Lancashire, one of which has been hydraulically fractured since 1993 by a previous owner; The company produces gas from that well, completed in sandstone.
Lancashire.
Other sites:
Elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
A proposed test well, half a mile from Balcombe in West Sussex, scheduled for summer 2013, was the scene of protests. Caudrilla had explained that the drilling would last no more than four months and would not involve fracking, however they were to use acid washing to open natural fractures. Their planning permission was to expire on 28 September 2013. They were to take samples of rock at around 900m (3,000 feet). Cuadrilla suspended its drilling plans in August 2013 after consulting with the Sussex police, citing "threats of direct action against the exploration site". The company said that the halt was done in the interests of safety of the drilling crew, the protesters, and the public.
Other sites:
Poland.
In 2012, Cuadrilla was awarded the Pionki hydrocarbon exploration licence in Poland, which covered an area of over 820 square-kilometres in the greater Lublin Trough/Radom-Krasnik High. The northern half of the licence or "Lublin Trough" contained Devonian and Carboniferous shales, while the southern half of the licence or "Radom-Krasnik High" was mapped to contain both Silurian and Devonian shales.
Netherlands.
Cuadrilla has two subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Cuadrilla Hardenberg BV and Cuadrilla Brabant BV, for shale gas exploration: 27. The company has previously held two licenses. The one in Noordoostpolder, which covers an area of over 200,000 acres, is composed of Namurian shales. The North Brabant licence, which covers more than 470,000 acres, is made up of Carboniferous, Triassic and Jurassic shales which are thought to contain tight gas, shale gas, and oil shale.
In 2014, Cuadrilla requested an extension of its permits for the detection of shale gas in those areas. The following year, the government did not agree to an extension of the exploration licenses and as a result these expired during 2015:2.
Hungary.
Cuadrilla was previously part of a joint venture for shale gas exploration in Hungary. The investment was sold in 2018 :28. In Tompa 38,796 acres composed of recomplete Miocene were described to contain multi TCF Basin Centred TGS.
Controversies.
Earthquakes.
In December 2018 fracking was halted by a 1.5 magnitude earthquake caused by the fracking operation.
On 22 August 2019 fracking at Preston New Road was halted because of a 1.6 magnitude earthquake caused by the fracking operation.
On 26 August 2019 fracking was halted again because of a 2.9 magnitude earthquake.
Conflict of Interest.
Cuadrilla has also funded, in conjunction with Centrica the North West Energy Task Force which on 8 January 2015 organised an Open Letter to Lancashire County Council in support of fracking. This letter was signed by Jane Watson, sister of Robert Altham, the judge who sentenced three anti-fracking protesters to jail in September 2018.
Claim of economic benefits of hydraulic fracturing.
Cuadrilla gave evidence to the British parliament in Westminster in 2011, based on an analysis by Pöyry consultancy, that using the shale gas reserves in Lancashire could lower British natural gas prices by as much as four percent, and indirectly lower electricity prices. However, at a 2013 meeting in Sussex Cuadrilla's public relations spokesman Mark Linder of Bell Pottinger said: "We've done an analysis and it's [the influence on prices] a very small…at the most it's a very small percentage…basically insignificant."
Misleading advertising.
In April 2013, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) compelled Cuadrilla to withdraw a brochure published the previous year following a complaint by anti-fracking group Refracktion concerning 18 statements it argued were misleading, of which the ASA upheld 6, plus one in part. Cuadrilla reportedly hired Westbourne Communications to assist with its efforts to promote fracking.


Tummalapalle uranium mine

The Tummalapalle Mine is a uranium mine in Tumalapalli village located in Kadapa of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Results from research conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission of India in 2011 made the analysts conclude that this mine might have one of the largest reserves of uranium in the world.
On 19 July 2011, Secretary of Department of Atomic Energy, Dr. S. Banerjee who is also the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India confirmed on reserves of 49,000 tonnes and suggested that there could be even three times larger which would make Tummalapalle the mine with the world's largest uranium deposits. The estimates were subsequently increased to 85,000 tonnes in 2014.
Earlier, uranium reserves were found only up to a depth of about 250 metres. The latest findings reportedly indicate that the reserves run as deep as 1,000 metres.
This finding substantially increased India’s capability of producing energy from nuclear plants. As of 2018, India was producing about 3.13% of its energy from nuclear plants. These findings suggest that this output can be increased to more than 30% by 2050, essential if India hopes to reduce its emissions, pollution and use of coal power. This domestic uranium find would not only boost India's nuclear energy plans but also help to reduce costs by switching from expensive sources of power like coal.
History.
On 23 Aug 2007 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) of Government of India cleared the setting up of a uranium mine and processing plant by the Uranium Corporation of India with an estimated cost of . After that the Uranium Corporation of India acquired of government land at per and of private land at a price of for of wetland and for dry land in Tummalapalle, Rachakundapalle, KK Kottaland, and Mabbuchintalapalle villages in Pulivendula constituency. On 20 November 2007 the then Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy laid the foundation stone for the mine.
UCIL commissioned Cuddapah Uranium Phase-1 Project with 3000 tonnes on 20 April 2012.
Geography.
Tummalapalle uranium ore mine is located in Vemula Mandal of Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh at a distance of from Kadapa, the district's headquarters. The area where the deposits were found is covered in Survey of India's topographic sheet Nos. 57 J/3 and 57 J/7 between latitudes 14°18'36" N & 14°20'20" N and longitudes 78°15'16" E & 78°18' 03.3" E. The nearest town is Pulivendla, which is away (by road) towards the north-west. The mine is linked to Pulivendla through village roads leading to State Highway No.18, which connects Kadapa with Velidandla. The nearest railway station is Muddanurru on South Central Railway’s Hyderabad – Chennai BG Line, which is towards the north-east.
Water resources.
The mine will draw most of its water requirements from the river Chitravathi. Design, construction and commissioning work of intake well and pump house at Chitravati River basin, the water and effluent treatment plants and the condensate recovery unit at uranium ore processing plant and laying of cross-country pipeline from the river Chitravati to the uranium ore processing plant – all these tasks were contracted by Jamshedpur Utilities & Services Company (Jusco), a 100% subsidiary company of Tata Steel, on EPC basis. The water system project, the construction of which commenced in August 2008, was inaugurated by Srikumar Banerjee on 7 July 2011.
Uranium purification plant.
The construction works for the first phase of the uranium purification was completed in 2012 and Cuddapah Uranium Phase-1 Project was commissioned with 3000 tonnes capacity on 20 April 2012. Phase one of the uranium purification plant has a capacity to treat 3,000 tonnes of ore per day. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has developed an innovative, economically viable process for the recovery of low-grade uranium (less than 0.2%) from the Tummalapalle ore mine. As illustrated by Dr. A. K. Suri, Director of Materials Group, BARC, "the main objective of making a techno-economically viable process flow-sheet is to reduce the number of stages of unit operations and conservations leachants(sic) by regeneration and recycle(sic) leading to minimisation of fresh water inventory as well as quantum(sic) of liquid effluent discharge for the most challenging low-grade uranium ore".
The hydro-metallurgical uranium purification plant which would be constructed in the mine's current lease period, will treat the dolomite based uraniferous which is found in the deposits. On the mode of operation, the Uranium Corporation of India report stated that "in the initial period of operation of mine, ore will be received from decline having particle size of 80% passing through 10 cm screen and will be transported by covered dumpers from the mine site to the ore processing plant and later by covered conveyor". This mine would be the first in the country to adopt alkali based leaching in place of the conventional acid based leaching method. This process was chosen on the basis of the nature of the ore found in the site. BARC has developed a well-integrated flowsheet for the process to treat the low-grade uranium ore extracted from the alkaline host rocks in Tummalapalle.
Minerals.
The Bonds Work Index of the Tummalapalle uranium ore sample is 13.6 kWh/tonne and the mineralogical composition is as follows,


Boris Pregel

Boris Pregel (; 24 January 1893 – 7 December 1976) was a Ukrainian-born Jewish engineer and dealer in uranium and radium. He was born in Odessa, in the Russian Empire, and studied engineering in Belgium at the Free University of Brussels and the University of Liège. He served in the Russian army in World War I, entering as a private soldier and rising to the rank of colonel of engineers. He was put in charge of Russia's only aircraft factory. He moved to Paris after the October Revolution.
In Paris he came in contact with Edgar Sengier, a Belgian mining engineer, who was effectively in charge of the mining company, Union Minière, in the Belgian Congo. Pregel became interested in the radium department of this company. From the 1920s to the Second World War Pregel and Sengier controlled the world's supply of radium. He also promoted the building of many radio-therapy installations, including the Queen Sofia Hospital (Sophiahemmet) in Sweden. He ensured that Marie Curie was lent a five-gram radium source which was used in some of her important experiments.
In 1937 he married the artist Alexandra Avksentiev, daughter of Nikolai Avksentiev. In 1939 he was awarded the French Legion of Honour in recognition of his role as the head of the International Organisation to Fight Cancer. The couple fled to New York in 1940, after the Nazi invasion of France.
After his arrival in the USA he established, with his brother Alexander, the Canadian Radium and Uranium Corp of New York and became its president to sell the newly discovered rich ores in northern Canada, and later also in Colorado. George B. Pegram and his associates at Columbia University, who did some of the initial work on the Manhattan Project, sought Pregel's assistance because they did not have sufficient money to buy the uranium. Pregel gave them the first uranium used in the experiments. Pregel's company also built radioactive neutron sources and radioactive luminescent signs.
Pregel was also the agent for the Canadian Eldorado Mining & Refining Co. which supplied the Manhattan Project with nearly all the uranium mined in North America. He also sold 0.23 tonnes of uranium oxide to the Soviet Union during the war, with the authorisation of the U.S. Government.
In March 1945 the Canadian Foreign Exchange Control Board began formal hearings into Pregel's financial dealings. The case was settled out of court but Pregel and the other defendants paid over $1million in cash and other assets to settle. Furthermore, Pregel agreed to terminate his agency agreement between Eldorado and the Canadian Radium & Uranium Corp.
He served as president and board chairman of the New York Academy of Sciences, as president
of the French University (Ecole Libre) in New York, as trustee of the New School for Social Research and as vice-president of the American Geographical Society. He received several honorary degrees and foreign decorations. Pregel founded the Boris Pregel Awards for science, awarded by the New York Academy of Sciences.


Semirara Island

Semirara is an island in the Philippines located at in the Caluya archipelago which is situated south of Mindoro Island. It is under the jurisdiction of the town of Caluya of the province of Antique. It is a major site of coal mining in the Philippines. Other economic activities in the island include fishing, seashell gathering, and farming.
History.
The island was declared a mineral reservation by President Manuel Quezon in 1940 through Proclamation No. 649. Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SPMC) opened its first coal mine in the island in Unong in 1984 which operated until 2000 and the area's vegetation and lake restored years later. The company then opened several more mines including the Panian Pit which operated until in October 2016 shortly after its coal deposits depleted. SPMC also opened the Narra Pit and the Molave Pit in Semirara Island, both which started commercial operations in the same year.
Administration.
Semirara Island is part of the municipality of Caluya of the province of Antique. The island itself consists of three barangays of Caluya; Alegria, Semirara, and Tinogbok.
Geography.
Semirara is an island which has a land area of about . The island also has a saltwater lake in its southeastern portion, which was the former site of the Unong mine. A freshwater lake is also exist north of the island where the Panian mine used to be.
Coal mining.
There are two active coal mines operated by the Semirara Mining and Power Corp as of January 2020; the Narra Pit and the Molave Pit, both of which are each. Coal in Semirara is characterized as sub-bituminous C coal with a high moisture content based on ASTM.
Transportation.
Semirara has an airstrip which serves chartered flights from Manila. The island is also accessible by boat, specifically from the town of San Jose in neighboring province of Occidental Mindoro. Motorized tricycles also provides a means of land transportation within the island.
Environment.
Semirara is host to 21 mangrove species which accounts for 60 percent of the total of 35 recorded mangrove species in the Philippines. Waste produced as a byproduct of coal mining in Semirara has been a concern by residents. Waters adjacent to Semirara also host all recorded giant clam species in the Philippines.
The Semirara Marine Hatchery Laboratory was set up in 2010 by SPMC in the island as the marine rehabilitation arm of the company as well as to develop marine-based livelihood for its host communities.


China Molybdenum

China Molybdenum Company Limited () is the largest molybdenum producer in Mainland China and top 5 in the world listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange. It is one of the largest tungsten producers in the world, and is the second largest Cobalt and Niobium Producer and the leading Copper producer worldwide. The headquarters of the company is at Luanchuan County, Luoyang City, Henan Province. The chairman is Yuan Honglin (), elected in June 2020.
On 26 April 2007, China Molybdenum was listed in Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Its stock was closed at HK$10.28, which was 60% greater than HK$6.8, the IPO price. It was one of the stocks with the greatest surplus in stock price at the first trading day in 2007.
China Molybdenum joined the Hang Seng China Enterprise Index from 2007 to 2010. Among its holdings is the Tenke Fungurume Mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The mine holds copper, as well as cobalt for lithium-ion batteries.


Mayskoye mine

The Mayskoye mine is one of the largest gold mines in Russia and in the world. The mine is located in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The mine has estimated reserves of 7.2 million oz of gold.


Tala Hamza mine

The Tala Hamza mine is one of the largest lead and zinc mines in Algeria. The mine is located in northern Algeria. The mine has reserves amounting to 68.6 million tonnes of ore grading 1.1% lead and 4.6% zinc thus resulting 0.75 million tonnes of lead and 3.15 million tonnes of zinc.


Usinskoe mine

The Usinskoe mine is a mine located in the south of Russia in Kemerovo Oblast. Usinskoe represents one of the largest manganese reserve in Russia having estimated reserves of 276.5 million tonnes of manganese ore grading 19.1% manganese metal.


Gusevogoroskoye mine

The Gusevogoroskoye mine is a large iron mine located in western Russia in the Sverdlovsk Oblast. Gusevogoroskoye represents one of the largest iron ore reserves in Russia and in the world having estimated reserves of 2.82 billion tonnes of ore grading 15.7% iron metal.


Parian marble

Parian marble is a fine-grained semi translucent pure-white and entirely flawless marble quarried during the classical era on the Greek island of Paros in the Aegean Sea.
It was highly prized by ancient Greeks for making sculptures. Some of the greatest masterpieces of ancient Greek sculpture were carved from Parian marble, including the "Medici Venus", the "Venus de Milo", and the "Winged Victory of Samothrace".
The original quarries, which were used from the 6th century BC onwards, can still be seen on the north side of the island on the slopes of its central peak. The Parian's main rival in antiquity was Pentelic marble, which is also flawless white, albeit with a uniform, faint yellow tint that makes it shine with a golden hue under sunlight. Italian Carrara marble is also flawless white with a uniform faint grey tint. It is today mined mostly on the neighbour island of Paros, Naxos, in the mountains near the village of Kinidaros.
Parian ware is an artificial substitute for marble, originally a brand name for a variety of unglazed biscuit porcelain, developed in 1842 in England. This is cast in moulds, typically for small busts and figurines, rather than carved.


Drongan

Drongan is a former mining village in East Ayrshire, some east of Ayr and west of Cumnock. It had a population of 4686 in 2011.
History.
The earliest references to Drongan lands are to be found in documents dating to the 14th century. In the 1390s, these lands were granted to the Craufurds, whose stronghold for 250 years was Drongan Castle. The remains of the castle can be seen on Drongan Mains Farm. The estate passed from the Craufurds to the Cunninghames, then to the Earls of Stair. About 1760, the Drongan Estate was purchased by the Smith family – who built Drongan House, set up a pottery near Coalhall and introduced pioneering agricultural improvements.
The village of Drongan (originally known as Taiglum) grew up near the early coal mine and by 1900 consisted of 65 houses and a few shops. These rows at Taiglum were demolished in the 1930s and the inhabitants were housed in new housing schemes. In 1946, it was proposed that Drongan should be developed as a "new town" and families from various small mining communities were also re-housed there.
Like many other villages in this part of East Ayrshire, Drongan saw prosperity when the Killoch and Barony pit mines were operational.
The Drongan Centre, opened in 2002, provides health, Local Authority and police services within a modern purpose-built facility and received funding from the Scottish Executive Health Department's Primary and Community Premises Modernisation Fund.
A small loch known as Loch Shield was located near Drongan House and Lochmark Farm, its waters once helping to power the nearby Mill of Shield.


Sangnong mine

The Sangnong mine is one of the largest gold mines in North Korea and in the world. The mine is located in the center of the country in South Hamgyong Province. The mine has estimated reserves of 6.4 million oz of gold. The mine also has reserves amounting to 200 million tonnes of ore grading 0.23% copper metal.
A trolleybus line opened in 1993, linking the mine to Sangnong-rodongjagu. It had two trolleybuses in the early 2000s, but only one later and none in 2020.


William Dowell

William "Billy" Dowell (21 May 1885 – 9 November 1949) was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union and rugby league footballer who played rugby union for Newport and Pontypool and rugby league with Warrington RLFC (Heritage № 151). He won seven caps for the Wales rugby union team and after switching to league, played one match for the Wales league squad.
Rugby career.
Dowell first played for Newport in 1905 and was part of the team that faced two touring sides; the 1905 Original All Blacks, and the 1906 South Africans.
Dowell was first capped for Wales on 12 January 1907 when he played against England at St. Helens under the captaincy of Dicky Owen. It was a good victory for Wales, winning 22-0 and Dowell was back the very next two matches of the 1907 Home Nations Championship. Dowell was also part of the Wales Triple Crown winning team when he played in all three games of the 1908 Championship, including a winning match against France in the same year. His final four union international games were with Pontypool after he left Newport in 1908. Dowell may have been selected the next season but 'Went North', joining rugby league team Warrington and therefore making himself ineligible to play further union games. He later played one league international for Wales making him a dual code international.
Dowell played left-, i.e. number 8, in Warrington's 10-3 victory over Australia in the 1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain tour match during the 1908–09 season at Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington, Saturday 14 November 1908, in front of a crowd of 5,000, due to the strikes in the cotton mills, the attendance was badly affected, the loss of earnings meant that some fans could not afford to watch the first tour by the Australian rugby league team.
International matches played.
Wales (union)
Wales (league)


Uzelginskaya mine

The Uzelginskaya mine is a large copper mine located in the south-west of Russia in Bashkortostan. Uzelginskaya represents one of the largest copper reserve in Russia and in the world having estimated reserves of 133 illion tonnes of ore grading 1.27% copper.


China Zhongwang

China Zhongwang Holdings Limited () () is the second largest industrial aluminium extrusion product developer and manufacturer in the world and the largest in Asia and China. The company is headquartered in Liaoyang, China.
Principal business.
China Zhongwang is principally engaged in the production of high precision, large-section and high value-added industrial aluminium extrusion products which are used in transportation (including railway passenger compartments and cargo carriages, metropolitan subway and light rail, automobiles, heavy trucks, vessels, aviation and aerospace) machinery and equipment and electric power engineering sectors. The company focuses on three core synergistic businesses; industrial aluminum extrusion, deep processing and aluminum flat rolling. The three core businesses operate together on the basis of upstream and downstream resource-sharing.
History and scale.
China Zhongwang was founded in 1993. It now owns and operates over 90 aluminum extrusion production lines (including 21 production lines with large extrusion presses of 75MN or above). It has an annual production capacity of over 1.2 million tons. Adiditionally, it has ordered two ultra-large 225MN extrusion presses, one of which is expected to be fully installed by 2016. The company is responsible for building aluminum tilt smelting and casting equipment. China Zhongwang was certified by the Chinese government as a “State Accredited Enterprise Technology Centre,” a “State CNAS Laboratory,” Liaoning Engineering and Technology Research Centre, and Liaoning Post-Doctoral Research Centre.
In 2011, China Zhongwang expanded into the business of deep processing and has since then developed a range of deep-processed products, such as industrial aluminum pallets, aluminum high-speed train carriages for alpine regions, aluminum chassis for buses, as well as aluminum bodies and parts for passenger cars.
Since 2011, China Zhongwang has been in the process of realizing its value-added flat rolling project. The flat rolling production base in Tianjin is in the final phase of equipment testing. Investment for phase 2 of the project is to be completed by 2018, with an annual production capacity of 3 million tonnes. It is slated to become the world’s largest aluminum flat rolling production base.
Recent Developments.
In October 2011, China Zhongwang announced several major transactions related to the development of the synergistic aluminum flat rolled product business. It started the development of the project according to plan, and entered into a total of six equipment purchase agreements with three independent third party suppliers through two wholly owned subsidiaries. According to the agreements, China Zhongwang will invest approximately USD3.8 billion (about HKD29.5 billion) in total. The payment will be made in four installments between 2011 and 2014. The purchase consists of hot and cold continuous rolling mills for the production of medium-to-high thickness plate and sheet products; smelting and casting lines; quenching furnaces and heat treatment furnaces. They will also include the ancillary production of medium-to-high thickness plate and sheet products, and aluminum foil rolling mills, among others. The deal is the Phase 1 development of the aluminum flat rolled manufacturing base which will have an annual production capacity of 1.8 m
In March 2016, China Zhongwang Holdings Limited announced the details of a proposed spin-off of its industrial aluminum extrusion business. The company entered into an asset purchase agreement with CRED Holding Co. Limited, for the purchase of the entire equity interest in Liaoning Zhongwang Group Co. Ltd. Through the deal, China Zhongwang will sell Liaoning Zhongwang Group Co. to CRED Holding Co. for RMB28.2 billion (USD4.3 billion). Zhongwang will receive majority control of CRED Holding in return, and will then be eligible for a listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. As part of the agreement, Liu Zhongtian stepped down as president of China Zhongwang and was replaced by Lu Changqing.
In February 2017, China Zhongwang's plans to build a new aluminium plant in Daqing, Heilongjiang province, encountered serious opposition from the local population. Fearing heavy environmental pollution from the proposed plant, organized mass protests erupted in the city, prompting Daging city officials to promise a review of the plant. However, China Zhongwang insisted that the construction project " meets and surpasses all environmental protection standards set by the government."
Founder and directors.
Liu Zhongtian is the Founder of China Zhongwang Holdings.
Before founding China Zhongwang in 1993, Liu Zhongtian established and served as the chairman of Liaoyang Factory, Futian Chemical and Liaoning Chengcheng Plastics. He has been the Chairman of China Zhongwang Holdings Limited since August 1, 2008 and has been its Executive Director since January 29, 2008. Mr. Liu received a Diploma in Administrative Management from Liaoning Radio and TV University, China in 2002. According to Forbes, in 2016 he and his family were worth $3.2 billion.
Liu Zhongtian stepped down as president on 22 March 2016 but remains as chairman. On the same day, Mr. Lu Changqing was appointed as the president.
On 27 November 2017, Mr. Liu resigned from the position of Executive Director, Chairman of the Board, Member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Company and Chairman of the Strategy and Development Committee of the Company due to his personal health reasons. On the same day, Mr. Lu Changqing was appointed as Chairman of the Board.
Lu Changqing is Executive Director, the Chairman and President of the Company . He is primarily responsible for the Company’s strategic planning, operation and management.
Financial performance.
The audited consolidated results for the year ended 31 December 2018, the sales of high-end products such as aluminium alloy formwork and large-sized parts for railway vehicles achieved satisfactory results, coupled with stable contribution from the flat rolling business, the total sales volume of the Group increased by 24.4% year-on-year to 917,176 tonnes. In light of the continuing product mix optimisation and enhanced added value, the Group’s total revenue rose by 31.6% year-on-year to RMB25.6 billion. Overall gross profit up by 31.7% year-on-year to RMB8.4 billion. Gross margin was 32.7%. Net profit up by 15.5% year-on-year to RMB4.5 billion.
RESULTS (updated until 2018)
ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
Listing.
China Zhongwang was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in May 2009 with an IPO price of HK$7.0 per share. It was the world's largest IPO in that year and raised a capital of US$1.26 billion. The IPO was handled by Citic Securities, J.P. Morgan and UBS.
Overseas operations.
China Zhongwang exports its extruded products to over a dozen countries, including the United States, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Japan and others. In 2016, 14.9% of China Zhongwang’s total revenue came from overseas sales. The revenue by location of customers was as follows:
In 2014, the company set up new subsidiaries in Japan and Germany to tap into these markets.
In the summer of 2014, US aluminum extruders expressed concerns over a massive stockpile of aluminum extrusions amounting to 850,000 tonnes being stored at Aluminicaste facility, a $200 million factory used to melt aluminium into raw material, in San José Iturbide, Mexico, and initiated Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews.
According to anonymous sources, China Zhongwang Holdings Ltd. has been involved in the practice of exporting extrusions from China and remelting them back into billet in other countries, including Mexico, in order to later sell this metal to the US market as primary aluminum, while avoiding US tariffs. The practice is called "transshipping".
The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNMIA) said that these accusations are “seriously deviated from reality.”
While importing extrusions from China and remelting them into billet is not illegal or known to violate any law, US extruders were concerned that should parts of the stockpile make its way to the US at a cost below domestic prices, it would have a negative downward effect on domestic prices. According to various sources, in 2016 the aluminum stockpile in Mexico was worth approximately $2 billion, equal to 6% of the world's total aluminum.
China Zhongwang denied all allegations of wrongdoing, reiterating that it has no production base outside of China, and export accounted for only 15% of its total sales. It added that such “reverse” production practices are not commercially viable for any manufacturer, and the accusation reflects the lack of understanding about China’s taxation regime.
In 2016, the Wall Street Journal, among others, reported that company documents, trade records, legal filings and interviews with those involved did not confirm Zhongwang’s account. They alleged that hundreds of thousands of tons of aluminum were being shipped through a variety of company’s. One of these companies is owned by Mr. Liu’s son, while another one is owned by an individual who describes himself “as a long term business associate of the Chinese billionaire.” Records show that China Zhongwang sells aluminum extrusions through Chinese Trading firms to GT88 Capital, a company in Singapore owned by Po-Chi “Eric” Shen, a friend of Mr. Liu’s son who also owns Aluminicaste in Mexico. In 2013, Aluminicaste’s ownership was transferred to Mr. Liu’s son for one month; he is no longer listed as the owner. According to the Wall Street Journal, Aluminicaste uses a variety of trading companies that route hundreds of thousands of tons of aluminum to Mexico from China, which would then be melted for shipment to the US, supposedly evading trade restrictions through North American Free Trade Agreement benefits. Mr. Liu and China Zhongwang deny any involvement in Aluminicaste.
In the summer of 2014, Aluminicaste sought approval for a $1.5-billion secondary aluminum manufacturing plant in Barstow, California, USA. However, according to Barstow city manager Charles C. Mitchell, due to the expensive cost of electricity and material needed for operations, the project was unlikely to reach the development stage. In March 2016, Mojave Aluminum President Eric Shen officially notified the city that his company would not proceed with building a scaled-down, $120 million version of the original project.
By June 2016, thousands of tons of aluminum were moved out of Aluminicaste’s facility and sent to Vietnam, as confirmed by the Mexican Secretariat of Economy.
In 2016, the U.S. Commerce Department launched an investigation of China Zhongwang for possible circumvention of US anti-dumping duties. The inquiry was launched in response to a complaint from the U.S. Aluminum Extruders Council and includes allegations of transshipping. China Zhongwang has denied any wrongdoing.
In a bid to improve its valuation among investors, the company announced its intention to spin-off its industrial extrusion business and list it on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. This will be preceded by an asset swap that will give its real estate business in Xinjiang control of the Shanghai shares of Cred Holding.
In 2016, Zhongwang USA LLC, an affiliate of China Zhongwang, which is also owned by Mr. Liu, announced its $2.3 billion purchase of the US-based aluminum company Aleris Corp, marking the biggest Chinese overseas purchase in the metals sector. Commenting on the deal, Mr. Liu said: “This acquisition is an international expansion to establish a complementary business foothold, as I strongly believe in the potential and prospects of Aleris and the aluminum industry as a whole.” The deal is subject to investigation by the Department of the Treasury’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) on national security grounds.
In September 2017, it was announced that the Zhongwang and Aleris were extending the merger deadline amid the national security investigations, after a previous deadline had lapsed. In October, the acquisition talks ceased, raising the possibility that Aleris could be bought by other aluminium producers such as Hindalco or Norsk Hydro.
Controversies.
IPO Prospectus Issues.
A report by a mainland Chinese newspaper The Economic Observer on Sept. 14, 2009 claimed that certain customers named in Zhongwang’s IPO prospectus did not order aluminum products from Zhongwang in 2008.
The newspaper publicly apologized two days after the article was published, stating that the report did not reflect the actual situation. China Zhongwang defended the accuracy of the information in its prospectus, and according to Forbes, "further invited management representatives from four of its major customers to hold a joint video press conference to vouch for their business relationships with Zhongwang as disclosed in its prospectus."
A securities firm undertook its own checks with some of Zhongwang’s customers listed on their prospectus. Lingyun Industrial Corp., an automotive component maker, confirmed that the company bought from Zhongwang, but stated that their purchase of aluminium extrusion product volume was small.
China Zhongwang, in order to gain back the plummeting confidence of investors and restore its reputation, hired an independent accounting firm as an external auditor to conduct a review of the company's sales transactions with its 10 major customers during the period from Jan 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009.
On January 5, 2010 China Zhongwang announced that Ernst & Young had found 'no material deficiencies' in its prospectus. On January 21, 2010 the company then further freightened investors by stating that it would be clarifying their previous statement, which said that there was nothing wrong with its share sales document. Since the IPO, the company's stock has declined by nearly 50%.
Muddy Waters Research Report.
In 2015, a little known short seller Dupré Analytics accused China Zhongwang of inflating its sales by steering exports through companies it controls . According to the report, the Liu family has allegedly been siphoning off funds from Zhongwang since 2011. The report said that Zhongwang took out HK$36.5 billion to buy its own products via firms whose ownership was ultimately traced back to Mr. Liu, thereby enhancing sales figures. Dupré estimated that up to 62.5 percent of Zhongwang’s revenues since 2011 were in some way obtained by fraudulent means.
Dupré Analytics alleged that companies associated with China Zhongwang has shipped over 1 million tons of semi-manufactured products to Mexico. Other reports later suggested that these semi-manufactured products were being exported to Vietnam, where they were allegedly to be sold to the US market.
The report caused Zhongwang Holdings to suspend its shares in Hong Kong on July 31.
Zhongwang denied any wrongdoing, stating that “the allegations against the company in the report are completely baseless and they are non-factual statements”.
Carson Block later revealed in 2018 that his research firm Muddy Waters Research had authored the report, but released it under the alias, Dupré Analytics because of safety concerns.
US Commerce Department Investigation.
In March 2016, in response to a petition from the U.S. Aluminum Extruders Council, the U.S. Commerce Department launched an investigation as to whether the export of certain 5050 extrusions by China Zhongwang circumvented US antidumping duties. In a preliminary determination announced in early November 2016, the US Department of Commerce considered there is circumvention and that applies to all 5050 extrusions imported from China. China Zhongwang noted in a public statement that it respects the preliminary determination of the U.S. Department of Commerce and takes seriously compliance with U.S. trade laws.
The company is alleged to have attempted to hide the Chinese origin of allegedly nearly 1 million tons of aluminum by exporting semi-manufactured products to Mexico before remelting them for sale on the US market. While the company denied any wrongdoing publicly and stated that it has no production plant outside of China, the China Non-ferrous Metals Industry Association also questioned the accuracy of such allegations in a public statement.
In relation to this probe, the Commerce Department is investigating whether a factory owned by New Jersey based company, Aluminum Shapes LLC, played a role in helping Mr. Liu and China Zhongwang to evade US tariffs. Aluminum Shapes denied any relationship with China Zhongwang and that it has not violated any trade rules. The U.S. Aluminum Extruders Council claims that the aluminum pallets stored at the facility are Chinese made and were imported as a way of circumventing tariffs on extrusions. According to a former Aluminum Shapes manager, in 2013 thousands of tonnes of aluminium pallets arrived in China Zhongwang packaging. The former manager alleges that Aluminum Shapes remelted some of the pallets to make other aluminum products.
Aluminum Shapes denies the allegations and Mr. Liu states “he isn’t trying to send aluminum into the US and that he has no business interest in Aluminum Shapes”.
In 2017, Eric Shen testified in a Texas court that a business relationship between him and Liu existed, through which Zhongwang had exported aluminium to the US through a network of American affiliates. He also claimed he was forced through “physical intimidation” to sign a Certificate of Debt that required him to remain permanently in Liu’s debt. In a separate court case in Australia, Zhongwang representatives were alleged to have threatened the director of Alfield Group, against which Zhongwang won an arbitration ruling.


Strongman Mine explosion


Mammoth Mine disaster

The Mammoth Mine disaster or Frick Mine explosion occurred on January 27, 1891 just after 9:00 AM in the Mammoth No. 1 mine in Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Newspapers reported that firedamp was ignited by a miner's oil lamp, resulting in the deaths of 109 men and boys. Most of the miners were not killed by the force of the explosion, but rather were suffocated by the effects of afterdamp.
The Mammoth mines.
The Mammoth mining complex consisted of the Mammoth No. 1 Mine (a shaft mine) and the Mammoth No. 2 Mine (a slope mine). From approximately 1879 to 1889 the Mammoth No. 1 mine was owned by Colonel J.W. Moore Coke Company in Greensburg, PA. In 1889, the mine was purchased by The H. C. Frick Coke Company. The Frick Coke Company sold the mine in 1927.
Events and aftermath.
Accounts vary, but it is believe that either 107 or 109 coal miners, mostly Polish, Hungarian, and Italian immigrants, were killed on the morning of the explosion. Seventy-nine of the victims are buried in a mass grave at St. John the Baptist Cemetery. In the early 2000s, two Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission markers and a pair of personalized headstones were added to the site.
Impact on workplace safety.
The Mammoth mine incident prompted Pennsylvania state legislation to strengthen mine safety inspections. Thomas Lynch, President of H. C. Frick Coke Company, introduced the phrase “Safety is the first consideration” at the top of every company circular. Soon after, the expression “Safety First” began to appear on signs posted around the mines. Also soon after the disaster, the company published a set of 25 mine safety rules. As the number of accidents increased, the number of rules increased. The rules were adopted by other mining companies throughout the region, and the Coal Miner’s Pocketbook listed most of the rules in its 1916 edition.
The site today.
The entrance to the mine, now blocked but still visible, was renovated in 2002. The entrance and a memorial to the miners killed in the accident are located behind the Mount Pleasant (PA) Township Municipal Authority building, which was formerly the lamp-house, where miners' safety lamps were stored and distributed.


Yamana Gold

Yamana Gold Inc. is a Canadian company that owns and operates gold, silver and copper mines in Canada, Chile, Brazil and Argentina. Headquartered in Toronto, the company was founded in 1994 and became listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1995, the New York Stock Exchange in 2007, and the London Stock Exchange in 2020. The company became a gold producer after its 2003 re-restructuring in which Peter Marrone took over as Chief Executive Officer and it merged with Brazilian company Santa Elina Mines Corporation. The combined company was able to use Yamana's access to capital with Santa Elina development properties to bring the Chapada mine into production. From there the company combined with other TSX-listed companies RNC Gold, Desert Sun Mining, Viceroy Exploration, Northern Orion Resources, Meridian Gold, Osisko Mining and Extorre Gold Mines which each contributed either a producing mine or a development project that was able to come into commercial production.
The company was able to produce over 1 million ounces of gold per year between 2009 and 2016 until it spun off Brio Gold as a separate company with several of its Brazilian assets. With the company facing criticism for its executive compensation packages and debt load, Daniel Racine replaced Marrone as CEO in 2018 and the company sold its Chapada and Gualcamayo mines.
Corporate history.
Minera Yamana was founded on March 19, 1994, headquartered in Toronto and headed by Victor Bradley as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), as a mineral exploration company focused on properties within Argentina. The private company went public, effective February 7, 1995, through a reverse takeover of Toronto Stock Exchange-listed of Wiscan Resources Inc. with the combined company emerging with the new name Yamana Resources Inc. The company acquired and assessed numerous mineral properties in South America and Indonesia until 2000 when it settled on developing a silver mine in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. However, the company was unable to manage the development phase and was forced to sell the property in April 2002 to avoid bankruptcy.
The company restructured in July-August 2003 with its new CEO, Peter Marrone. In addition to changing its name to Yamana Gold, incorporating a subsidiary in the British Virgin Islands, and consolidating its stock on a 28:1 basis, the company was joined by the Brazilian company Santa Elina Mines Corporation. In exchange for stock ownership in Yamana Gold, Santa Elina ownership of the Fazenda Nova, São Francisco, and Chapada development projects were transferred to Yamana. In the same month, they also purchased the aging Fazenda Brasileiro gold mine from Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, immediately making Yamana a gold producer. Investment decisions to commence construction on the three Santa Elina projects were made in 2004, with the Fazenda Nova mine achieving commercial production in 2005 followed by São Francisco and Chapada mines in 2006.
Marrone continued to quickly expand the company in 2006 by merging with TSX-listed RNC Gold which owned two small gold mines in Nicaragua and had recently-acquired the San Andrés mine in Honduras, and then with TSX and AMEX-listed Desert Sun Mining Corp for its Jacobina mine in Brazil, and then with TSX-listed Viceroy Exploration for its Gualcamayo exploration project in Argentina. Along with Northern Orion Resources, the company spent 2007 engaged in a hostile takeover of Meridian Gold. Meridian had resisted, the merger was agreed to after Yamana increased their offer to $3.5 billion (in cash and shares). Yamana had increased their gold production numbers from 101,000 ounces of gold in 2004 to 597,304 oz in 2007, to 1,201,200 oz in 2009.
Yamana would continue to produce over a million ounces of gold each year, even though they sold the San Andrés, Sao Francisco and Sao Vicente mines to Victor Bradley's Aura Minerals in late-2009. The Gualcamayo mine achieved production in July 2009 followed by the Mercedes mine in February 2012. In 2014, Yamana formed a joint venture with Agnico Eagle Mines Limited to make a white knight bid for Osisko Mining Corporation who was in the midst of fighting a hostile takeover by Goldcorp; Yamana emerged with a 50% stake in the Canadian Malartic Corporation which would quickly surpass Meridian's El Peñón mine as their most productive gold producer. Yamana would fall under the one million ounces of gold in 2017 as they spun off Brio Gold as a separate company with control of the Fazenda Brasileiro mine and several development projects. The company's next mine, the Cerro Moro mine in Argentina, acquired as a development project in Yamana's 2012 acquisition of Extorre Gold Mines, began production in 2018.
By 2018, the company had accumulated a high debt load of US$1.6 billion, mostly from Canadian Malartic, and taken criticism from industry analysts and shareholders for its excessive executive compensation packages. That year Daniel Racine succeeded Marrone as CEO, with Marrone staying with the company on staff and on the board, in a position titled Executive Chairman. The next year, Yamana sold the Chapada copper-gold mine to Lundin Mining for $800 million and its Gualcamayo mine to Colombian company Mineros S.A. for $85 million to pay down its debt.
Mining operations.
Along with several exploration and development properties, as of 2020, Yamana Gold operates five gold mines:


Jerome State Historic Park

Jerome State Historic Park is a state park of Arizona, US, featuring the Douglas Mansion, built in 1916 by a family of influential mining entrepreneurs in Jerome, Arizona, a mining region in the northeast of the Black Hills, east Yavapai County. A museum is located in the old Douglas Mansion.
Jerome State Historic Park reopened on October 14, 2010, after being closed since February 27, 2009, because of budget cuts and the need to repair the historic mansion. Renovation and stabilization were funded by a state heritage grant and donations from the Douglas family. The park is open on a seven-day schedule thanks to additional funding raised by Yavapai County, the city of Jerome, and the Jerome Historical Society.
Douglas Mansion.
The Douglas Mansion has been a landmark in Jerome since 1916, when Jimmy Douglas built it on the hill just above his Little Daisy Mine.
Douglas designed the house as a hotel for mining officials and investors as well as for his own family. It featured a wine cellar, billiard room, marble shower, steam heat, and, much ahead of its time, a central vacuum system. Douglas was most proud of the fact that the house was constructed of adobe bricks that were made on the site. The house is the largest adobe structure in Arizona.
He also built the Little Daisy Hotel near the mine as a dormitory for the miners. The concrete structure still stands. It was recently remodeled into a private residence.
The old mansion is now a museum devoted to history of the Jerome area and the Douglas family. The museum features exhibits of photographs, mining artifacts, and minerals in addition to a video presentation and a 3-D model of the town with its underground mines. One room, the Douglas library, is restored as a period room. There are more mining artifacts outside along with a picnic area offering a panoramic view of the Verde Valley & River, and the red rocks of Sedona–Oak Creek Canyon region.
History.
In 1962 the sons of Jimmy Douglas donated the Douglas Mansion to the State of Arizona. The Jerome State Historic Park opened in 1965. It has continued to develop its exhibits and expand its collection of historic artifacts and archival material. The park's mission is to interpret the history of the Douglas family and the history of Jerome in the mining era.


Praid mine

The Praid mine is a large salt mine located in central Romania in Harghita County, close to Praid. Praid represents one of the largest salt reserves in Romania having estimated reserves of 50 billion tonnes of NaCl.


Malmberget mine

The Malmberget mine (Swedish: "Malmbergsgruvan") is one of the largest iron ore mines in Sweden. The mine is located in Malmberget in Norrbotten County, Lapland. The mine which is owned by Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB) has an annual production capacity of over 5 million tonnes of iron ore. The mine has reserves amounting to 350 million tonnes of ore grading 43.8% iron thus resulting 153.3 million tonnes of iron. In 2009 the mine produced 4.3 million tonnes of iron. It is one of the largest underground mines for iron ore in the world.
The new main level is located at 1250 meter, while the deepest point is 1390 meter below ground.
The iron-apatite ore of the mine is hosted in igneous rocks known as the Kiruna Porphyry.


Gold Country

The Gold Country (also known as Mother Lode Country) is a historic region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, that is primarily on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines that attracted waves of immigrants, known as the 49ers, during the 1849 California Gold Rush.
History.
When gold was first discovered in 1848 many people came from all over the world to find gold. The migration into California brought diseases and violence. There were 500 mining camps which 300 are still undiscovered as of today. There was 400 million dollars in gold mined between 1849 and 1855. In 1942 most of the mines shut down due to World War II. The transportation in Gold Country grew rapidly due to the Gold Rush. The first railroad in California ran through Gold Country. There were 250 different stage coach companies formed by 1860.
Major Events Per County:
Geology.
The Gold Country lies on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, reaching down to the Sacramento Valley. The oldest geology can be found along the easternmost portions of this region, closer to the Sierra Nevada summits, which formed 100 million years ago. It consists of ancient sea floor and portions of islands which were added onto the western edge of North America during the late Paleozoic, about 275 million years ago. The western sections of the Mother Lode are significantly younger, from the mid-Mesozoic about 150 million years ago, and also consist of material that was solidified on the ocean floor to the continental edge. Massive intrusions of granite forced their way into these formations. After ten miles of overlying material was eroded over the last 70 million years, these intrusions became visible throughout the Sierra Nevada. Over the last 50 million years, rivers and volcanoes deposited materials; these built up in thick layers found atop many of the high ridges of the Sierra Nevada foothills.
Climate.
This part of California has a Mediterranean climate like much of Italy and Spain, making wine grapes and vineyards one of the region's primary crops and industry. Over 100 wineries are found throughout the Gold Country. Winters are cool and wet with occasional snowfall, especially in the higher elevations of the eastern reaches up the slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Winter temperatures range from the upper twenties to mid-fifties. Summers are dry and hot, with long stretches that reach triple digits. The average annual precipitation is around . Many dams were built in the Sierra Nevada to hold water. People in California depend on the water that comes from the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Transportation.
California State Route 49 is the primary north–south highway through the region, passing through many historic mining communities. Major east–west highways include Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 50.
Two Amtrak routes run through the area. The eastern terminus of the "Capitol Corridor" is in Auburn. The "California Zephyr" stops in Colfax.
Counties and towns.
Counties and the towns that are part of Gold Country:


Shieldhill, Falkirk

Shieldhill is a village within the Falkirk council area in Central Scotland. The village is south-east of Falkirk, south-west of Polmont and north of the village of California.
Shieldhill is divided into a few main parts: " The California end" and the old " scheme end " to the west, and the newer Bovis and the original old miners rows which have existed in some way for approximately 150 years. The main road through Shieldhill is the B8028 road between California and Glen Village and the B810 road from Reddingmuirhead. At the time of the 2001 census, Shieldhill had a population of 2,656 residents.
Amenities.
There are two corner shops, a bar, The C Side chippy and the spicy cottage takeaway as well as a Post Office in Shieldhill. There is also a wedding centre nearby, The Three Kings. Shieldhill is also close to a new Tesco supermarket which is located away in neighbouring Reddingmuirhead.
The village of Shieldhill has one primary school, Shieldhill Primary School.
Governance.
The village forms part of the Falkirk constituency for UK general elections and part of the Falkirk East constituency in Scottish Parliament elections.


Luotuoshan coal mine flood

The Luotuoshan coal mine flood was an incident that began on Monday, March 1, 2010, when a large amount of water the Luotuoshan coal mine near the city of Wuhai in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. A total of 77 workers were underground when they broke into a large pool of Ordovician limestone water early in the morning. By Monday evening, 45 were rescued and one was confirmed dead. All rescue operations were stopped after 14 days, when medical teams believed that the 31 trapped coal miners had no chance of survival.
The rescue work was the largest coal mine mobilization in China's history with 40 professional rescue teams involved, comprising 20,384 people. Infrared surveillance cameras and echo megaphones were used to try to detect life underground, but this did not reveal any signs of life.
Workers continued pumping water out of the mine and attempting to stop the flooding after the rescue efforts were called off. 3,850 cubic meters of water were being pumped out every hour since the rescue efforts began, with around 100,000 cubic meters of water remaining in the mine on March 24. Yi Lan, a spokesperson for the rescue headquarters, said that workers were hoping to seal the mine pit with 50 million cubic meters of cement, rubble and water glass by April 4.
The construction of the mine, which was still under construction at the time of the incident, began in 2006 with the goal of producing 1.5 million tons of coal per year. The mine is owned by Wuhai Energy Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China's largest coal producer Shenhua Group Corp. Ltd.


Warren Moor Mine

The Warren Moor Mine, was a short-lived mining concern south of Kildale, North Yorkshire, England. Activity at the site was limited to drift mining, and although shafts were sunk to mine the underground schemes, these ventures failed. The site of the workings have been stabilised, and the old chimney is the only Victorian ironstone mining chimney left in the United Kingdom.
The site was made safe in the 2010s to allow public access.
History.
Warren Moor is south east of Kildale, near the head of the River Leven and above sea level. The mine was developed despite the poor quality of the ironstone; the actual content of iron in the stone was 26%, relatively low compared with nearby Rosedale which averaged nearly 50% iron content. Having been surveyed in 1857 with several boreholes drilled, the proposers, the Bell Brothers, declined to open the site, however, a railway to export the ironstone was built that connected to what is now the Esk Valley Line. Between 1864 and 1874, two companies tried to exploit the iron and both ventures failed. John Watson and partners took out a 42-year lease in 1866, but poor returns meant by 1867, the venture was in trouble and by June 1868, the Kildale Estate had re-acquired the land.
In 1872, a second concern, the Leven Vale Company, took over running the site and installed the miners' housing. A letter to the Kildale Estate showed the company had an intent to build more housing on the site, but a slump in iron prices in 1873, resulted in the company going into liquidation in August 1874. The cottages were demolished in 1927, with the stone being used in the rebuilding of Kildale village hall. A further 19 boreholes were drilled in 1913, which confirmed iron content at 26% and a bed of ironstone that was thick, split in the middle by a band of shale that was wide.
The former mine workings are known to have polluted the River Leven, which flows near to the site.
Warren Moor Chimney.
The high chimney was built between 1856 and 1857, but was never used, and has been described as "standing as a monument to the failed venture". The chimney is the only one left in the United Kingdom that was associated with ironstone mining in the Victorian era. The structure is constructed of bricks and is grade II listed. The base of the chimney, which is high, is constructed of sandstone blocks, with an oval opening in all sides faced with white firebricks. The rest of the chimney is constructed of red bricks with thin courses of firebricks and a sandstone top.
Access.
The site was remediated and made safe throughout the 2010s. One of the reasons that the site was easy to preserve was that it was abandoned early in the ventures and just left rather than being demolished after use. Besides the chimney, the site has the remains of mineshaft, boiler and pump houses and the trackbed leading eastwards.


Seymour Arm

Seymour Arm, known historically also as Ogdensville or Ogden City and Seymour, is an unincorporated area and former town located at the head of the inlet of the same name on Shuswap Lake in British Columbia, Canada. Located at the mouth of the Seymour River, adjacent to Silver Beach Provincial Park, and functioning as the disembarkation point for trails over passes across the Monashee Mountains connecting that river's valley to that of the Columbia River, and navigable by water from Savona at the farther end of Kamloops Lake,
History.
Seymour Arm became the location of a bustling boomtown serving travellers to the Big Bend Gold Rush on the Columbia which grew up around a Hudson's Bay Company post founded at the start of the rush in 1865. With a peak population of 5000, Seymour Arm had 13 stores, 11 shoemakers, 8 wash houses, 6 barber shops, 6 physicians, 6 saloons, 5 bakeries, 3 restaurants, 2 blacksmiths, 1 bath-house, 1 drug store, 1 stationery shop, a coffee and doughnut stand, and a livery stable. The town was destroyed by fire in the late 1860s but was revived again by English developers promoting the Seymour Arm Fruits Land Company, and a post office, hotel, school and hotel were established in 1910. The hotel closed in 1925 and by 1940 the town was largely abandoned, save for a few remaining settlers.
During and following the Vietnam and Korean Wars circa 1960-70, Seymour Arm drew significant numbers of "draft dodgers" from the United States, known to produce large clandestine outdoor Cannabis plantations in the area and with active smuggling routes to California. Cannabis cultivation continued into modern times with large indoor off-grid diesel-electric "grow-ops" culminating in a famous "bust" in 2003, the largest single Cannabis law enforcement action in Canadian history, involving hundreds of law enforcement officers.
Today the hotel, since reopened with a restaurant and pub, and one of the orchard-era mansions remain, and the locality is a farming and summer-recreational community.
Climate.
Seymour Arm has a humid continental climate (Dfb) with warm, sometimes hot summers coupled with cool nights, and cold, rainy winters, though mild by Canadian standards.
References.
CBC News
Ottawa Mens Centre
Seattle Times


Gold Butte, Nevada

Gold Butte is the name of a ghost town and nearby mountain peak in Clark County, Nevada. Both are protected as part of the Gold Butte National Monument, managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Gold Butte, the mountain, is high and rises above the town of Gold Butte. This peak lies within the Virgin Mountains and its name apparently refers to the Gold Butte Mining District.
Geology.
The bedrock of the landscape around Gold Butte (the butte) and nearby Bonelli Peak consist of gray, Proterozoic, porphyritic perthite-quartz-biotite granites and quartz monzonites that are also classified as rapakivi granite. These granites, which are collectively called the "Gold Butte Granite", intrude garnet-cordierite-sillimanite and hornblende gneisses, migmatites, and older granites, pyroxenites, and hornblendites. East of Gold Butte, these Proterozoic medium-to high-grade metamorphic and plutonic rocks are unconformably overlain by of steeply east-dipping Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. Together, these plutonic, metamorphic, and sedimentary strata comprise a fault-bounded segment of crust known as the "Gold Butte Block". The landscapes, of which Gold Butte is a part, within Gold Butte block represents the deeply eroded footwall of a Miocene detachment fault that provides a continuous outcrop of a section of the upper Earth's crust that is approximately thick. Thus, Gold Butte lies near the base of possibly the longest continuously exposed section of the Earth's crust in the southwestern United States. Fryxell and Duebendorfer argued that the strata comprising Frenchman Mountain originated as the hanging wall that originally overlied the now tectonically exhumed Gold Butte block. It was during the Miocene, that these strata were translated to their present position by movement along detachment and strike-slip faults.
History.
Gold Butte, Nevada is part of the Gold Butte mining district, which includes the territory south of Gold Butte lying between the Nevada-Arizona state line to the east and the Virgin River (now Lake Mead) to the west. Daniel Bonelli discovered mica in this area in 1873. Gold was discovered here in 1905. There was a rush of people to Gold Butte from 1905 to 1906. The settlement contained a post office, hotel, livery stable, store and homes.
The total mining production from the Gold Butte district was $75,000. There was prospecting and small-scale mining for gold, mica, magnesite, copper and zinc. No significant deposits were found. By December of 1910, most mining had completely halted and the town was abandoned.
Little remains today at the site: a couple of foundations, two graves, and several old mine shafts.
The Bundy standoff.
The Bundy standoff, which pertains in part to the Gold Butte area, was caused in spring 2014 as the result of a 20-year-old land use disagreement between the Bureau of Land Management and Cliven Bundy, a local rancher.
Senator Harry Reid, along with local business leaders and conservation groups, have campaigned to make Gold Butte and the surrounding area into National Conservation Area. On December 28, 2016, President Barack Obama established Gold Butte National Monument, protecting the public lands surrounding Gold Butte.


Yuanjiachun mine

The Yuanjiachun mine is a large iron mine located in northern China. Yuanjiachun represents one of the largest iron ore reserves in China and in the world having estimated reserves of 895 million tonnes of ore grading 32.7% iron metal.


Pangjiapu mine

The Pangjiapu mine is a large iron mine located in northern China. Pangjiapu represents one of the largest iron ore reserves in China and in the world having estimated reserves of 100 million tonnes of ore grading 45% iron metal.


John Allen (miner)

John Allen (born 7 May 1775; date of death unknown) was a lead miner, notable as a junior member of the party of naturalists that accompanied the 1801–1803 voyage of HMS "Investigator" under Matthew Flinders.
Early life.
Born in Ashover, Derbyshire on 7 May 1775, John Allen was the sixth of ten children of lead miner James Allen and his wife Elizabeth née Boome. The Allens live in a cottage at Overton, and James Allen was employed nearby at the Gregory Mine. John Allen apparently began working at the mine at the age of twelve, initially cleaning flues, and probably later becoming a labourer in the cope gang led by his eldest brother James. Not much else is known of his early life, but the fact that he could write quite well suggests that he was unusually well educated in literacy for a lead miner.
Appointed to H.M.S. "Investigator".
In 1801, the British Admiralty decided to mount an expedition to survey New Holland (that is, western parts of Australia) and New South Wales (eastern parts of Australia), to determine whether these were parts of a single land mass, and to search for river systems that might offer access to the interior. The expedition was also to carry a full complement of naturalists, including a mineralogist and, to assist him, a "practical miner". Sir Joseph Banks was given the authority to select naturalists for the voyage, and seems not to have sought a mineralogist. Instead, he wrote to his uncle, William Milnes, who managed his estate at Overton, asking him to find "a person who engages in the mineral line". The first person Milnes engaged later pulled out, and Milnes subsequently selected Allen for the position. Writing to notify Banks of his choice on 4 February 1801, Milnes described Allen as "... a young man a neighbour whose name is John Allen and who is an ingenious Lad and understands blasting and boring and likewise the nature and construction of Engines—upon ye whole he is I am certain the very man for your office..."
Allen signed his employment contract in the presence of Banks on 29 April 1801, together with the other members of the party of naturalists: Robert Brown, naturalist; Ferdinand Bauer, natural history artist; William Westall, landscape artist; and Peter Good, horticulturist. Allen was to answer to Brown, would receive an annual salary of £100, and was messed and accommodated with the warrant officers. However the "Investigator" ended up carrying no warrant officers, so Allen was permitted to mess with the officers. Two unoccupied cabins in the cockpit ended up being allocated to Allen and Good.
Voyage.
After stopping at Madeira and the Cape Colony, the "Investigator" reached Australia in December 1801. It sailed along the south coast, through Bass Strait, and north along the east coast to overwinter at Port Jackson. It then sailed north up the east coast, rounding the Cape York Peninsula and entering the Gulf of Carpentaria. The ship by then being in extremely poor condition, the survey was broken off and the "Investigator" was sailed to Koepang, Timor. Many members of the crew became sick with dysentery there, and Flinders took the decision to return to Port Jackson as quickly as possible. They sailed southwards well west of the west coast of Australia, then east along the south coast, arriving back at Port Jackson in June 1802. The "Investigator" was condemned, and Flinders sailed for England as passenger on the "Porpoise", there to ask for a new ship. Though initially inclined to remain at Port Jackson with some of the other naturalists, ultimately Allen chose to board the "Porpoise". On 17 August the "Porpoise" was wrecked on Wreck Reef. Everyone on board was marooned on a sandbank for six weeks while Flinders sailed the ship's cutter back to Port Jackson to seek help. When help arrived it was in the form of two ships, one of which would return to Port Jackson, while the other was en route to China. Allen elected to sail to China. From there he took a passage to England on the "Henry Addington". Arriving at Brighton on 8 August 1804, Allen made his way to London, where he gave to Banks the first eye-witness account of the voyage, including breaking the news of the death at Port Jackson of the gardener Peter Good.
Later life.
Nothing is known of Allen's later life except that Flinders records having received a visit from him in 1810. Flinders had only just returned to England at the time, and was staying at his sister's house in Boston.
Legacy.
It is impossible to gauge the importance of Allen's work on the "Investigator" voyage, because, as assistant to more senior naturalists, he did not receive scientific credit for his collections; and Brown paid little attention to geology anyhow, having been instructed by Banks that "Geology Mineralogy must be considered by you as subsidiary pursuits & you will be required to do in them no more than is compatible with a full attention to Botany Entomology Ornithology etc." Brown, who could be extremely acerbic at times, wrote to Banks that Allen was "really of very little use".
Flinders named Allen Island in the South Wellesley Islands of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, in Allen's honour.