Timing is everything in the Bush telegraph game, I popped into the local PC shop to purchase me a Thingymeglob when I noticed a "newbie" customer in front of me....
One of those individuals who stick out like a sore thumb if they happen to be a Visitor to our little oasis.... Well me being the extrovert kinda chap, introduced myself and found out that this chap is from Belgium (Holland and Norway) and is busy with a project for the mone whereby they take a little dingy out behind the breakers and with their equipment perform electromagnetic survey readings of the floor of the ocean..... this will enable the mine to locate "pockets" that should be profitable to mine as opposed to ripping up the entire seabed..... once these pockets have been identified, then the Sea Walkers move in to recover the gravel...... Ain't this sounding like a Sci Fi Mine....... I think it sounds exciting..... the chap is called Dr.Peteralv Brabers and their website is www.demco-surveys.com
Quite a fascinating chap who has worked all over the planet..... plenty of tales..... he reckons the technology has already been proven on the congo river.......
In the book, the King of Sea Diamonds, Sammy Collins claimed that there had to be more than 3 Billion Carats of recoverable diamonds in the ocean....
These coastal diamonds will not be mined out in our lifetime...
Besides being smart and clever (him being a doctor) he must be very brave as well !! On a dingy in those waters just behind the brakers .... that is such a NO NO for me.
Very interesting indeed I would say - may sound like an expensive experiment now, but in the long run it will save a few million in costs if the production teams knows where those pockets are located exactly (GPS reading and all that smart stuff), instead of mining the whole coastline to the Kunene ... :0)
Weather conditions suitable for negotiating those breakers are rare, possibly once or twice a year and then for a short time. Unless your Belgian friend is using a semi-submersible with at least a 70 horse motor on the back to get him out of trouble in a hurry then he isn't going anywhere other than the local clinic or the morgue. Take it from somebody who tried it and came off short.
Regards,
Bob.
There is a crew here who are quite demon at launching inflatable boats along our coast... the secret is launch it in the river and exit through the mouth into the sea. These aren't small boats either. One of them looks around 6 or 7m and has 2 beasties on the back for power.
I think they've also had their share of buying a piece of Namib coastline, if you get what I mean!
Ok..... this chap has returned to the mine and was chatting to a sidekick of mine down at the Eloola Cafe on the weekend...... reckons that there is a massive future for diamond mining in the surf zone, "don't let anyone tell you otherwise," there are plenty of diamonds to mined in this zone.... I am led to believe that a representative of their company intends to be stationed here for the next two years at least.....