Minds in Mines

Chapter 7: Going Up

With a similar combination of jeans, a shirt, a jacket, sneakers, and a backpack on their shoulders, they were ready for Mr Nahuway to pick them up a few minutes before nine. The man came back punctually at nine with a sturdy SUV and took them to an office building in the town centre.

"This is the standard procedure before going up to the open pit mines, Mr AB. We need to make sure that everyone is able-bodied to go to that height." Mr Nahuway deliberately explained although no one asked as the four of them were checked for blood pressure and heart rate by a nurse.

After they were all cleared to go up the open pit mines, there was a briefing about the safety regulations. They were each provided with safety equipment; a helmet, a fluorescent high-visibility vest, and goggles. They were also given a zip bag so they could put their sneakers in their backpacks and change into rubber boots.

Once they wore all the safety equipment, Mr Nahuway took them for an hour's ride with the SUV to Mile 74 where the aerial tramway terminal was located. Again, they shared the road with big trucks and heavy-duty vehicles. Being in an SUV, as opposed to being in the bus truck earlier, definitely made it feel like they were on the road with Goliaths this time. The inferiority was real even if everything was safe.

"I can imagine how crowded this tram terminal was during its heyday," Moony said as they walked around the snaky permanent queue barriers in the terminal to get to the tram.

"Yes, Mr Kapoor. This terminal used to have thousands of workers lining for the trams to transport them up daily. Since we closed the open-pit mines, the trams are used only by some workers. They are also kept for visitors," Mr Nahuway informed them as they stepped into the cabin of the tram.

"I still don't understand why we don't just go to operating mines instead of going to closed mines," Shotty said.

"It is important to visit the open-pit mines even though we have stopped operating them, Mr Sinha, so you can understand why the switch that we have implemented to the underground mine was needed."

When the door was closed, they reached for handles hanging from the roof to hold on to since there were no seats in the tram's cabin. The tram was definitely not built for leisure, unlike those in ski resorts.

"Those are the concentrating mills." Mr Nahuway pointed to huge blocks of buildings across the tram terminal that they could see as the tram started its way up the mountain. "We will visit them tomorrow as well as the underground mines and the underground mine headquarters."

If the aerial view of Tembagapura and Hidden Valley looked neat and lovely, unfortunately, the view of the vast mills looked totally unattractive. The lush green forest was cut extensively and in its place were grey dusty rocky areas where drab buildings stood.

"Are those water reservoirs?" Moony zeroed in on green circles on the ground.

"Indeed, Mr Kapoor. They are water reservoirs the mills need for the concentration process. We produce slurry and transport it through a pipeline across the mountains for almost two hundred kilometres to the port at Amamapare. There, the slurry is dried and shipped to the smelter."

Mr Nahuway explained the process more. The volume of water needed for the process was staggering, not to mention the tailings or the leftover materials afterwards since the running water would be mixed with impurities from ores that could be very toxic and dangerous for humans.

"But we have a recycling procedure for the water to minimise the use of fresh water and a reclamation procedure for tailings. Our recycling water process is one of the best around so we can drink water straight from the tap here. We have followed legal procedures the government has standardised for waste processing, Mr Kapoor. There should be no problem of regulatory violation," Mr Nahuway tried to justify what the company did.