Adventure Ausrama Blog

The Australian economy is heading southward and this does not mean we are moving closer to Antarctica. Our financial health is still in primary products. The price and demand for iron ore and coal still drives the economy. At the moment the foot is really off the accelerator and we are idling downhill. We will eventually reach the bottom. Then the country will have big problems. Tax revenue is already falling due to lower demand by China. US demand for Chinese good remains sluggish. As the world economy falls it impacts strongly on Australia. We have not made the move away from agriculture and manufacturing. This is mainly because our resource bowl has kept wages high. Manufacturing countries always have a wage differential advantage. In time, wages will rise in China as they have in Japan. Then companies will probably move to Southeast Asia. The hope that Australia will have a increase in IT start-ups to offset the fall in resource exports is not well founded. Products ...

Environmental researchers do not have to take the kitchen sink with them on field trips any more. They can leave GPS, camera and notepad behind as they do their work. New software makes this possible. A single device linked to the Internet now has everything an investigator requires. This is especially so in mining. The Northern Territory has adopted the new system and it is doing all it promises.  As farming takes up new technology it would be expected that researchers would do the same. Capturing information is now very easy indeed with reports being done automatically. Photographs are coordinated with Google Earth maps. Relevant data is also stored.  In depth analysis is now possible with the extra time on hand for investigators. A researchers movement around a site is recorded. This makes monitoring of tasks much easier. The software is a significant step forward. Hours of tedious labor has been reduced.  With a solid data bank in hand, looking...

Water dousing is not a scientifically proven method of finding minerals.  CSIRO's chief executive officer has suggested that dousing be put to the test scientifically.  Over the years it has been put to the test and found wanting. Personal experience has highlighted this when a water bore contractor used the system and did not find water.  He said that he would have to drill deeper and I would pay for it.  I waved the contract at him and said there is no mention of a surcharge in this - you guaranteed to find water. The claim of 80 per cent accuracy is not true.  It is based on heresay and after the fact selection of results.  It is like ghosts and life after death.  There is no scientific proof that these are real. The main use of divining is to locate water.  As former chief of CSIRO Land and Water John Williams says, “We know where the water is. The trouble is there isn’t much of it."   Dr Larry Marshall is a trained sc...

Was the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) set up to improve business or just be a nuisance to operations. Its job should be to police the industry and make things run smoothly. However, putting one's nose in when it is not needed is not the best thing to do. The mining boom is coming to an end as the Chinese economy pulls back from high growth due to wages rising thus demand falling. Companies are looking to move to other Asian countries where labor is cheaper. Australian mining companies are looking to become producers of other things such as technology. With this move comes threats from ASIC for the miners to keep their noses clean. Apparently they must inform shareholders before they buy tech companies. We have not reached a point yet where shareholders manage companies. Surely, it is up to the CEO and the board to set future company developments and intentions. ASIC is making accusations that mining companies are "cooking the book...

Being a primary producer means Australia leads in mining technology. Russia wants to get its hands on some of this high-tech to mine its vast resources. Companies such as MBC Resources, Noritsk Nickel and Russian Platinum welcomed the Australian XT business into its new office in Moscow. There is also interest from neighboring countries with huge untapped resources in neighboring countries: Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Projects have already begun in these nations. Australian know-how is eagerly sought after. Australian mining is becoming a major service provider overseas as exports continue to rise. South Africa, Canada and Chile also consult XT; it has established offices in these countries. Technology by Ty Buchanan http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com/atom.xml http://www.technorati.com/blogs/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....

There is always conflict between industry and the natural ecosystem. With the arrival of extraction and even mass agriculture comes pollution detrimental to the flora and fauna. This is no different in Aboriginal regions as in urbanized cities. Dean Mathews is a Yawuru Aboriginal and Project Officer for the Nyamba Buru Yawuru Aboriginal Corporation. He monitors the impact on groundwater by agriculture and mining. He has made a video. It is significant that the location he tested did not have any visible industry there, so it would be expected that the water was still pure. Test the water adjacent to mining activity and the results would be quite different. Much has been made of Aboriginal cooperation with industry - too much for my liking. One has the feeling that local Aboriginal have been duped. The mining industry employs people whose sole motivation is to change public opinion to accept the "job-creating" mining companies. The problem is of course that f...

Andrew Forrest chairman of Fortescue Metals Group has been a critic of the mining tax. This appears to be for mainly selfish reasons though he does claim that the tax will reduce investment in the mining sector. He does not come across as a caring person and worrying about the future economic welfare of other Australians seems to be far from his thoughts. It is odd that when people criticize others the name calling seems to apply more appropriately to the caller than the target. When he calls environmentalists "spoilt children" a good look at him shows he is the spoilt one. As well as mining he is a farmer, so he often faces harassment from greenies. Being a free society Mr Forrest has a right to say this, or say anything else that intends to bring all environmentalists down. However, a cursory glance at Andrew Forrest makes one feel that there isn't much in his almost empty head apart from a dollar sign. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.ty...

Is a bank tax the same as the Australian minerals tax? Mining companies are playing a dirty game by paying Olympic stars good money to say the mining tax is bad for the country. There isn't much doubt that such a tax is tremendously beneficial to the Australian economy. This is because other countries will quickly follow suit and bring in their own mining tax. Olympians who go for the money will soon lose support of the community. This has happened in the past when celebrities let their political leanings been known. Straight away half the population doesn't like them anymore. If you belong to the public there are certain things you should keep to yourself. People have long memories. Not much is being said about the new bank tax proposed by European countries. However, this is much like the Australian minerals tax. There are dangers there for European countries. If the US doesn't bring in a similar tax, banks will re-register there to avoid paying the tax. Perhaps that is w...