From Sweden we have a real feel-good story.
Last year Siv Wiik, 69, and Harriet Svenson, 64, went hiking to pick blueberries. While ambling around the countryside they kept their eyes open for traces of minerals, a hobby of theirs for many years.
This time their hobby paid off - and how!
Government surveyors believe that the women may have happened upon the largest reserves of gold and zinc ever discovered in Sweden by private individuals.
Arne Sundberg is a regional director at the Geological Survey of Sweden, a government agency responsible for the management of mineral resources.
"When I heard about the find I drove up to meet the women. They told me they wished they had a video camera to register the amazement on my face. I don't remember ever seeing anything like it in all the long years I've worked in this job," he told The Local.
The canny ladies immediately registered a mining concession on 800 hectares (just under 2,000 acres) surrounding their find. They were awarded the region's 2007 "Mineral Hunt" prize of 12,000 kronor (about $2,000) for their discovery. All mineral companies were barred from competing for exploitation rights until after the award, but as soon as it had been made the rush was on!
It was reported today that they've accepted a deal from a Canadian company, Hansa Resources, that will pay them 21 million kronor (about $3.5 million) for their concession. They'll receive 4.2 million kronor (about $700,000) in cash plus a 20% interest in the mining operation to be set up. Hansa will pump 12 million kronor into developing the concession over the next four years.
"The whole thing is just like a fairy tale. We're going to crack open a big magnum of champagne after all the papers are signed," Svensson, 64, told The Local.
. . .
"Siv and I are going to travel to Whitecliff in Australia and search for opal. We're going to stay in the caves there. It has always been a dream of ours . . . My great hope now is that this will provide job opportunities for people in the region for years to come. It is generally reckoned that each individual miner will generate five new jobs. I hope the miners drill deep, really deep, and keep finding minerals all the way down to the earth's mantle," said Svensson.
Congratulations to both ladies. I suspect their golden years will be a lot more golden after this!
Peter
3 comments:
That is interesting, but who owned the land? The article isn't clear, but makes it seem like the ladies didn't, and that the owners of the land will only get a portion of the proceeds from the mining. It just strikes me as rather odd.
Dustin, in Sweden a landowner does not own the mineral rights. The latter can be assigned by the State to a mining claim or mining enterprise. It's a bit complicated: for a fuller explanation see
http://tinyurl.com/5l24jd
Hope this helps.
How cool! I've been crazy about rocks since I was little, and my Ozark homeland yielded rich offerings of sparkly quartz-encrusted rocks that still thrill my heart today. I love that these women will use the proceeds to go on more rockhound adventures as sort of embodiment of the thought that the journey is the destination. This story made me smile. Thanks!
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