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  1. #1
    I'm in Jail

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    How Mining in The Lao PDR saved me from being a pornstar

    I Find myself with a bit of time on my hands so im cranking up my mining thread, Some of you may recall i had it archived for fear of loosing my job ,i didnt want that gravy train derailed so the mods tucked it away to be continued at a later date, unfortunately it was lost.

    I worked at the Sepon copper and gold mine for 9 years and have a shitload of pictures. Feel free to stop me at any time if you get bored. It could take a while

    As you know Mines dont just happen. they have to be Found, a long and costly process

    This is how it starts



    Theres a lot of years between that and

    THIS

    Last edited by beerlaodrinker; 29-06-2017 at 05:10 PM.

  2. #2
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    Lets go looks like a fun ride....

  3. #3
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    The regional geologists (geos or rock lickers) do the hard yards but sometimes get to goof off in scenic spots before some coont sticks a mine on it



    But its not all looking at waterfalls



    The boys are trying desperately not to get any mud on them



    But it just gets worse. A regional geos nightmare. gotta get the fucker out before beer o clock


    Here are there tools of the trade



    Geos mapping rockfaces




    Rugged Terrain makes walking difficult and treachorous in a vehicle



    Last edited by beerlaodrinker; 29-06-2017 at 09:19 PM.

  4. #4
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    Sometimes if the exploration target is to far to commute a Temporary flycamp is set up.

    First step is to hire some locals (usually young girls)





    no modcons but were not there for a holiday


    Hire a couple of locals for the cooking



    cant go wrong with a Kubota generator either




    Last edited by beerlaodrinker; 29-06-2017 at 09:20 PM.

  5. #5
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    Interesting thread mate, keep them coming,
    Any pics of gold nuggets

  6. #6
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    I was getting sick of cold showers so instructed the boys to build a donkey.. They had never heard of the concept but liked the result. Hot showers after work


  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chittychangchang View Post
    Interesting thread mate, keep them coming,
    Any pics of gold nuggets
    Probably some pics of free gold in the coresamples and plenty of pics of gold bars smelted on site, They produce gold Dore as well as copper cathode. more on that later.

    There you go, Found a pic of some colour in a pan sample

    Last edited by beerlaodrinker; 29-06-2017 at 05:29 PM.

  8. #8
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    Heres the Intrepid Regional geos hard at it again. the guy in front carrying the detector is from the UXO department and is called a pathfinder, Plenty of UXO around so the boys tread lightly when off the beaten path










    Last edited by beerlaodrinker; 29-06-2017 at 05:19 PM.

  9. #9
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    The area around the mine is not far from the Viet border at Lao Bao and was part of the ho chi minh Trail. Plenty of bombs of all sizes and shapes

    250 pounder dug up in an active mining pit. Got missed somehow



    750 pounder that was driller into at 4m down by a percusion rig (change of underwear time)


    There he is fully uncovered.



    Brave excavator operater eh?



    These things have been down there rusty and Angry for 40 years. Locals like to search for them in the bush for scrap metal money



    Last edited by beerlaodrinker; 29-06-2017 at 09:22 PM.

  10. #10
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    As part of the process the exploration tem use geophysical methods such as Gravity readings


    The Gravity meter


    field assistants
    conducting Mag survey




    Heres the crew conducting I.P survey ( they pump voltage into the ground and measure the response ( looking for anomalies)


    Last edited by beerlaodrinker; 29-06-2017 at 08:25 PM.

  11. #11
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    Fascinating stuff BLD. Please keep it going.

    I can't green you yet but this thread is going to be worth a lot more than a measly green.
    A classic thread in the making.
    Thank you.

  12. #12
    Thailand Expat AntRobertson's Avatar
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    Sensational stuff mate! Excellent thread!!








    But I was promised porn stars, where the fuck are they??

  13. #13
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AntRobertson
    But I was promised porn stars


    just squint

  14. #14
    Thailand Expat AntRobertson's Avatar
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    Oh yes, yes I see what you mean..









    *Fap*

  15. #15
    A Cockless Wonder
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    Crackling good stuff BLDs....



    Ta

  16. #16
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    Great stuff. Has the makings of a classic. Looking forward to more.

  17. #17
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    Fascinating stuff, keep them coming.

    Those bomb/UXB figures are frightening.

  18. #18
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    Good thread BLD. Very interesting.

  19. #19
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    Very good stuff...

    What was your role there?

  20. #20
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    As mentioned, exploration comes before production but in that part of Lao UXO clearance starts first, this used to cost the company over 1 mill ion USD a year but you cant assume its not there.

    our UXO teaams were made of mostly of cutters ( girls mostly as they work harder than the blokes) these girls go in with a machette each to get the jungle cleared before the shallow and deep search team turn up



    They all come from surrounding villages and are bussed into the site then transported to jobsites by These converted russian trucks

    First job of the day is to sharpen the machette



    This was quite a big site and i think at one stage there was about 2000 people on site maybe 500 of them as expats. Not much mining skills in Lao so it was like starting from scratch everyday, even more frustrating was Community Relations dept decision to rotate villages for employment each month.



    Sometimes just getting them all onsite and working was a challenge



    Bladdy asian drivers


  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by CSFFan View Post
    Very good stuff...

    What was your role there?
    Supervise Drilling and Exploration Logistic crews

  22. #22
    Thailand Expat David48atTD's Avatar
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    Ripping photos ...

    Looking forward to the whole shebang

  23. #23
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    UXO team morning safety brief is down by load speaker


    Uxo deep search team working on a new mining area



    Locals getting bussed back to there villages at the end of shift





    with so many different departments and such a low skill base locally we had to put in thousands of hours of Training , even things like wearing PPE which you and me take for granted was new to the locals, If i gave them a set of steelcaps i never saw that guy again, had to have someone sign them in and out daily,

    uxo Training





    The locals are very poor
    Last edited by beerlaodrinker; 30-06-2017 at 05:07 AM.

  24. #24
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  25. #25
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    What kind of pay rates were the locals on?

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