Sand Boogers

 

The mine is called Al Hajar and is owned by Ma’aden (which means “minerals”) – a mining company run by the government.

The camp containers	Mine is the door just after the sign on the fence

The camp is very weather-beaten. Many large satellite dishes lie around in various stages of corrosion. I think they are most likely TV dishes, but there are a number of internet dishes too. A basketball court, a tennis court and a volleyball court are at the top of the camp, although in this sun none of them are used. The camp is actually fairly empty although surprisingly, finding accommodation was tough. They didn’t have a room for me when I arrived, so as much as I wanted to collapse and sleep somewhere I had to stay awake while they hunted for a room. Eventually they showed me to a room with a local’s stuff scattered all over the place. Most of his clothes they took out, but I’m not sure when said individual is expected back, so I lock my door at night, lest I relive the moment where, in a hostel in Napoli, Italy, some drunk guy tried to climb into my bed with me, giving both of us a bloody big fright! Most of the accommodation containers have a room on either side with a shared bathroom in the centre. I don’t think I have a neighbour at the moment, so the bathroom’s all mine!

Proper paint weathering – quite a cool texture?	Sunset. And with it the temperature drops…

The canteen is great – the food seems quite good (if you like chicken – that’s pretty much all they do), there is fruit, bread, omelette at breakfast etc., although one eats directly off the steel trays which is preparing me for any jail time I may have in my future…

“…but you’ll still need a tray”	My baby, sunrise on day 1

It is incredibly cold at night here. I was warned, thankfully, as I had already laid out my t-shirts and shorts and wasn’t even going to take a jacket as the last few places I have been its been 25°C at night and the jacket just wasted space in my bag. Its actually quite enjoyable having a cool environment for a change. This first morning I got up at 5am in the pitch dark and with a cold wind blowing, pulled on a fleece, hat and gloves to walk out to the chopper. However, as soon as the sun peeps over the hills the temperature starts to climb and by 10am its around 24°C. Thankfully not at all sweltering, but we are 5500feet above sea level after all. The dryness is serious, however. Its incredibly dusty and boogers get scratchy, so I’ve been sneezing up a storm! Hopefully in a few days my nose will get used to both and I’ll be ok. (Yes, I am drinking lots of water, Mom/Cath!)

Sand rivers and sharp rocks	The mine

Fridays are religious days here (equivalent of Sunday) and no-one is allowed to work, including whities in the desert. So tomorrow we will be sitting around looking for something to do. I know these guys are quite fanatical about their beliefs etc., but was surprised to hear that the crew were informed before I arrived that they were not permitted to pee on the ground as it was an insult to the Saudis. Needless to say when at the helicopter, about 1km walk from camp, one has to find a very big bush to “inspect for snakes and scorpions” to ensure one isn’t spotted laying 500ml of disrespect on their holy ground.

My room at the red dot – if you look very very closely you can see 2 helis to the right above the camp	They are reworking the original mine waste from the pit

That’s all for now. I have been handed the third and most recent helicopter to arrive, and spent today doing systems flights with it before it begins production. As a result I got my operator to take pics of the camp and surrounds as we bombed around checking the radar altimeter for accuracy.