secret.
This was the sort of thing the real wheelers and dealers in the commodities business kept strictly to themselves, he explained, following which he confided to me that a discreet enquiry with a scrap metal dealer would confirm current brass values without showing one's hand, so to speak, adding that I should use the current multiplier of four point eight two for newly-mined, virgin brass.
When I corrected his comment about brass being mined rather than made he reassured me in the strictest confidence that its creation exclusively by manufacture was exactly what everyone was supposed to believe. "And that is very nearly the truth of the matter," he added, "because most of it is, in fact, produced by manufacture. But what is not generally known is that a relatively small tonnage of brass is actually produced by mining.
As it happens, though, the mined product is far superior in quality to the manufactured alloy, and this, plus the limited quantity released to market, creates an extremely high demand for the new metal, so influencing the value of its multiplier."
But the real problem, he said, is that there are only two producing mines in the whole world. Both are located in Botswana and both are under the control of the US Military, via front companies. As a result the bulk of it is commandeered, and the sales of any surplus metal is restricted to a small number of security-cleared senior staff of authorised trading companies. Mirage Resources International NL is, of course, one such Company.
I then enquired as to why Mirage wasn't proceeding with such a promising project in its own right, whereupon Mr Actinides pointed out that it was all a matter of scale. He then went on to explain how a typical operation in Mirage Resources' portfolio would see the whole deposit mined out in half a day. Initially, he said, because of its richness, the board had decided to seek a suitably sized junior joint venture partner to set up and run the Golden Windle operation (as they had named it) on a scale more commensurate with its dimensions.
But the standard of applicants had been very disappointing, he added, as a result of which the board had subsequently decided on the option of an outright sale - provided that satisfactory guarantees of a prospective purchaser's trustworthiness was forthcoming and the right approach to the business - along with the necessary capital - was demonstrated beforehand (all of which I was able to establish to his satisfaction, the latter via a bank document).
I then mentioned how the name Golden Windle had a certain ring to it and asked how it came to be chosen. Mr Actinides invited me to call him Laurie, then took time to explain that it originated in a game the early Cornish tin miners played, a pea-in-the-shell thing called "windles".
"But somehow," he added, laughing in his uproarious manner, "somewhere in the paperwork when the lease applications were drawn up, the 'S' was lost or forgotten."
Mr Actinides then volunteered to cancel his next week's scheduled meetings with BHP Billiton and the Federal Resources Minister, in order to come up from Melbourne and show me out to the prospect. I told him it wasn't as urgent as all that but he insisted, saying also that, by coincidence, Mirage International's chief exploration geologist, Mr Isaac Lionel-Foalding, would already be there, as he'd be flying up early in the week to do some research at the Mines Department and then arrange a few things.
"We three could meet up in the airport terminal," he suggested. "That way we can get to know each other over a cup of coffee as we discuss things." (...Which, all in all, seemed a great idea.)
The first thing that became apparent on joining the pair in front of the cafeteria was that, company exec's or not, these fellows were men of action. Lionel-Foalding was in well frayed work gear (which was reasonable, him being a geologist), but Mr Actinides had forgone his business suit for even rougher looking, work-worn clothing.
Then, straight after introductions, instead of coffees, Actinides explained urgently how their situation had changed. There was no longer any time for coffee and niceties, he said. His meeting schedules had tightened considerably, meaning we'd have to set off to the Golden Windle as soon as possible.
I then suggested that in order to save time with the 4x4 hire car rigmarole we should make the trip in my old Land Rover. Both Actinides and Lionel-Foalding agreed to the idea enthusiastically, and with all three of us keen to get moving we headed back to town just long enough for me to top up the fuel tank, fill some extra jerry cans, check the water drum and buy some sandwiches and drinks. We then set off, eastward from Alice Springs, as fast as the old Rover would take us.
After a couple of hours travelling the other two needed a comfort stop, by which time it was beginning to get dark. Then, as I went to get back in, Mr Actinides put a hand on my shoulder and insisted they be the ones to drive. They'd take it turn and turn about through the night, he explained, so as to not fall behind "schedule-wise" (as he put it). And this was how we proceeded - though I must say that a couple of times I awoke to find one or the other had stopped for a lengthy roadside nap over the wheel.
These were the only times I actually managed to get some sleep, for this hurried journey was taking us along some of the roughest, most rudimentary bush tracks I have ever experienced. On top of that, between trying to nap and looking occasionally at what was showing in the headlights, I found myself quite disorientated and couldn't for the life of me shake off the notion that we were driving around in circles - something I eventually mentioned in an effort to make a little conversation.
Both Mr Isaac and Actinides had a good laugh at my comment, with Mr Actinides suggesting it would be a good idea for me to try and get as much sleep as possible. "We'll have a busy day ahead of us once we arrive at the Golden Windle," he added chidingly. And he was right of course.
Sunrise saw us bouncing through what seemed like an infinite vista of spinifex and scattered mallee. I couldn't see any tracks but my associates assured me we only had a few kilometres to go.
Once there it was straight to work, of course, with Mr Isaac explaining the significance of the geology as they showed me around the prospect and pointed out where they'd collected their various samples. Later, while we were having a break and finishing off last night's sandwiches, Mr Actinides even allowed me to see their confidential assay results.
"Generally speaking," he said encouragingly, as I looked over the figures, "Mirage International NL regards the mineralisation here as being particularly significant."
He didn't have to enlarge on that, however. I could see for myself how promising it all looked. The brass grades evident in the "host rocks" (as Mr Actinides called them) were there for anyone to see.
Something else I noticed was the inordinate number of shotgun cartridges lying about the place. When I asked about this Mr Actinides explained that their exploration team's previous visit had been interrupted by a mob of demented wild camels that threatened and harassed them. They'd had to keep firing the shotgun to frighten the beasts away, he said. He was particularly annoyed to find the empty cartridge shells still there, however, and admonished his associate severely. As the company's Chief Exploration Geologist Lionel-Foalding was responsible for this sort of thing, he later explained to me. He should have seen to it that the discarded items were properly disposed of, in line with Mirage International's strict environmental policies.
Later again, over a rudimentary lunch comprising the half a packet of Sao biscuits and a three-year old tin of bully-beef I'd found under the driver's seat, Mr Isaac instructed me in the fundamentals of how the rocks here came to be formed. He then explained how (despite the conditions for brass deposition being desperately critical), when the requirements were exactly right, its emplacement occurred extremely rapidly.
"--In the geological sense, that is," he added quickly, with both men laughing uproariously at his having to clarify the issue.
He also indicated, in the manner of a friendly mentor, how in circumstances such as these it was always advisable that a prospective buyer take nothing as granted. I should collect some samples for myself, he cautioned, and have in
dependent assays done - so as to confirm the data provided by Mirage. He then gave me some sample bags and took the trouble to show me the best places to collect my samples; later he recommended a reliable firm of laboratory analysts wherein the samples could be tested at a favourable price.
Mid afternoon we took the opportunity to have a couple hour's doze under some mulga trees, "To catch up on sleep lost the previous night and fortify ourselves for the long journey home," Mr Actinides said, as they had to catch a return plane in the morning.
I would add here, too, that after sleeping in fits and starts the previous night and then putting in a hard day at the prospect, I had no trouble in getting some shut-eye - both then and later as the Land Rover bucked and bounced through the spinifex and along the tracks on the way back to town. I only woke a couple of times during the return trip, but I did notice that we'd stopped along the way again several times while whichever one was driving took a nap over the wheel. I was pleasantly surprised, however, when daybreak revealed that we were within striking distance of Alice Springs.
On reaching town we went straight to the budget backpackers to see a Mr Sidney Sligh - there due to an accommodation shortfall, he said. He was