Selfridges, Oxford Street

Selfridges is a Grade II* listed retail premises on Oxford Street in London. It was designed by Daniel Burnham for Harry Gordon Selfridge, and opened in 1909. Still the headquarters of Selfridge & Co. department stores, with of selling space, the store is the second largest retail premises in the UK, half as big as the biggest department store in Europe, Harrods. It was named the world's best department store in 2010, and again in 2012.
Background.
In 1906, Harry Gordon Selfridge travelled to England on holiday with his wife, Rose. Unimpressed with the quality of existing British retailers, he noticed that the large stores in London had not adopted the latest selling ideas that were being used in the United States.
Selfridge decided to invest £400,000 in building his own department store in what was then the unfashionable western end of Oxford Street, by slowly buying up a series of Georgian architecture buildings which were on the desired block defined by the surrounding four streets: Somerset, Wigmore, Orchard and Duke.
Design and construction.
The building was designed by American architect Daniel Burnham, who was respected for his department store designs. He created Marshall Field's, Chicago, Filene's in Boston, Wanamaker's in Philadelphia, and Gimbels and Wanamaker's in New York City. The building was an early example in the UK of the use of a steel frame, five stories high with three basement levels and a roof terrace, originally laid out to accommodate 100 departments.
American-trained Swedish structural engineer Sven Bylander was engaged to design the steel frame structure. As the building was one of the early examples of steel frame in the UK, Bylander had to first agree appropriate building regulations with the London County Council, requiring amendments to the London Building Act 1844. Using as a basis the regulations which covered the similarly-designed London docklands warehouses, Bylander then agreed changes which enabled greater spans within lesser beam dimensions due to the use of steel over stone. Bylander designed the entire supporting structure which was approved by the LCC in 1907, with a steel frame based on blue brick pile foundations, supporting a steel frame which holds all of the internal walls and the concrete floors. Bylander designed in additional supported internal walls, as LCC would not approve store areas above due to the then approved fire safety regulations, many of which were removed 20 years later in light of new legislation. Bylander submitted a 13-page fully illustrated account of the design of the building to "Concrete and Constructional Engineering", which was published in 1909. The work of Burnham and Bylander with LCC led to the passing of the LCC (General Powers) Act 1909, also called the Steel Frame Act, which gave the council the power to regulate the construction of reinforced concrete structures.
American architect Francis Swales, who trained at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, was briefed to design the frontispiece. Aided by British architects R. Frank Atkinson and Thomas Smith Tait, the final design was highly influenced by John Burnet's 1904 extension to the British Museum. The steel supporting columns are hidden behind Ionic columns, to create a facade which present a visually uniform, classical, Beaux-Arts appearance. The distinctive polychrome sculpture above the Oxford Street entrance is the work of British sculptor Gilbert Bayes. The final frontage, through use of cast iron window frames to a maximum size of by , means that both the Oxford Street and Duke Street frontages are made up of more glass than stone or iron works.
Construction.
Opened on 15 March 1909, the store was built in phases. The first phase consisted of the nine-and-a-half bays closest to the Duke Street corner, a site of wide on Oxford Street by along Duke Street. The floor heights averaged , and the initial structure contained nine passenger lifts, two service lifts and six staircases.
The main entrance and all of the bays to its left were added some 18 years after the store first opened, using a modified construction system. The complete building opened fully in 1928, and resultantly through the use of supporting spandrel steel panels, the scale of the glass panes within the main entrance could be greatly enlarged.
A scheme to erect a massive tower above the store post-World War I was never carried out. Harry Selfridge also proposed a subway link to Bond Street station, and renaming it "Selfridges"; however, contemporary opposition quashed the idea.
The final design of the building completed in 1928, although classical in visible style and frontage, is thoroughly modern in its steel frame construction. In part due to new schools of architectural thought emerging apart from the classical schools, and in part due to the close proximity of World War I, the building is seen as the last of the great classical buildings undertaken within the UK. Although the UK was late in adopting modern architecture only from the 1930s onwards, by the mid-20th century many architects looked at Selfridges as if it were pre-historic in design, accepted just because Harry Gordon Selfridge wanted to advertise his business with a confident display of classicism in stone.
Basements.
There are two levels of basement beneath the lower-ground shop floor: the ‘sub’ and the ‘sub-sub’. Combined, these descend below street level. These two areas are then split into two more areas: the dry sub and sub-sub, and their "wet" equivalents. The wet area is beneath the original nine-and-a-half bays closest to the Duke Street corner of the 1909 building. The "dry" is under the rear of the building, known as the SWOD after the surrounding four streets – Somerset, Wigmore, Orchard and Duke – that once enclosed it. During World War II after the entry of the United States into the conflict, from 1942 the dry sub-sub SWOD was used by the United States Army. The building had one of the only secure telex lines, was safe from bombing, and was close to the US Embassy on Grosvenor Square. Initially used by U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the commander of SHAEF, it later housed 50 soldiers from the 805th Signal Service Company of the US Army Signal Corps, who installed a SIGSALY code-scrambling device connected to a similar terminal in the Pentagon building. The first conference took place on 15 July 1943. Initial visitors included Prime Minister Winston Churchill, to enable secure communications with the President of the United States, although later extensions were installed to both 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet War Rooms. Rumours persist of a tunnel built from Selfridges to the embassy so that personnel could move between the two in safety, with interrogation cells for prisoners hewn from the resultant uneven space available.
2002 restoration.
While restoration work was carried in 2002, the scaffold surround was used to carry the largest photographic artwork ever produced, tall by long and weighing two tons. Created by Sam Taylor-Wood, it showed a gathering of well-known pop and cultural figures of the time, including Sir Elton John.
Operations.
The new store opened to the public on 15 March 1909, employing 1,400 staff, setting new standards for the retailing business.
At that time, women were beginning to enjoy the fruits of emancipation by wandering unescorted around London. A canny marketer, Selfridge promoted the radical notion of shopping for pleasure rather than necessity. The store was extensively promoted through paid advertising. The shop floors were structured so that goods could be made more accessible to customers. There were elegant restaurants with modest prices, a library, reading and writing rooms, special reception rooms for French, German, American and "Colonial" customers, a First Aid Room, and a Silence Room, with soft lights, deep chairs, and double-glazing, all intended to keep customers in the store as long as possible. Staff members were taught to be on hand to "assist" customers, but not too aggressively, and to "sell" the merchandise. Oliver Lyttleton observed that, when one called on Selfridge, he would have nothing on his desk except one's letter, smoothed and ironed.
Selfridge also managed to obtain from the GPO the privilege of having the number "1" as its own phone number, so anybody had to just dial 1 to be connected to Selfridge's operators.
The roof terrace hosted terraced gardens, cafes, a mini golf course and an all-girl gun club. The roof, with its views across London, was a common place for strolling after a shopping trip and was often used for fashion shows. As with much of central London during World War II, Selfridges suffered serious damage on a number of occasions during the 57 nights of the London Blitz from 7 September 1940, and in 1941 and 1944. After the heavy bombing of the west end on 17/18 September 1940 by a combined force of 268 Heinkel 111 and Dornier Do 17 bombers – after which the store's Art Deco lifts were out of service until post-WW2, and the signature window was shattered – Harry had the ground floor windows bricked-up. The roof terrace reopened again for the first time since in July 2011, for a promotional event staged by Truvia as part of their UK launch. In Summer 2012, Bompas & Parr designed an art installation themed as "The Big British Tea Party", which included a cake-themed 9-hole crazy golf course, accompanied by a Daylesford Organic sponsored tea house.
The bomb on 17 April 1941 destroyed only the Palm Court Restaurant, venue for the rich and famous. However, at 11 pm on 6 December 1944, a V-2 rocket hit the Red Lion pub on the corner of Duke Street and Barrett Street. A canteen in the SWOD basement area (see above) was massively damaged, with eight American servicemen killed and 32 injured, as well as ten civilian deaths and seven injuries. In the main building, ruptured water mains threatened SIGSALY, and while the Food Hall was the only department that did not need cleaning, Selfridges’ shop-front Christmas tree displays were blown into Oxford Street. By 2010, only three of the four major pre–World War II Oxford Street retailers—Selfridges, House of Fraser and John Lewis—survive in retail, while Bourne & Hollingsworth and Peter Robinson (acquired in 1946 by Burton's), are no longer trading. Selfridges is the only retailer still trading in the same building, which still bears the scars of war damage, while John Lewis has moved. Bourne & Hollingsworth was located in the now closed Plaza Shopping Centre at No 120, while Peter Robinson is now Niketown at No 200-236.
A Milne-Shaw seismograph was set up on the third floor in 1932, attached to one of the building's main stanchions, unaffected by traffic or shoppers. It recorded the Belgian earthquake of 11 June 1938 which was also felt in London. At the outbreak of war, the seismograph was moved from its original site near the Post Office to another part of the store. In 1947, the seismograph was given to the British Museum.
Parts of Selfridges were damaged in the Oxford Street bombing in 1974 committed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The IRA planted other bombs too - on 21 February 1976 inside the store, injuring five people; just outside the store on Oxford Street on 28 August 1975, injuring seven; and inside the store on 29 January 1977, setting the building ablaze and causing an injury.
In 2002, Selfridges was awarded the London Tourism Award for visitors' favourite London store. Selfridges was named world's best department store in 2010, and again in 2012. It claims to contain the UK's largest beauty department, and Europe's busiest doorway which siphons 250,000 people a week past the Louis Vuitton concession on to Oxford Street.
Windows.
Selfridges' 27 Oxford Street windows have become synonymous with the brand, and to a certain degree have become as famous as the store and the Oxford Street location itself. The windows consistently attract tourists, designers and fashionistas alike to marvel at the current designs and styling and fashion trends.
Selfridges has a history of bold art initiatives when it comes to the window designs. When the building opened, Harry Selfridge initiated a "signature" window which was signed by all of the stars and famous people who came to shop at the store. This was cracked in the first bombing during the blitz, and was never restored.
Today, the visual merchandising team calculate that 20% of business-winning trade is from the windows. When Alannah Weston became Creative Director after the purchase by her family in 2003, she approached artist Alison Jackson to put her trademark Tony Blair and David Beckham lookalikes in the windows. The resultant display brought traffic to a standstill, with the Metropolitan Police finally insisting they stop the project because it was clogging up Oxford Street.
Since 2002, the windows have been photographed by London photographer Andrew Meredith and published in magazines such as "Vogue", "Dwell", "Icon", "Frame" Magazine, "Creative Review", "Hungarian Stylus Magazine", "Design Week", "Harper's Bazaar", "New York Times", WGSN and much more including worldwide press, journals, blogs and published books all over the world.
Ownership.
After his wife died in 1918, and his mother in 1922, Gordon squandered his fortune. In 1941, he left Selfridges.
In 1951 the store was acquired by the Liverpool-based Lewis's chain of department stores, which was in turn taken over in 1965 by the Sears Group owned by Charles Clore. Expanded under the Sears group to include branches in Oxford, Manchester and Birmingham, in 2003 the chain was acquired by Canada's Galen Weston for £598 million.
Expansion.
In 2011, the Weston family bought 388–396 Oxford Street, which is located immediately to the east of the Selfridges building across Duke Street, on which fashion chain French Connection has a lease until 2025.
In early 2012, Selfridges commissioned Italian architect Renzo Piano (responsible for London's The Shard skyscraper), to work on an extension to the 1909 department store. The project could feature a hotel as well as office space, or additional retail space.
In December 2012, Selfridges acquired the Nations House office building from Hermes, which is located immediately behind its Oxford Street store in Wigmore Street, for around £130m.


Rycote House

Rycote House (also Rycote Manor) the manor of Rycote, Oxfordshire, England, was a Tudor (and later Georgian) country house. First built in the early 16th century, the present site was rebuilt in the 1920s.
Rycote is a large house built of brick and limestone rubble arranged around three sides of a courtyard. The main wing has two storeys with attics and a 4-centre arched entrance. It is a Grade II* listed building.
History.
Origins.
Carved masonry has been found from a substantial house that stood here in the 14th century. Rycote House was a great Tudor country house that was built here early in the 16th century, probably for Sir John Heron, Treasurer of the Chamber to first Henry VII and then Henry VIII, who bought the manor of Rycote on his retirement in 1521. The exact origins of the house remain uncertain, however. Henry VIII and his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, honeymooned here in 1540. Pictures from "circa" 1674-1685 and 1714 show that the main part of the house was arranged around a courtyard. It had stepped gables, a gatehouse and polygonal corner turrets with cupolas and was surrounded by a moat. Tudor buildings were constructed on a symmetrical pattern, with a focal central part being the Great Hall. It was all surrounded by a large moat. Archaeologist Julian Munby analysed the bricks as being small and slim and typically from the Tudor period; some of the bricks were recycled from rubble masonry.
Use.
According to historian Robin Bush the palace was built between 1500-1530, and then sold by the original owner to pay off debts. In 1542 Rycote was bought by Sir John Williams, Master of the Jewels to Henry VIII and later created Baron Williams of Thame. Baron Williams died without a male heir, so Rycote became part of the Norreys family estates descending to his son-in-law Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys. Charles I visited Rycote in 1625. In 1682 James Bertie, 5th Baron Norreys of Rycote was created 1st Earl of Abingdon. He died in 1699 and a memorial to him was erected in the chapel in 1767.

Denaby Main

Denaby Main is a village situated between Mexborough and Conisbrough in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. The village falls within the Doncaster MBC ward of Conisbrough and Denaby. It was built by the Denaby Main Colliery Company to house its workers and their families, and originally given the name Denaby Main Colliery Village, to distinguish it from the village of Denaby, about ⅔ mile away on the road to Hooton Roberts and Kilnhurst; from that time, the old village became known as Old Denaby. In due course the "Colliery Village" part of the name was lost, leaving the village to be known as Denaby Main.
History.
Around 1700 poor-quality coal was found, close by the surface, just over the River Don from Mexborough and this, in time, led to the sinking of two shafts, in 1863, for Denaby Main Colliery Company, owned by Messrs Pope and Pearson. The Barnsley bed was reached in September 1867 at a depth of more than 1,266 feet. In 1893 the company also opened out Cadeby Main Colliery.
Around the time the miners were reaching the Barnsley bed the colliery company began building housing to accommodate its workers and their families. A church, schools and a store were also company owned. The company pub, the Denaby Main Hotel, (locally known as "The Drum") is one of the few properties from that era still standing. However, it is now (2008) a Balti restaurant.
The layout of the village was pure ‘Industrial Revolution’, parallel streets of terraced houses running away from the Mexborough to Conisbrough road which ran through the village, with, in its centre the library and park. It was possible from almost every street to look down to the colliery.
The village gained notoriety at the close of the 19th century as a result of a characterisation as "The Worst Village in England" in an edition of the magazine "Christian Budget". This pejorative piece described somewhere,
The village miners became famous for their fortitude in the face of hard and ruthless employers who had proven their willingness to take risks by sinking the shafts to their required depth. Although there were no major accidents at Denaby (unlike its neighbour Cadeby Main) by the time of the closure of the mine in 1968, 203 miners had been killed. It was company policy to evict a dead miner's family from the company owned housing within weeks of bereavement. There is a long history of disputes at Denaby. In 1869 a six-month strike over union recognition was ended by negotiation. In 1903 there was a strike because the mining company refused to pay miners for the muck that they had to get out in order to get at the coal. This became known as "The Bag Muck Strike". It lasted for weeks and the mine owners started to evict strikers and their families. Many of those evicted had to spend January 1903 in tents on open ground with only sheets and blankets for comfort and soup kitchens for food.
Other disputes in 1877 and 1885 also led to evictions. All of the coal at Denaby was "hand got", meaning that no machinery or conveyor belts were used. The Barnsley Seam coal was shovelled into corves for man handling along a track using pit ponies.
In 1863 alternative employment became available when Kilner Glass opened a factory in Denaby adjacent to the mine. This closed in 1936.
The village was served by two railway stations bearing its name, Denaby, some distance away on the Dearne Valley Railway and Denaby and Conisbrough, the southern terminal of the South Yorkshire Junction Railway. The nearest station nowadays is Conisbrough.
Rebuilding.
Denaby Main colliery drew its last coal in 1968 and Cadeby Main in 1987. Following these closures the rebuilding of the village took place. All the terraced houses were demolished and replaced with modern semi-detached properties on an open-plan scheme.
In 1987 the Miners' Memorial Chapel in All Saints' Church, Denaby opened, serving as a memorial to all those who had worked in the collieries of the area. It contains a pit wheel, salvaged from Cadeby Colliery, and the altar incorporates a one-ton block of coal from Manvers Main Colliery.
The village did have a non-league football side, Denaby United F.C. but it became defunct in 2002 when they lost access to their ground at Tickhill Square. Denaby Main Junior FC (with an adult Saturday side) was formed in 2012 and took the place of the former Denaby United.
Administration.
The village falls under the Conisbrough ward of Doncaster Council and the parliamentary constituency of Don Valley.


Chapelhall

Chapelhall (from the Gaelic Seipeal Allt - Chapel by a burn) is a village outside the town of Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. With house building, the distinction between Airdrie and Chapelhall is being eroded. Established as a small mining village in the 19th century, it now has population of around 6,560.
Chapelhall is situated just off the M8 motorway east of Glasgow city centre and around west of Edinburgh. Chapelhall is also near to many of Lanarkshire's main towns, such as Bellshill (), Coatbridge (), Motherwell (), Hamilton () and Cumbernauld (), as well as being around away from Airdrie town centre.
The Eurocentral freight village/industrial estate is just a mile or so away and employs people from around Lanarkshire, Glasgow and West Lothian. The rail-freight village links with Grangemouth docks away, (England to the south and beyond to mainland Europe).
Chapelhall lies on the opposite side of the North Calder Water from Calderbank and has very similar history. Iron working and coal mining were once prominent - with three blast furnaces working in the early 1830s. The old village also had a quarry, a brickworks and a bakery. The first curator of Kew Gardens, William Aiton, began work as a gardener in Woodhall House near Chapelhall. Three Celtic FC footballers came from the village, Thomas Curley, Lisbon Lions player John Clark, and Peter Grant.
Education.
In December 2001, North Lanarkshire Council published its Schools and Centres 21 (SC21) Programme, a Public Private Partnership under the broader Education 2010 plan to develop new school facilities throughout the North Lanarkshire area.
In Chapelhall, the plan proposed a new joint campus for Chapelhall Primary non-denominational and St Aloysius Roman Catholic Primary Schools, which would replace the previous two separate school buildings at Gibb Street (Chapelhall) and on the Main Street (St Aloysius Primary). The initial proposal was based on the prototype Cumbernauld Primary/St Andrew's Primary site, which was endorsed by the Archdiocese of Glasgow, consisting of one public entrance, a shared office, library, gymnasium and dining hall and two adjacent staffrooms with a moveable partition that could be kept open (as both staffs preferred to do).
In October 2004, however, the Diocese of Motherwell objected to the joint campus proposal, calling for separate entrances, staffrooms, staff toilets, libraries, gymnasia and nurseries, with a shared dining hall. They lodged a petition with the Scottish Government under Section 22D of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 - a subsequent review by ministers concluded that North Lanarkshire Council had acted in good faith and that the joint campus proposals did not breach the legislation.
In December 2004 a series of concessions including greater segregation of staff and pupils allowed the building work to proceed. The contract was awarded to Balfour Beatty Capital, trading as Transform Schools (North Lanarkshire) Funding Plc.
One concession was a moratorium on any further shared campus arrangements until the Chapelhall joint campus scheme had been evaluated. This moratorium was lifted in 2009 following the publication of a final evaluation report on shared campus schools in North Lanarkshire, produced by Dan Sweeney, a former senior official in the council's education department. The report largely endorsed the shared campus model and found that, in particular, "the autonomy of the individual schools, including ethos and educational principles, has been maintained, and the implementation of the Catholic Education Commission Charter has not been affected".
The Chapelhall campus was opened on 18 August 2006.
The design capacity of Chapelhall Primary is 250 and St Aloysius Primary is 320. Both schools previously provided nursery classes which have been combined to provide Early Education classes. The physical education facilities within the new building, including an on-site 7-a-side floodlit synthetic pitch, are available for community use. In addition the assembly hall/gym, dining/general purpose room and other community areas are accessible to the community.
Most of the children from Chapelhall Primary graduate to Caldervale High School and most of the children from St Aloysius Primary graduate to St Margaret's High School.
Religion.
There are three established Christian churches in Chapelhall. They are as follows:
Sport.
Football
Senior/Professional Football
The following members of the Scottish Professional Football League are within a short drive of Chapelhall:
Junior Football
The following junior clubs are within a short drive from Chapelhall
Amateur Football
Chapelhall has also had a proud history of amateur football with the successful (but now disbanded "Bankhall Villa" hailed from both Chapelhall and nearby Calderbank, hence the name Bankhall.
Chapelhall is also home to The Swan Inn AFC who are currently playing in the Airdrie & Coatbridge 1st Division.
Youth Football
Chapelhall also have a boys team playing under the name "Chapelhall Thistle".
Speedway
A speedway training track operated at Chapelhall in the early 1950s.


William Downie

William Downie (1819–1893) was a Scottish prospector and explorer involved in the gold rushes in California and British Columbia of the mid-19th Century.
Life and death.
Downie was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and raised in Ayrshire.
In gold rush-era California, Major Downie led an expedition up the North Fork of the Yuba River after having arrived in San Francisco on 27 June 1849. On 5 Oct. he led a group of African American sailors and one Irish lad eventually reaching the forks of the North Yuba. Downie stated, "The spot where the town stands was then the handsomest I have ever seen in the mountains." They found gold all along the river, not even needing a shovel to do so.
Downieville, California was adopted as the town name in a local election, and the original name of "The Forks" was gradually dropped.
Downie explored British Columbia at the request of Governor James Douglas. In 1858 he investigated the route from Bute Inlet to the Cariboo via the Homathko River, an attempted development of which led to the Chilcotin War a few years later. At the onset of the Big Bend Gold Rush of 1865, Downie travelled up the Columbia River before steamboat service on that route began.
Then in 1874, Downie left for Panama where he sought gold and silver by grave robbing. He then visited Alaska as he states, "for the purpose of taking a cursory glance of this wonderful country."
Downie died on 27 Dec. 1893 on board the steamer "City of Puebla" just before disembarking in San Francisco from Victoria, British Columbia.
Legacy.
Downieville, California is named for Major Downie.
Also named for him is the former goldrush boomtown of Downie Creek, British Columbia, at the confluence of the stream of the same name with the Columbia River and adjacent to the vanished boomtown of La Porte, both at the heart of the Big Bend goldfields.


Vulture Mine

The Vulture Mine was a gold mine and settlement in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The mine began in 1863 and became the most productive gold mine in Arizona history. From 1863 to 1942, the mine produced 340,000 ounces of gold and 260,000 ounces of silver. Historically, the mine attracted more than 5,000 people to the area, and is credited with founding the town of Wickenburg, Arizona. The town that served the mine was known as Vulture City.
History.
The Vulture mine began when a prospector from California's gold rush, Henry Wickenburg, discovered a quartz deposit containing gold and began mining the outcrop himself. In 1863, after Henry Wickenburg discovered the Vulture mine, Vulture City, a small mining town, was established in the area. The town once had a population of 5,000 citizens. After the mine closed, the city was abandoned and became a "ghost town". The deposit was later sold to Benjamin Phelps, who represented a group of investors that eventually organized under the name of Vulture Mining Company.
The desert surrounding the Vulture Mine did not give much in the way of produce, so an enterprising individual by the name of Jack Swilling went into the Phoenix Valley and reopened the irrigation canals left by the native peoples. Agriculture was brought back to the valley, and a grain route was established. This grain route still exists today under the name of Grand Avenue. Phoenix, Arizona, grew up around the agricultural center spawned by the needs of the Vulture Mine.
In 1942, the Vulture Mine was shut down by a regulatory agency for processing gold. This was a violation at the time because all resources were to be focused on the war effort. The mine appealed the shut-down order and reopened, but with less vigor. A few years later, the mine closed permanently.
Today the mine and ghost town are privately owned, but tours are offered. Two-hour, dirt path guided walking tours at the historic Vulture mine offers a glimpse of the olden days through a tour of some of the remaining buildings of Vulture City, a booming mining town.
The mine was a Lock-down site on Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel on October 29, 2010.
Geography.
The Vulture Mine is located in Maricopa County at 36610 N. 355th Avenue, Wickenburg, Arizona, United States, Zip code: 85390.
Vulture Mine and Vulture City (Ghost town).
The following are images with a brief description of the Vulture Mine and some of the structures still present in what once was known as Vulture City.


Ruby Mining District

Also known as the Salmon Creek District, the Ruby Mining District is an abandoned mining district in north central Washington State, founded in 1887 by Thomas D. Fuller. The principle mined ore was silver, though, copper, lead, and small amounts of gold were also extracted.
History.
The Moses Indian Reservation was opened to mining in 1886. Almost immediately after, prospectors began rushing into the Okanogan. Out of the many places, one of them was Ruby Mountain. In 1885, a prospector named Thomas D. Fuller built the first cabin in the area in which would later become the town of Ruby. This leads some to believe that him and possible others had been prospecting and mining in the area secretly for some time. He made the first discoveries in the area after the reservation's opening. Others, including Thomas Donan, William Milligan, and John Clonan also made some of the first discoveries.
In 1887, the district was officially named and designated by Fuller and several others. By this time, the Idaho, First Thought, Second Thought, Poorman, Ruby, Butte, Peacock, War Eagle, Fairview, and Lenora mines were in operation. Later mines include but are not limited to the Kansas, Fourth Of July, Arlington, Last Chance, Woo Loo Moo Loo, Keystone, Johnny Boy, Plant-Callahan, Sonny Boy, Hughes, and Nevada. Some explorational digs and smaller mines remain uncharted and/or unrecorded.
In 1893, the price of silver fell to $0.63 an ounce, combined with diminishing silver concentrations the further in they dug, the mines began shutting down after a mere three months of operation that year. Despite the fact silver still existed, it was simply no longer profitable work mining and refining the ore.
Production.
The most productive/profitable of the mines were the Fourth Of July, and Arlington mines. Other high producers were the Last Chance, First Thought, and Peacock mines. The years from 1889-1893 were the most productive for the district. Accurate records of production were sparsely created, thus it is unknown the exact amount of output and earnings. An estimated $200,000 worth of silver was mined from the above listed most productive mines around 1890, excluding the Peacock Mine. After the district wide shut down of all the mines, the Arlington Mine was reopened for a brief two years, from 1937–1939, in which made profits of $71,683. The Fourth Of July Mine was also reopened, from 1958-1964. This operation earned a small amount of about $12,000. Unfortunately, records of the all together production/profits cannot be located, and individual records are hard to come by.
The District Today.
Today, the district remains abandoned, though rumors of plans to reopen the Fourth Of July Mine have been circulated, though no real developments have occurred. What is left of the mines is unprotected, meaning they are still open. Although, the Peacock Mine is gated at both adits, and the shafts are guarded by chain link fencing. Other than the Peacock, the mines are left unregulated. Many of which have collapsed. Collapsed mines or mines with a caved entrance include but are not limited to the Kansas, Nevada, Arlington, and Idaho mines. Flooded mines include but are not limited to the Fourth Of July, Idaho, Poorman, and Last Chance mines. Due to infrequent inspection of the mines, there is no data of the status of most of the mines. We can only rely on ones who have explored these mines themselves. For instance, a recent expedition revealed the above data. The Poorman Mine is reported in good condition, besides high iron content water collecting on the floor of the mine, there is no evidence suggesting much has occurred within the mine. Water seepage can be responsible for structural weakening though, and oxygen deprivation. Water can also cover up a winze, which is a shaft within the mine, or entrap dangerous gases in which are released upon disturbing of the surface tension. Always use caution when exploring an abandoned mine.


Alvinza Hayward

Alvinza Hayward (1822-February 14, 1904) was a well-known gold mining millionaire who made his fortune in California. He later became a prominent financier and businessman in the San Francisco bay area.
Early life.
Born in Vermont, Hayward moved to Canton, New York early in his life. He studied law in New York, but also pursued lumber and lead mining interests.
California.
His experience in Michigan vein mining proved invaluable after his move to California in the Gold Rush of 1850. After buying an interest in the Eureka Mine in Amador County, Hayward made new investments and successfully extracted gold where others had failed, later selling shares in a mine which was said to have yielded more than $5,000,000.
The US Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System states the city of Hayward was named after him. This is disputed by historians.
Family life.
Whether true or not, Hayward was often called California’s "first millionaire," and in his lifetime was frequently referred to as “the richest man in California.” Grandiose and eccentric by turns, Hayward turned even more strongly to Spiritualism in his later years, using mediums to predict business investments (with poor results). Hayward had a difficult relationship with his wife, Charity (1826-1905), whom he married in Wisconsin in the 1840s; their first son, James, was born in 1846, and would die of consumption at age 27. Divorced in 1878, the couple remarried again later that year only to separate again, living the rest of their lives apart. Only two of the couple's eight children survived to adulthood; six others died of mysterious respiratory ailments early in life, prompting recent speculation that Charity Hayward may have had a role in their demise.
Hayward Park, his estate in San Mateo, included a lake, race track, and deer park. The spectacular 1880 residence was converted into a hotel after Hayward’s death. It burned in a 1920 fire.


Florentine Diamond

The Florentine Diamond is a lost diamond of Indian origin. It is light yellow in colour with very slight green overtones. It is cut in the form of an irregular (although very intricate) nine-sided 126-facet double rose cut, with a weight of 137.27 carats (27.454 g). The stone is also known as the Tuscan, the Tuscany Diamond, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the Austrian Diamond, Austrian Yellow Diamond, and the Dufner Diamond.
Disputed history.
The stone's origins are disputed. Reportedly, it has been cut by Lodewyk van Bercken for Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Charles is said to have been wearing it when he fell in the Battle of Morat on June 22, 1476. A peasant or foot soldier found it on the Duke's person and sold it for a 2 francs, thinking it was glass. The new owner Bartholomew May, a citizen of Bern, sold it to the Genoese, who sold it in turn to Ludovico Sforza. By way of the Fuggers it came into the Medici treasury at Florence. Pope Julius II is also named as one of its owners.
Another version of the stone's early history is that the rough stone was acquired in the late 16th century from the King of Vijayanagar in southern India by the Portuguese Governor of Goa, Ludovico Castro, Count of Montesanto. The crystal was deposited with the Jesuits in Rome until, after lengthy negotiations, Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany succeeded in buying it from the Castro-Noronha family for 35,000 Portuguese scudi crocati.
Duke Ferdinand's son, Cosimo II, finally entrusted his father's purchase to a cutter, Pompeo Studentoli, a Venetian working in Florence. The finished gem was delivered on October 10, 1615. An inventory drawn up on Cosimo's death confirms the acquisition of the rough diamond by Ferdinand and describes the gem as 'faceted on both sides and encircled by a diamond encrusted band'. It is also known as Dufner Diamond.
Documented history.
Documented history begins when Jean Baptiste Tavernier, the French jeweller and traveller, saw the stone among the possessions of Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1657. It then passed into the hands of the Habsburgs when the last of the Medicis died through the marriage of Francis III Stephan of Lorraine to Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and was placed in the Habsburg Crown Jewels in the Hofburg in Vienna. At the time, it was valued at $750,000.
After the fall of the Austrian Empire during World War I, the stone was taken by Charles I of Austria into exile in Switzerland. The stone was stolen some time after 1918 by a person close to the Imperial family and taken to South America with other gems of the Crown Jewels. After this, it was rumoured that the diamond was brought into the United States in the 1920s and was recut and sold.


Will Paynter

William Thomas Paynter (6 December 1903 – 11 December 1984) was a Welsh miners' leader involved in the hunger marches of the 1930s.
Paynter was born in Cardiff, where he had a basic education before going to work at a colliery at the age of fourteen. By the age of eighteen, he was working on the coal-face, and soon joined the Communist Party. He was instrumental in setting up the National Unemployed Workers' Movement, and in 1937 he joined the British Battalion of the International Brigades to fight in the Spanish Civil War. In 1951 he became President of the South Wales Miners' Federation, and from 1959 to 1969 he was General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers. He was also a member of Acas.
He featured in a programme in the BBC television series All Our Working Lives, which was broadcast in the year of his death and discussed the changing nature of the coal industry.


Madrid, New Mexico

Madrid (/ˈmædrɪd/, Spanish: [maˈðɾið]) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 149 at the 2000 census and 204 in 2010. Today, Madrid has become an artists' community with galleries lining New Mexico State Road 14 (the Turquoise Trail). It retains remnants of its history with the Mineshaft Tavern and the Coal Mine Museum.
History.
Beginnings.
Lead mines in the area around Madrid captured the interest of Roque Madrid in the 17th century. It is unclear whether the current name of the community comes from that of earlier residents or the capital of Spain. The dominant English pronunciation of the name differs from that of the Spanish capital, with emphasis on the first syllable: MAD-rid. Coal mining began in the area around 1835.
The coal deposits were called the Cerrillos Coal Bank following the arrival in early 1880 of the New Mexico & Southern Pacific Railroad (as the AT&SF in New Mexico was organized), named after the nearby mining and railroad town of Cerrillos Station. After a dozen years at the Coal Bank of wildcat, unpermitted, and unorganized mining the AT&SF acquired the property on December 10, 1891, and through purposefully-created subsidiaries solidified its control. The Cerrillos Coal & Iron Co. developed the layout for the town, mines, and facilities, and the Cerrillos Coal Railroad Co. built the standard gauge spur from the AT&SF main line at Waldo Junction.
In late August 1892, the spur finally terminated at the relatively new mining camp of Keeseeville (an illegal trespass settlement, however one whose 20-acre plat had been approved by Santa Fe County). At the site of Keeseeville, which the Cerrillos Coal Railroad co-opted, the town of Madrid was built. More accurately the Cerrillos Coal Railroad transported-in, section by section, prefabricated wooden miner's cabins from as far away as Topeka, Kansas; there were insufficient carpenters and suppliers in the region to provide the instant infrastructure that was needed for the town.
Madrid celebrated its "founding" in 1895. Since the town was for the next 80 years wholly owned by a series of corporations, the town itself was never incorporated. In the late 1940s, the demand for coal withered: Natural gas gradually replaced coal as the preferred home-heating fuel, and the AT&SF was replacing its coal-fired steam locomotives with diesel-electrics. By 1954 the Albuquerque and Cerrillos Coal Company ceased to operate and most of the residents moved away. The railroad spur was removed shortly thereafter.
Madrid Miners Semi-Pro Baseball team.
The Miners were started by the Madrid Employees Club and won many pennants. The Oscar Huber Ballpark was the first lighted ballpark west of the Mississippi in the 1920s.
Geography.
Madrid is located at (35.405833, -106.154498).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all land.
Demographics.
As of the 2010 census, there were 204 people, 134 households, and 33 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 146 people per square mile (55/km2). There were 167 housing units at an average density of 119 per square mile (45/km2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 96.1% White, 0% African American, 0% Native American, 0.5% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.4% of the population.
There were 134 households, out of which 9.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 13.4% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a male householder with no wife present, 5.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 75.4% were non-families. 64.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.52 and the average family size was 2.33.
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 7.4% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 45.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 102 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.7 males.
According to the 2016 American Community Survey, the median income for a household in the CDP was $32,813. The per capita income for the CDP was $28,675. 20.5% of the population was living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 37.1% of those over 65.
In popular culture.
Film.
The ending of the film "Wild Hogs" (2007) was set and filmed in the town.
In the 1976 film "The Man Who Fell To Earth", starring David Bowie, the miners' houses on New Mexico Highway 14 can be seen.
Literature.
Belinda Vasquez Garcia's novel, "The Witch Narratives: Reincarnation" (2012), is set in Madrid during the 1920s and 1930s when Madrid was a company-owned coal-mining town.
Madrid and details about the town's attractions are mentioned in chapter 15 of A.J. DeWall's novel, "Forever Man" (2014).
Television.
In the opening scene of "Breaking Bad" ("Ozymandias"), Walter White takes a break after his first methamphetamine cook to call his wife, Skyler, to suggest the family do something the show's creator (Vince Gilligan) says he and his girlfriend did, "head up to Turquoise Trail and stop at Tinkertown, maybe grab some lunch in Madrid".
In the A&E series Longmire, the interior scenes at the Red Pony Bar were filmed at The Mine Shaft Tavern in Madrid.


Huttaler Widerwaage

The Huttaler Widerwaage is a small reservoir that is a part of the Upper Harz Water Regale, an old mining water management system in the Harz Mountains of Germany that is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The reservoir lies east of the mining town of Clausthal-Zellerfeld. It is designed to feed water from the Huttal river during times of low water to the reservoir pond of the "Hirschler Teich" and, during times of high water, to handle the overflow of water from it.
Location.
The Huttaler Widerwaage lies in the Upper Harz in the Harz Nature Park. It is located southeast of Clausthal-Zellerfeld around 550 metres east-southeast of the source of the Innerste and about 500 metres south of the B 242 at Huttaler Graben at about .
Function.
A "Widerwaage" is the name used in the region of the Upper Harz Water Regale for a small basin or small impoundment. This particular basin is impounded by a small wooden weir structure, a so-called "Fehlschlag". It is linked by the Huttal Water Tunnel ("Huttaler Wasserlauf") with the "Hirschler Teich" on the other side of the ridge and is designed so that the two reservoirs act as a communicating vessels. Water from the Schwarzenberg and the Polsterberg Pumphouse is supplied to the Widerwaage by the Huttal Ditch ("Huttaler Graben"). If the weir is full, water is drained out of it through the Huttal Water Tunnel to the "Hirschler Teich". There it was used to supply hydropower for the very productive Caroline and Dorothea Pits.


GAM coal mine

The GAM Coal Mine is a coal mine located in the East Kalimantan. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 500 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Asia and the world. The mine has an annual production capacity of 12 million tonnes of coal.


Montreal Company Location Historic District

The Montreal Company Location Historic District is located in Montreal, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
History.
Buildings for the Montreal Mining Company itself and houses for employees of the company were constructed from 1907 to 1927. Much of the area was designed by landscape architect Albert Davis Taylor.


Utah Construction Company

The Utah Construction Company was a construction company founded by Edmund Orson Wattis Jr., Warren L. Wattis and William. H. Wattis in 1900.
History.
A short four years after its founding, the company was awarded the contract to build the Feather River train route between Oakland and Salt Lake City. This $60 million contract was challenging, but after five years, very profitable. The Feather River route was completed for the Western Pacific Railroad in 1911. The Utah Construction Company thrived, and soon captured a large share of the tunneling, grading, and track projects for the rapidly expanding railroads in the mountain west. Seeing the end of railroad expansion, the Wattis Brothers looked for ways to diversify their construction risks.
In 1917, Utah Construction Company was awarded the $7 million O'Shaughnessy Dam contract, a controversial project that impounds the Tuolumne River in the Hetch Hetchy Valley of California's Sierra Nevada mountains. Success with the O'Shaughnessy Dam convinced the Wattis Brothers to bid on more dam projects. In 1922, Utah Construction Company formed a partnership with Morrison-Knudsen of Boise. With Frank Crowe as the chief engineer, the MK-UC partnership successfully built dams throughout the American west.
In 1931, the Wattis Brothers spearheaded the formation of Six Companies to build the Hoover Dam which was the largest construction project ever tackled by the US Government up to the time. Including the Hoover Dam, Utah Construction built 58 dams between 1916 and 1969.
In 1942, several weeks after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese warships were sighted in Alaskan waters. No overland route existed connecting Alaska with the contiguous United States. This situation spurred the American Government to plan and build the Alaskan Army Highway, later renamed the Alaska Highway. US Army and civilian contractors, led by Utah Construction, completed the arctic highway in just seven months and 17 days.
In the 1950s, Utah Construction diversified into mining, becoming the Utah Construction & Mining Co. These ventures included the Marcona iron mine in Peru, the Lucky Mc uranium mine in Wyoming, and the Navajo coal mine and power plant in the Four Corners area of the United States southwest.
Utah Construction also diversified into land development. Through a series of acquisitions, Utah Construction purchased the Moraga Ranch in the San Francisco Bay Area. This 3,000 acre (12 km²) ranch was developed into Moraga, California. Utah also filled in of the San Francisco Bay to create much of the area of present-day south shore in Alameda.
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The 1960s brought further military construction with Utah Construction the lead contractor for the US Minuteman Missile hardened silos throughout the United States as well as Construction of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado Springs.
In 1969, Utah Construction went public on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol UC. The construction business was sold to the Fluor Corporation in 1969. In 1971, the company changed its name to Utah International. The company merged with General Electric in 1976 for a value of over $2.2 billion, the largest corporate merger in history at that time. In 1984 General Electric sold the company to BHP.
The Wattis Brothers received funding from David Eccles, Thomas Dee, Joseph Clark and James Pingree families. Thomas Dee served as the first president of Utah Construction until his death in 1905, David Eccles served as the second president, and David Eccels' son Marriner became the president of Utah Construction concurrently with being the Federal Reserve chairman. The shareholders and Val Browning acquired the shares of Warren Wattis in the 1940s. The Wattis Brothers original $8,000 investment in 1900, grew to $478 million after the 1976 acquisition by General Electric.


Barry Clay

Barry Lloyd Clay (born November 1, 1955) is a gold miner from Palmer, Alaska. In 1998, Clay discovered the largest gold nugget ever found in Alaska on Swift Creek near Ruby. The nugget, nicknamed "The Alaska Centennial Nugget", weighs 294.1 troy ounces. In 2007 he operated a mining camp that allowed tourists to search for gold on his claims. At the 2010 Alaska Miners Association convention he was named Miner of the Year by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. He currently does consulting work for Alaska placer mining projects of all sizes and he plans to continue to mine for gold in the Ruby-Poorman mining district in 2011.


Monkayo

', officially the ' (; ), is a in the province of , . According to the , it has a population of people, making it the most populous town in the province.
Monkayo is an agricultural town, with vast tracts of land planted to rice and banana. The municipality is also host to the gold-rich barangay of Mount Diwata, popularly known as "Diwalwal" (which in the local dialect means one's tongue is hanging out due to exhaustion), a 1,000-meter high range known for its rich gold ore deposit.
Monkayo's seat of government is located in Barangay Poblacion.
Etymology.
The Municipality of Monkayo is a political unit with a land area that was once and for a long period of time a wilderness in the Northern hinterlands of Davao de Oro. The name “Monkayo” is derived from a gigantic tree towering on top Tandawan mountains and its northern tip in between and immediately adjacent to the Agusan River. The tree is called “"Mondabon Kayo"” (Mondabon Tree). It was however shortened by the first settlers of the area as “Monkayo”.
In the other related version, it is believed that a certain Fr. Ladour, the first missionary priest assigned in the area, gave the place the name of Moncayo, a snow-topped mountain dividing the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile, in Spain, probably as an analogy to the high mountains in the area that reminded him of his own place of birth.
History.
Monkayo belonged to the northern hinterland of what is now called Davao de Oro. It was occupied by Mandaya, Manobo, Mansaka, Manguangan and Dibabawon people who dwelt on primitive life and lived by hunting, fishing and crude method of farming (Kaingin) long before the Spanish conquistadors penetrated deep in Mindanao in the middle part of the 18th century. These different tribes or groups, each had a "bagani" as head or chief. They wore clothing and armed with bladed weapons and bows and arrows, they sang hymns called "Tudom" and long narrative songs called "Owaging" they danced and held rituals, feasted and chewed beetle nuts. Nevertheless, when Spanish missionaries came, these natives changed their lives and attitudes and eventually receptive to Christian teachings and ultimately embraced Christianity. Today, this municipality still has Mandaya, Dibabawon, Manguangan and Manobo, other tribes have transferred to other places.
Monkayo became a Municipality District in 1917. The position given to the highest official was District President. The first one appointed to the position was Adolfo Mongado, the first Mandayan educator who served from 1917-1925. The other prominent leaders who held the same position were : Ignacio Cervantes – 1926-1933; Ildefonso Labrador – 1934-1935; and Pedro Aroma – 1936-1937. The title of the position was changed to District Mayor in 1938 with the following officials: Jose Ibañez who served from 1938–1939, followed by Feliciano Cervantes who held the position from 1940 up to the end of the World War II.
During the Second World War, Monkayo was made an important military outpost. The 81st Military Division under the command of Col. Kangleon was established in the Poblacion and was named Camp Kalaw.
On September 4, 1954, Monkayo became a separate district and founded as a Municipality by virtue of a Presidential Executive Order No. 65 by then President Ramon Magsaysay of the Republic of the Philippines. The first mayor was Angelo Ortiz (Sept. 1954–Oct. 1955), who also was responsible for making Monkayo an independent municipality. Alejandro Peñaranda (Nov. 1955-Dec. 1955) was the shortest reigning mayor for only one (1) month, the next appointed mayor who donated portion of his land which became part of the Municipal Town Site. He was followed by Severino Lacson (Jan. 1956-Nov. 1964), Jose T. Amacio (Nov. 1964-Mar. 1972), and Anastacio C. Basañes. After the EDSA Revolution, Mayor Anastacio Basañes was succeeded by Constantino Alcaraz (April 1986 – 1992) as Officer In-Charge by virtue of the Freedom Constitution implemented under President Corazon Aquino. He was succeeded by Rizal G. Gentugaya, and Avelino T. Cabag (1998 to 2001).
Geography.
Monkayo is from Mindanao's regional center of Davao City, and some from Nabunturan, the provincial center.
Barangays.
Monkayo is politically subdivided into 21 barangays.
Demographics.
In the , the population of Monkayo was people, with a density of .
It is the most populous among the municipalities of Compostela Valley.
Ethnic groups:
Religion.
The largest group is the Roman Catholic having 65% of the population, other Christian group comprises (Evangelicals, Born Again, Kingdom of Jesus Christ) comprises 10%, the Iglesia ni Cristo comprises 10% and the remaining 15% belong to the other non-Christian groups.
Culture and heritage.
Another Spanish influence that remains up to this day is the observance and celebration of barrios, or villages, of the day of their respective patron saint called "Fiesta". It is in these celebrations wherein songs, dances and other forms of arts and merrymaking from various cultures have evolved creatively into the sights and sounds of Monkayo now.
Transportation.
There are various means to travel to Monkayo. The common modes of transportation within the municipality are multicabs, jeepneys, motorcycles. Tricycles play the routes that are outside the main streets of the town. In mountainous areas, the "habal-habal" passenger motorcycle is the main mode of transportation.
Schools.
There are 37 public elementary schools within Monkayo, namely;
There are also three (3) private elementary schools, namely;
Public High Schools:
Private High School:


Blaenau Ffestiniog

Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a mining centre in the historic county of Merionethshire, it now relies heavily on tourists, drawn for instance by the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. Blaenau Ffestiniog was once the second largest town in North Wales, behind only Wrexham. After reaching 12,000 at the peak development of the slate industry, it fell with the decline in demand for its slate. The population of the community of Ffestiniog, including the nearby village Llan Ffestiniog, was 4,875 according to the 2011 census: the fourth most populous community in Gwynedd after Bangor, Caernarfon and Llandeiniolen. Llan Ffestiniog's population of 864 puts the population of Blaenau itself at around 4,000.
Etymology and pronunciation.
The meaning of Blaenau Ffestiniog is "uplands of Ffestiniog". The Welsh word ' is the plural of ' "upland, remote region". Ffestiniog here is probably "territory of Ffestin" (Ffestin being a personal name) or could possibly mean "defensive place". The English pronunciation of Blaenau Ffestiniog suggested by the "BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names" is , but the first word is pronounced in the area, reflecting the features of the local dialect.
History.
Farming (before 1750).
Before the slate industry developed, the area now known as Blaenau Ffestiniog was a farming region, with scattered farms working the uplands below the cliffs of Dolgaregddu and Nyth-y-Gigfran. A few of the historic farmhouses survive at Cwm Bowydd, Neuadd Ddu, Gelli, Pen y Bryn and Cefn Bychan. Much of the land was owned by large estates.
Slate (1750–1850).
Blaenau Ffestiniog town arose to support workers in the local slate mines. At its peak, it was the largest town in Merioneth. In 1765, two men from the long-established Cilgwyn quarry near Nantlle began quarrying in Ceunant y Diphwys to the north-east of the present town. The valley had long been known for its slate beds and worked on a small scale. The original quarry has been obliterated by subsequent mining, but it was probably at or near Diphwys Casson Quarry. Led by Methusalem Jones, eight Cilgwyn partners took a lease on Gelli Farm for their quarry. In 1800, William Turner and William Casson from the Lake District bought the lease and expanded production. Turner was also the owner of Dorothea quarry in the Nantlle Valley, adjacent to Cilgwyn.
In 1819, quarrying began on slopes at Allt-fawr near Rhiwbryfdir Farm, on land owned by the Oakeley family from Tan y Bwlch. Within a decade, three slate quarries were operating on Allt-fawr. These amalgamated to form Oakeley Quarry, which became the largest underground slate mine in the world.
Quarrying expanded fast in the earlier 19th century. Notable quarries opened at Llechwedd, Maenofferen and Votty & Bowydd, while Turner and Casson's Diphwys Casson flourished. Further off, Cwmorthin and Wrysgan quarries were dug to the south of the town, while at the head of Cwm Penmachno to the north-east, a series of quarries started at Rhiwbach, Cwt y Bugail and Blaen y Cwm. To the south-east another cluster worked the slopes of Manod Mawr. The workforce for these was initially taken from nearby towns and villages such as Ffestiniog and Maentwrog. Before the arrival of railways, travel to the quarries was difficult and workers' houses were built nearby. These typically grew up round existing farms and roads between them. An early settlement was at Rhiwbryfdir, for the Oakeley and Llechwedd quarries. As early as 1801, new roads were built specifically to serve the quarries. By 1851, there were 3,460 people living in the new town of Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Urbanization (1851–1900).
During the 1860s and 1870s the boom in the slate industry fed the nascent town of Blaenau Ffestiniog. It gained its first church and first school and saw much ribbon development along its roads. By 1881, its population had reached 11,274. The slate boom gave way to a sharp decline. The 1890s saw several quarries lose money for the first time, and several fail entirely, including Cwmorthin and Nyth-y-Gigfran.
Blaenau Ffestiniog hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1898.
Slate decline (1901–1950).
The slate industry recovered from the recession of the 1890s only partly. The First World War sent many quarrymen join the armed forces and production fell. There was a short post-war boom, but the long-term trend was towards mass-produced tiles and cheaper slate from Spain. Oakeley Quarry took over Cwmorthin, Votty & Bowydd and Diphwys Casson, while Llechwedd acquired Maenofferen. Despite this consolidation, the decline continued. The Second World War brought a further loss of workforce. In 1946, the Ffestiniog Railway closed.
Since 1945.
In August 1945 the secluded farmhouse of Bwlch Ocyn at Manod, belonging to Clough Williams-Ellis, became the home for three years of the writer Arthur Koestler and his wife Mamaine. While there, Koestler would become a close friend of his fellow writer George Orwell.
The remaining quarries served by the Rhiwbach Tramway closed during the 1950s and 1960s. Oakeley closed in 1970, with the loss of many local jobs. It re-opened in 1974 on a much smaller scale and was reworked until 2010. Maenofferen and Llechwedd continued, but Maenofferen finally closed in 1998. Llechwedd is still a working quarry, working the David Jones part of Maenofferen (level two-and-a-half).
As the slate industry shrank, so did the population of Blaenau Ffestiniog, which fell to 4,875 in 2011. Tourism became the town's largest employer. The revived Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns are popular attractions, as are the Antur Stiniog downhill mountain-biking centre, and more recently the Zip World Titan zip-line site, which includes the Bounce Below slate-mine activity centre.
Geography.
Blaenau Ffestiniog consists of distinct areas, several of which take their names from settlements that predate the town, including Rhiwbryfdir, Glanypwll and Cwmbowydd.. Other local villages, notably Tanygrisiau and Manod, are sometimes taken to be parts of Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Although the town is in the centre of the Snowdonia National Park, the boundaries of the Park exclude the town and its substantial slate-waste heaps. Blaenau Ffestiniog is known as the town with one of the highest rainfalls in Wales. It has several reservoirs, one of which supplies the Ffestiniog Hydro Power Station. Stwlan Dam can be seen between two of the mountains in the area, Moelwyn Bach and Moelwyn Mawr. The mountains around the town form a watershed between the River Lledr flowing north as a tributary of the River Conwy and the River Dwyryd flowing west.
Education.
Ysgol y Moelwyn is the main secondary school, covering Blaenau, Manod, Tanygrisiau, Llan Ffestiniog, Trawsfynydd, Gellilydan, Maentwrog and stretching into the Vale of Ffestiniog and Dolwyddelan. It came third in Britain's best county school list in 2006 and had 309 pupils in 2016. Some pupils travel to neighbouring towns.
There are five primary schools in the area.
Welsh language.
Most people in Blaenau Ffestiniog habitually speak Welsh. At the 2011 census, 78.6 per cent of residents over the age of three stated that they could speak it, a slight fall from 80.9 per cent at the 2001 census. The latest inspection reports of the town's primary schools, Ysgol Maenofferen and Ysgol Y Manod, both in 2016, put the proportion of pupils speaking Welsh at home at 87 and 85 per cent. At the town's secondary school, Ysgol y Moelwyn, 82 per cent of pupils came from Welsh-speaking homes in 2014, making its Welsh-speaking intake the highest among secondary schools in the former county of Meirionnydd and fourth highest among those in Gwynedd.
Transport.
The main access to Blaenau Ffestiniog is the A470 road running north to Llandudno and south to Dolgellau and beyond. The A496 runs south to the coastal resorts of Harlech and Barmouth and connects with the A487 towards Porthmadog and the Llŷn Peninsula. Immediately north of the town, the A470 climbs steeply to the Crimea Pass and meets the A5 at Betws-y-Coed, giving access to Llangollen, Wrexham and Shrewsbury in the east and Bangor and Holyhead in the west.
Bus services in the town are mainly provided by Arriva Buses Wales and Llew Jones, with routes to Porthmadog, Dolgellau and to Llandudno via Betws-y-Coed and Llanrwst. Town circular services via Tanygrisiau are operated hourly on weekdays by John's Coaches.
Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station, on the site of the former Great Western station, is used by the Ffestiniog Railway and the Conwy Valley Line, their previous stations being no longer in use. The Conwy Valley line runs to the North Wales coast at Llandudno Junction, with links to Chester, Holyhead and Manchester.
At various times the town has been the terminus for four independent railway lines, each with its own station or stations:
Tourism.
Blaenau Ffestiniog's tourist attractions include the Ffestiniog Railway and the Llechwedd Slate Caverns, a former slate mine open to visitors. Llechwedd is often put as one of Wales' top five visitor attractions. Near Blaenau Ffestiniog there are miles of mountain landscape with derelict quarries, rivers, various lakes and walking routes.
Several mountain biking trails have been created, some suitable for competition level. Bikes are available for hire.
The town centre has several cafes and pubs. Its other features include child-friendly potholing, poetry walks, art centres, and views of the area.
Regeneration.
The town centre has recently been regenerated, as funding from organisations, grants and the Welsh Government of £4.5 million are spent. A new bus station has been built along with new viewing areas for neighbouring mountain ranges. Several slate structures have been built with poetry engraved on them. These are about 40 ft tall and are intended to echo visually the slate hills and mountains. Poetry and local sayings have also been engraved on slate bands set into pavements in the town centre.
Various walkways have been installed, as well as a series of downhill mountain biking trails by Antur Stiniog. A kilometre-long zip-wire has been erected at Llechwedd Slate Caverns, which is popular with thrill-seekers.
If plans go ahead Blaenau Ffestiniog will have the UK's first vélo-rail, which is popular in France.
Arts.
Many artists come to Blaenau Ffestiniog for the landscape around it, perhaps inspired by the harshness of the slate tips. They include Kyffin Williams and David Nash.
During the Second World War, the National Gallery stored treasures in one of the mines in the town to protect them from damage or destruction. The large steel gates are still standing and the system to preserve the paintings remains in the caverns.
Music.
Blaenau Ffestiniog has a strong musical tradition from the quarrying days, ranging from the Caban, male voice choirs and brass bands, to the Jazz/ Dance bands like "The New Majestics" and the popular rock bands of the 1980s and 1990s, such as Llwybr Llaethog and Anweledig, to more recent bands such as Gai Toms, Frizbee and Gwibdaith Hen Frân. The local alternative-music training school Gwallgofiaid has over a dozen bands based at its centre at the Old Police Station in Park Square, which has five rehearsal rooms, a 24-track studio and Cwrt performance space.
Notable people.
In birth order:


Crystallex International Corporation

Crystallex International Corporation (OTCQB: CRYXF) is a Canadian corporation engaged in gold mining and exploration. It operates open-pit mines and exploration sites in Venezuela. Its current level of output characterizes it as a junior gold producer.
Las Cristinas exploration & development.
On June 14, 2007, Crystallex announced that it had completed all necessary steps in the permitting process and had received approval from the Venezuelan Ministry of the Environment to begin mining operations at its Las Cristinas site.
On April 30, 2008, Crystallex has been denied a key important environmental permit. Crystallex will not be able to construct the mine without the environmental permit.
Venezuela arbitration.
Crystallex has been litigating for losses relating to nationalization of the Las Cristinas mine in 2008. On April 4, 2016 Crystallex won their case in front of ICSID and was awarded compensation.
In August 2018, a US federal judge ordered the Venezuelan government to immediately pay bonds towards $1.2 billion to Crystallex or to provide shares of PDV Holding Inc., the parent company of Citgo.


Tanygrisiau

Tanygrisiau is a village and area within Blaenau Ffestiniog in the upper end of the Vale of Ffestiniog in the county of Gwynedd, north-west Wales (). It can be found along the southern side of the Moelwyn mountain range and dates to around 1750. It joins onto the semi-urban area of Blaenau Ffestiniog, and is in the community of Ffestiniog; located between and above sea level. it is in the electoral ward of Bowydd and Rhiw which had a 2011 census population of 1878.
Geography.
The Moelwyns protect the village from much of the wind from northerly gales in the winter and give the village a pleasant southerly aspect with relatively mild weather considering its location high in Snowdonia. However rainfall in the upper end of the Ffestiniog valley can be very high all year around.
Industrial Past and Present.
Tanygrisiau, or more properly 'Tan y grisiau', is Welsh for "below the steps", referring to the stepped cliffs above the village. Tanygrisiau was famous for its slate mining, producing a high quality black slate that was used across the world. The major quarries above the village were Cwmorthin, Wrysgan and Conglog.
Tanygrisiau railway station is on the Ffestiniog Railway, a narrow gauge railway built to carry slate from the mines down to the sea at Porthmadog where it was shipped all around the world, mostly for use in roofing.
The nearby Ffestiniog power station, the high Stwlan Dam and Llyn Ystradau, colloquially known as Tanygrisiau Reservoir, are part of a pumped storage hydroelectricity installation. Much nearer the railway station is a waterfall on the Afon Cwmorthin and below the falls, and powered by a different water source, is a very small hydro-electric power station.
The closure of the slate mines during the late 1970s led to massive depopulation of the area from which it has only recently (2005) begun to recover.
Tanygrisiau has close links with the regiment of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
Language.
Welsh is the predominant language of the area and the medium of instruction in all local schools.
Leisure.
The village is a starting point for walks into the Moelwyns, especially if the intention is to climb Moelwyn itself. Care should be taken as there are numerous mine shafts in the area.
As a result of the slate mining, when the Snowdonia National Park was created, Tanygrisiau, Manod and Blaenau Ffestiniog were left outside, thus creating a doughnut-shaped area excluded from the National Park.


Joseph Francis Joy

Joseph Francis Joy (September 13, 1883 – February 1957) was born in the small mining town of Cumberland, Maryland. Joy is known for being an inventor. He accumulated 190 patents in his lifetime.
His major inventions were recognized as milestones in the history of underground mining mechanization. He had pioneered new concepts in hydraulics, modern control and power circuits, trackless mining equipment, efficient gearing and seal designs as well as dozens of other "firsts" in the industry. His contributions changed forever the way minerals are mined.
Joy is also known for founding the company that bears his name: Joy Mining Machinery.


Gora Rudnaya mine

The Gora Rudnaya mine is one of the largest gold mines in Russia and in the world. The mine is located in Sakha Republic. The mine has estimated reserves of 6.4 million oz of gold.


Mikhaylovskiy mine

The Mikhaylovskiy mine is a large iron mine located in western Russia in the Kursk Oblast. Mikhaylovskiy represents one of the largest iron ore reserves in Russia and in the world having estimated reserves of 10.7 billion tonnes of ore grading 35% iron metal.


Petrohawk

Petrohawk Energy Corporation was an independent energy company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Founded in 2003, Petrohawk grew rapidly through mergers and acquisitions.
The company was originally known as Beta Oil & Gas until shareholders approved a name change on July 15, 2004.
In November 2004, Petrohawk bought Wynn-Crosby for $425 million, marking its first large acquisition. The Wynn-Crosby/ Petrohawk transaction was named the “2004 M&A Deal of the Year” by "The Oil and Gas Investor". In July 2005, Petrohawk merged with Mission Resources, nearly doubling in size. One year later, Petrohawk bought KCS Energy for 80 million shares of stock and approximately $900 million in cash. Beginning in 2007, Petrohawk began acquiring acreage in the Haynesville Shale, and in 2008 successfully began an extensive, $500 million drilling program.
On July 15, 2011, BHP Billiton acquired Petrohawk for an all-cash offer of $US38.75 per share.


Seymour Schulich

Seymour Schulich, OC ( , born January 6, 1940) is a Canadian businessman, investor, author, and philanthropist.
Biography.
Schulich was raised in a Jewish family in Montreal, Quebec. He graduated from McGill University with a BSc in 1961 and an MBA from the Desautels Faculty of Management in 1965. He earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the University of Virginia in 1969.
He is married to Tanna and they live in Willowdale, a neighbourhood of Toronto. They have two daughters and four grandchildren.
Career.
His first job was at Shell Oil Company. From 1968 to 1990, he worked at Beutel, Goodman & Company Ltd., a pension fund management company which manages in excess of $10.6 billion CAD (as of 2003), becoming president and vice-chairman.
In 1978, Schulich, along with partner Pierre Lassonde, helped pioneer the concept of royalty payments in the mining industry: their Franco-Nevada and Euro-Nevada companies discovered some precious minerals, but their royalty arrangements allowed them to gain ownership stakes in some of the world’s most profitable mines. A $1,000 investment in Franco-Nevada's stock in 1983 was worth $1.2 million in 2002, equivalent to a 40% average annual rate of return. In 2002, Franco-Nevada merged with Normandy Mining Limited of Australia and Newmont Mining Corporation, creating the largest gold mining company in the world, Newmont Mining Corporation. Schulich was Director of Newmont Mining and Chairman of its merchant banking division from 2002-2007.
In 2007, Schulich published a book titled "Get Smarter: Life and Business Lessons".
Philanthropy.
Schulich has donated funds to numerous Canadian universities including York (Schulich School of Business), Western Ontario (Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry), Calgary (Schulich School of Engineering), Dalhousie (Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie Faculty of Computer Science), McGill (Schulich School of Music), Nipissing (Schulich School of Education), and Queen's (Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection). The first and largest donation that was made was to the Schulich School of Business at York University. All degrees issued by the Schulich School of Business now bear the signature of Seymour Schulich. His philanthropy also extends beyond universities, to the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (Schulich Heart Centre) in Toronto, and outside Canada to the University of Nevada, Reno (Schulich Lecture Hall) and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
On October 15, 2009, Schulich officially presented a donation in the amount of $20 million to Dalhousie University's Law School; in doing so, the Law School has now been renamed the Schulich School of Law.
On October 14, 2011, Schulich announced a $100 million scholarship program targeting students entering the science, technology, engineering and math fields (STEM) in Canada and Israel. This gift is being co-administered by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and the Schulich Foundation. The program is called "Schulich Leader Scholarships", the largest undergraduate STEM scholarship opportunity in each country.


Elijah Hallam

Elijah Hallam (1848 – 3 March 1922) was a British miner from Derbyshire in the north of England.
He is notable as being, along with Frederick Vickers, the first recipient of the Life Saving Medal of the Most Venerable Order of St John. On 6 September 1875, at "imminent risk" to his own life, he saved 6 fellow workmen in great peril who were suspended in a broken cage in the shaft of Albert Colliery near Chesterfield. Sir Edmund Lechmere, Bt presented him with the medal at a public meeting at Whittington Moor on 18 November 1875.


Patrick Kron

Patrick Kron (born 26 September 1953) was the chairman and chief executive (Président-directeur général) of the French engineering conglomerate Alstom. Alstom is most well known for its Eurostar and TGV trains, and is headquartered at Levallois-Perret.
Early life.
Kron is the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants who survived the Nazi concentration camps and detention at the end of the 1940s, when they moved to France. Patrick Kron started his education after high school at Collège-lycée Jacques-Decour as a young boy at the elite university École Polytechnique in Paris, and attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines.
Career.
He started his career at the French Ministry of Industry (Minister of the Economy, Finances and Industry, the Ministère de l'Économie, des Finances et du Commerce extérieur), where he worked from 1979 to 1984. From 1979 to 1983 he was stationed at the Direction régionale de l'Industrie, de la Recherche et de l'Environnement (DRIRE) in the Pays de la Loire.
From 1984 to 1997 he worked for Pechiney, becoming president of the Electrometallurgy Division, and later chairman of the board of the Carbone Lorraine Company from 1993 to 1997.
He became chief executive of Alstom on 1 January 2003. He became chairman of Alstom on 11 March 2003.
While under Kron’s leadership, Alstom was investigated by the United States Department of Justice and ultimately agreed to pay a $772 million fine; some mid-level Alstom executives were jailed or fined as a result of that investigation. However, Kron himself was never charged or prosecuted by government authorities in the United States, France or elsewhere. In 2015, General Electric acquired Alstom’s power generation and transmission businesses; following the completion of that transaction, Kron retired as Alstom’s CEO.
That was the biggest achievement in his carrier. He cleverly sold a part of a company which it has not got any profitably in close future. That is he has been called as clever fox in ledefence streets in Paris.
In 2016, he started the international consulting firm PKC&I, and became Chairman of Truffle Capital, a venture capital firm focused on BioMedTech and FinTech & InsureTech. He also sits on the Board of Directors of listed companies (Sanofi, LafargeHolcim) and of a non-listed company (SEGULA Technologies). Since June 2019, he is Chairman of the Board of Directors at Imerys.
Honours.
He was awarded the Légion d’honneur (Legion of Honour) on 30 September 2004 and became an Officer of National Order of Merit (Ordre national du Mérite) on 18 November 2007.


South Kuzbass power station

South Kuzbass GRES is a thermal power plant (GRES) in Kaltan, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia.
As of January 1, 2007 total electric power 554 MW, heating — 560 Gcal/h.
Currently is a part of Mechel.
GRES is located close to the local coal deposits, largest metallurgical power-consuming industries, mining complexes and the public service of the southern Kuzbass. Coal for the GRES arrives primary from Southern Kuzbass Coal Company, also owned by Mechel.


Markham Colliery disaster

Mining accidents at the Markham Colliery at Staveley near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England.
Accident in 1973.
On 30 July 1973, 18 coal miners lost their lives and a further 11 were seriously injured when a descending cage carrying the men failed to slow down as it approached the bottom of the mine shaft and 18 miners were killed by the impact. The accident was caused by fracture of the brake-rod, when a slowly growing fatigue crack reached a critical size and the brake-rod parted.
Following a thorough investigation it was found that metal fatigue failure occurred in the braking mechanism used to slow down the cage as it descended.
Accident investigation using fracture mechanics.
Background.
The main part of the set up is the winding motor which is driven by the dc motor. Two double deck cages are attached to the two ends of the winding rope. At the start of the winding cycle, power applied to winding motor is gradually increased and mechanical brake released. The cages accelerate then maintain a speed of until the cages approach the ends of the shaft. During deceleration, generator voltage driving the winding motor is reduced to produce regenerative braking and it is finally brought to rest by a mechanical brake.
Mechanical brake consists of a pair of brake shoes applied to the underside of the brake paths by the action of the compressed spring nest operating through a system of levers. Force is transmitted from the spring nest to main lever through a diameter steel rod long. This vertical brake rod is always in tension as the springs are compressed. It also consists of a servospring mechanism which uses the compressed air to counteract the spring force to move the brake shoes away.
For the sake of safety there is an automatic controller which cut off the power supply to winder motor and applies mechanical brake. Also there is an emergency stop button which activates the ‘ungabbling gear’ which disengages brake control lever from Iversen type valve and applies mechanical brake.
Accident.
On Monday, 30 July 1973 the winding engine man noticed some sparks under the brake cylinder when he started to retard the winding. He immediately increased regenerative braking and simultaneously pulled the brake lever to ON position. As there was no effect, he pressed the emergency stop button. This too had no effect and the cage crashed the bottom wooden landing baulks with enormous force which killed 18 and seriously injured 11 people.
Investigation.
All electrical and mechanical components of the winding system were thoroughly investigated to find the cause of accident. Electrical systems were found to be working as supply of compressed air was available above the servo cylinder. However the brake shoes were about clear of the brake paths as the vertical brake rod had broken into two pieces. So the investigation concentrated on the failure of the brake rod.
A chemical analysis proved that the material of the brake rod (carbon steel with the designation En8, conforming to British Standard 970:1947) was within the specification demanded at the time of manufacture.
Metallurgical examination of the brake rod showed that it failed because of fatigue. There were many secondary cracks around the fracture surface which were detected by magnetic particle technique. To investigate fatigue failure it was necessary to determine the inservice loading of the brake rod.
The broken rod was replaced with a new rod and loading conditions were applied. Four strain gauges were attached at a distance of from the lower end, located 90 degrees apart around the circumference of the rod. Readings were taken during manual release and application of the brake and during emergency application of brake. The results showed that in addition to the expected direct tensile stresses at gauge positions there were substantial stresses due to bending when the brake was operated. The magnitude of stresses varied to such an extent that for the one farthest from the drum there was a change from tension to compression as the brake was released. The rod was not designed for such alternating bending loads. The rod was designed with a factor of safety 6.1 for tensile stress. But when alternative bending stress are induced, failure was inevitable.
It was also found that mild steel bearing pad surfaces were badly worn as lubrication was not effective at bearings. This was also due to the unexpected bending stress which progressively squeezed the lubricant out of the gap.
Follow up.
A National Committee for Safety of Manriding in Shafts and Unwalkable Outlets was formed and first met on 3 December 1973. The Committee produced two reports and an addendum.
The National Coal Board carried out a programme to examine the braking and safety systems on all of its mine winders and modified them in accordance with the recommendations of the reports.
Underground explosion in 1938.
An underground explosion in 1938 had killed 79 miners and seriously injured 40 others.
Closure of the mine.
The mine closed in 1994. In 2013 the Walking Together sculpture by Stephen Broadbent was installed at the site of the former colliery. The walking trail of steel figures is a memorial to the 106 miners who died in mining disasters at Markham Colliery in 1937, 1938 and 1973. Each figure represents an individual dead miner whose name is stamped on the circular bronze tag on the figure's chest. By 2020, 88 figures had been installed with fundraising continuing to add figures of the remaining 18 miners.


Joe Oliver (politician)

Joseph Oliver, (born May 20, 1940) is a Canadian politician who served as Minister of Finance from 2014 to 2015. He was elected to the House of Commons in the 2011 federal election and represented the electoral district of Eglinton—Lawrence as a member of the Conservative Party until his defeat in the 2015 election. In 2017 Oliver was named non-executive Chairman of the Board of Echelon Wealth Partners, an independent, Canadian-owned and operated wealth management and capital markets firm. In March 2019 he was appointed to the board of directors of the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO).
Early life and career.
Oliver was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, to a Jewish family. His father was a dentist and his mother was a teacher. He grew up attending Congregation Shaar Hashomayim. He is married to Golda Goldman and has two sons, David and Jeffrey.
Oliver received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961 and a Bachelor of Civil Law degree in 1964 from McGill University. He received an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1970.
Following his studies he became an investment banker with Merrill Lynch and then Nesbitt Thomson. He became executive director of the Ontario Securities Commission and was also named the CEO of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada.
Political career.
2008 and 2011 Elections.
Oliver ran in the Toronto riding of Eglinton—Lawrence in the 2008 election, but lost to the longtime Liberal incumbent, Joe Volpe. In the 2011 election, he defeated Volpe to win the seat.
Minister of Natural Resources.
On May 18, 2011, Oliver was sworn in as the Minister of Natural Resources. In June 2011, Oliver repeated Harper's campaign promise to support Quebec's asbestos industry, by claiming that chrysotile asbestos, a carcinogen, could be used "in a safe and controlled manner." As Natural Resources Minister, Oliver also oversaw SNC-Lavalin's purchase of Atomic Energy of Canada. Oliver has also defended pipeline projects for Canada's oil sands such as Keystone XL and the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines. In a January 2012 open letter defending Keystone XL Oliver called Canadians who opposed the project "radicals" who "use funding from foreign special interest groups to undermine Canada’s national economic interest." During his time as natural resources minister, the ministry's advertising budget grew from $237,000 in 2010–11 to $40 million in 2012–13. Also under Oliver, the regulatory checks on the energy industry's super-projects such as Keystone were streamlined.
Minister of Finance.
On March 19, 2014, Oliver was appointed to replace Jim Flaherty as Minister of Finance. In January 2015, Oliver announced that the budget would not be tabled until April, instead of the usual February to March, because of economic uncertainty caused by the rapid drop in oil prices. On April 21, 2015, Oliver presented the federal budget, which projected a $1.4 billion surplus by taking $2 billion from the country's contingency fund.
2015 Election.
During the 2015 Canadian federal election, Canada was officially declared to be in a recession and fellow cabinet minister Jason Kenney, who unlike Oliver, was running in a safe riding, was the primary Conservative spokesperson on the economy. Meanwhile, Oliver kept a low profile: he cancelled two speaking events at men's only clubs in Toronto, discreetly attended a G20 conference in Turkey, and focused on winning his riding. Oliver lost the seat to Liberal challenger Marco Mendicino.
Attempted political comeback.
Oliver announced in October 2016 that he was seeking the nomination of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in York Centre for the 2018 provincial election. On January 15, 2017, Oliver lost the nomination to 36 year-old lawyer Roman Baber by a margin of 711 to 465 votes.
Electoral record.
"Source": Elections Canada
Boards of directors.
Oliver is on the board of directors of the High Arctic Energy Services, Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) and the Manning Centre.


Gllavica mine

The Gllavica mine is one of the largest nickel mines in Kosovo. The mine is located in Glogovac in Pristina district. The mine has reserves amounting to 6.24 million tonnes of ore grading 1.25% nickel, 0.05% copper, 21.53% iron, 50.89% silica and 13.52% magnesite thus resulting 96,700 tonnes of nickel, 3,120 tonnes of copper, 1,340,000 tonnes of iron, 3,180,000 tonnes of silica and 844,000 tonnes of magnesite.


Yandera mine

The Yandera mine is a large copper mine located in the east of Papua New Guinea in Madang Province. Yandera represents one of the largest copper reserve in Papua New Guinea and in the world having estimated reserves of 580 million tonnes of ore grading 0.41% copper, 0.01% molybdenum and 1.1 million oz of gold.


Noamundi

Noamundi is a census town in West Singhbhum district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is also an administrative block. It is a small mining town located close to the Odisha border. It lies near to Jamshedpur and from Chaibasa. Nearby towns include Padapahar, Barajamda, jagannathpur, Kharsawan, Gua and Kiriburu.
Overview.
The major produce of this mine is iron ore (including blue dust). The mines are run by the Tata Steel and most of the residents of this town are employed by this company. In the recent past a lot of private mine-owners have also set up shop in and around the town. A Pelletizing Plant of Tata Steel to convert blue dust to pellets, suitable for use in blast furnace functioned here from 1972 to 1986 but was closed down because it was not economically viable . The town is the right on the border of Jharkhand and Odisha with some of the iron-mines spanning the two states.The portion of iron mining area of Noamundi in the state of Odisha is called Katamati.
Legend has it that when the first iron ore explorers came to this region, they were amazed to find the local tribal population (Adivasis) using iron axes. When the explorers asked the tribals where they had found the ore, they pointed to a hill nearby and called it Noamundi, which literally means 'that hill' in their language. The native tribal are known as Ho people and their language is also known by the same name, Ho.
In spite of the commodity boom across the world over the last couple of years and the consequent effect of this on the area around Noamundi, the trickle down effect of this boom on the local Adivasi population has been negligible. Illegal mining thrives and is the rule rather than the exception. The result is the increased popularity of the Naxal movement in this area and in greater Jharkhand.
Geography.
Noamundi is located at . It has an average elevation of 487 metres (1597 feet).
Noamundi is located in the heart of Saranda forest, which is the densest deciduous forest of Asia. 'Saranda' in the local tribal language means 'The land of 700 hills'.The administrative boundary of the Saranda reserve forest, however, lie a few kilometres away.
Along with dense forest cover Noamundi, is highly resourceful region. The place is rich in iron ore hematite and Indian multinations like TATA STEEL operate in this region. Apart from forest cover and mining belt, Noamundi has a diversified population, inside the TATA STEEL township people for various regions of India can be found, apart from that being the border of orissa and jharkhand, two most resourceful states of India cultural flavor of both the states can be seen here. With the scenic view of forest cover and hills of saranda forest this region is developing fast.
Demographics.
 India census, Noamundi had a population of 126,994. Noamundi has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 95%, and female literacy is 82%. In Noamundi, 57% of the population is under 6 years of age and 79% of the population is under in Adult.
Transport.
Noamundi is a station on the Tatanagar–Barbil section of Howrah-Tatanagar-Rajkharswan-Barbil line.


Silver mining in Nevada

Silver mining in Nevada, a state of the United States, began in 1858 with the discovery of the Comstock Lode, the first major silver-mining district in the United States. Nevada calls itself the "Silver State." Nevada is the nation's second-largest producer of silver, after Alaska. In 2014 Nevada produced 10.93 million troy ounces of silver, of which 6,74 million ounces were as a byproduct of the mining of gold. The largest byproducers were the Hycroft Mine (1.82 million oz), the Phoenix Mine (1.65 million oz), the Midas Mine (1.49 million oz) and Round Mountain (0.58 million oz).
Rochester district.
The Rochester district in Pershing County was discovered and named in the 1860s by prospectors from Rochester, New York. The district was not a large producer until the early 20th century. In its boom years from 1912 to 1921, the district produced 6.4 million troy ounces (200 metric tons) of silver, 52 thousand ounces (1.6 metric tons) of gold, and 110 thousand pounds (50 metric tons) of lead. The minerals occur in quartz veins contained in Triassic rhyolite.
The Rochester Mine is the only currently operating primary silver producer in Nevada and the second largest in the US, after the Greens Creek mine in Alaska. In 2015 it produced 4.6 million ounces of silver and 52,588 ounces of gold from an open pit and heap leaching operation. It is owned by Coeur Mining.
Comstock Lode.
The Comstock Lode had been a minor gold placer district since 1849. In 1859, several prospectors discovered its rich lode silver ore, and a great rush of miners poured eastward from California, and established Gold Hill and Virginia City, the principal towns of the Comstock Lode. The district has been mostly inactive since the 1920s.
The Comstock was the first important silver-mining district in the United States, and its discovery stimulated a great deal of prospecting for silver across the Great Basin area of the United States. The resulting silver rush led to many other silver discoveries in Nevada, including Austin (1862), Eureka (1864), and Pioche (1869).
The largest operating mine in the Comstock District is the Lucerne Mine near Gold Hill, which produced 222,416 ounces of silver and 19,601 ounces of gold in 2014.
Reese River district.
The silver deposits of the Reese River mining district were discovered in 1862. The town of Austin was established, and in 1863 became the county seat of the newly formed Lander County. By 1867, there were 11 ore-processing mills in the district. The ore deposits are veins in quartz monzonite and quartzite.
Eureka district.
The silver deposits at Eureka in Eureka County were discovered in 1864, but because of the high lead content of the ore, the silver could not be successfully recovered by amalgamation mills. Mining did not boom until after a smelter was built in the district in 1869. Most metal production occurred from 1869 to 1893.
The ore bodies are replacement deposits of silver and gold-bearing galena in Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. Early production was of the oxidized zone, where the galena was altered to cerussite and anglesite in a gangue of limonite, goethite, and calcite. When the miners extended the shafts down into the unoxidized zone, they mined the original sulfide minerals, and added zinc to the list of recoverable metals. Through 1964, Eureka made 4.0 million troy ounces (120 metric tons) of silver, 170,000 ounces (5.3 metric tons) of gold, 370 million pounds (170 thousand metric tons) of lead, 14 million pounds (6400 metric tons) of zinc, and 2.1 million pounds (950 metric tons) of copper.
Pioche district.
Mining in the Pioche district in Lincoln County began in 1869 from silver veins in the Cambrian Prospect Mountain quartzite. Replacement manto-type ore bodies were later discovered in the Highland Peak Limestone of Cambrian age.
Tonopah district.
The last great silver-mining district to be developed in Nevada was Tonopah, in Nye County, discovered in 1900. The silver deposits are replacement veins in Tertiary volcanic rocks. Through 1921, the district produced 138 million troy ounces (4,300 metric tons) of silver and 1.5 million ounces (47 metric tons) of gold.