Odds ‘n’ Sods: The treasure of Leija Cave

After spending 17 years with Newmont Mining as a senior exploration geologist, and being transferred twice in the same year (1997), I decided it was time to strike out and do something new. As fate would have it, later that year I landed a most interesting job with a privately funded, start-up mining and energy exploration company. The company was owned by Mr. Mohamed Al Fayed, a wealthy Egyptian business man who resided just outside of London. Mr. Fayed — or the “Chairman,” as we called him — had lost his son in a car accident earlier that year with Princess Diana. The Chairman owned a network of more than 30 businesses covering a wide range of enterprises. These included things like the Harrods Department Store in London, the Ritz Hotel in Paris, Fulham Football team, and all manner of enterprises. He had previously been a director of Lonrho (London-Rhodesia Mining), and had some familiarity with mining and exploration. He had also done business in the Persian Gulf. Continue reading at The Northern Miner.