This topic was posted . Thanks blam.
Posted on 04/13/2005 5:18:17 PM PDT by blam
April 13, 2005 1:20 PM
Ancient Cypriot copper mine for sale
By Michele Kambas
NICOSIA (Reuters) - A copper mine in Cyprus where the metal has been mined since Biblical times faces closure unless the Church of Cyprus can find a buyer, officials said on Wednesday.
The Skouriotissa mine, which produced copper ore at a site where there has been mining for some 4,000 years, suspended operations in January, leaving its workers unpaid and with debts labour unions estimate at 14 million pounds.
Herod the Great, who in the Bible ordered the Massacre of the Innocents in an attempt to murder the infant Jesus, has been recorded among those having rights to mine at the site in Cyprus's picturesque Troodos Mountains.
Now, despite high world copper prices, the mine faces the risk of permanent closure.
"The Church itself lost about 8.5 million pounds from this, we kept it running for as long as possible," said Bishop Chrysostomos, who handles financial affairs of the Church of Cyprus.
The Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus, which has business interests ranging from real estate to the island's largest brewery, owns 39 percent of Skouriotissa through Hellenic Copper Mines (HCM). Greece's Mytilineos metallurgy group owns 29 percent.
Skouriotissa reopened in 1996 after more than two decades of inactivity. Based on 2002 projections, it had at least 10 years of production of 6,500 tonnes annually and an estimated 200,000 tonnes of contained copper metal in ore reserves.
Skouriotissa operators blame its demise on several factors, including accumulated losses from when copper prices were low and high overhead. There also have been allegations of financial difficulties in several institutions controlled by the Church.
The Church is in consultations with Mytilineos to dispose of the stake to an unnamed third party. "We don't have a deal yet, we are waiting for them to answer," Chrysostomos told Reuters.
Constantinos Loizides, chairman of HCM, said contacts with creditors and banks were at their "final stages" but declined to comment further.
The Church had expected an answer last Friday on a possible sale, but was willing to wait a few more days, the bishop said.
Marcos Chiftes, a staff representative of workers who held a staff gathering outside the main church office in Nicosia, said workers had been unpaid since January.
"We want the mine to reopen. Until we get an answer we will be waiting here," he told Reuters.
Lying some 55 kms (35 miles) west of the capital, Skouriotissa covers a hilly region on the foothills of the Troodos.
According to the Semitic Museum at Harvard University, the ancient Romans leased the mines to the highest bidder. In 12 BC rights tomines in the area went to King Herod, who was allowed to keep half the profits.
BTTT
Did a story once at a copper-smelting plant, and was amazed at the amount of gold and silver recovered during the refining process...pretty precious by-products.
The natural gas wells in Mobile Bay produce so much sulfur (a by product) with the natural gas that a sulfur processing plant was built near-by.
The Magma mine sold it’s smelted copper blister to the refinery at El Paso for a stiff premium due to the gold and silver content. The San Manuel Mine recovered gold and othe precious metals by at a small cyanide plant at the concentrator and, in much larger quantities from the slimes after electrolitic refining. They went a good way toward paying the processing (not the mining) costs.
This topic was posted . Thanks blam.
Herod:
What’s mine is mine. What’s yours is mine. Hope you don’t mind...................
Copper, Silver and Gold are all related in the same column in the Periodic Chart...............
Copper is a good defense against Covid. Viruses can’t survive more than a few days on copper. My daughter found me a copper infused/mesh mask at Home Depot.
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