The representative shoots me a wary look. I’m ruder than intended, irritated that the meeting had been scheduled for this evening when I only got married in the afternoon. Given, Ellis had arranged the date before my wedding plans were made.
“May I congratulate you, sir?” the man asks as he runs next to me to keep up. “On the wedding.”
At my look, he clears his throat.
Wisely, he keeps his mouth shut for the rest of the drive, only handing me the reports I’ve requested. After we’ve cleared the security checkpoint, we follow the dust road to the mining office and accommodation area. We pass the excavation site, visible from beyond the barbwire fences in the floodlights. The last time I saw this part, it was virgin ground. Now it’s scarred by Dalton’s bulldozers and the black metal construction of the screening plant. Heaps of sand lie like rejected mountains on the south side of the riverbed. Muddy puddles reflect in the yellow spotlights that shine from the guard towers.
The accommodation doesn’t look much better. It’s a hostel built from pressed wood that has to get as hot as hell in the high day temperatures. Ellis meets me at the canteen. We order two beers and take them to a private meeting room at the back.
It’s no industry secret that Ellis and Dalton disagree on everything from operating procedures to environmental conservation and safety controls, which is why I’ve chosen him. Plus, he holds thirty percent of the shares. They were given to him as part of his remuneration package when Dalton employed him, and he knows as well as I do those shares will soon be worthless.
“I’ll play open cards with you,” he says once we’re seated on opposite sides of a small table. “I don’t like going behind Harold’s back. He’s still the CEO.”
“I’m sure you’ve guessed there’s a good reason for meeting off the grid.”
“Yeah. Harold won’t approve of whatever you’re proposing.”
Adjusting my tie, I smile as kindly as I can manage. “I wouldn’t use approve to describe Dalton’s reaction to this meeting.”
“There’s not a lot Harold and I agree upon. Still, it’s a hell of a far way to come for a meeting. We could’ve talked on the phone.”
“This is a meeting I prefer to conduct in person.” You can’t read someone’s non-verbal language over a phone. I need to know if I can rely on Ellis. “I also wanted to see the mine. I assume a visit has been arranged for tomorrow before I leave?”
“You said you wanted to invest. What do you want to know?”
I like a man who cuts straight to the chase. “I need the geology reports of the initial exploration.”
He motions at the file in my hand the representative has given me. “You have them.”
“The ones before these.”
“What makes you think there are earlier ones?”
“The fact that I requested them when I applied for the reconnaissance permission.”
He braces his meaty hands on the table. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“I’m saying I want the reports.”
“Wait a minute. The application for prospecting rights was filed by Harold.”
“Who granted them?”
“Jack Clarke from the Department of Mineral Resources.”
“Convenient that Clarke, who I may point out was the same age as Dalton, then became Dalton’s son-in-law.”
“You’re saying Harold’s daughter married Jack for mining rights?”
“Why else would a pretty eighteen-year-old girl marry a man old enough to be her father?”
He moves to the edge of his seat. “Are you trying to prove you have a stake on Dalton Diamonds?”
“I already have the proof. I’m not here to dwell on the past. I prefer to focus on the future. What I’m offering is pumping new money into the project.”
“You’ll be wasting your money. We’ve depleted the gravel bed. There’s nothing left to bulldoze.”
“You have to go down to the bedrock.”
“We’ll need a vacuveyer. Too costly.”
“Money isn’t an issue.”
“The kimberlite we tested yielded lower quality diamonds. It won’t be worth the investment.”
“Not if those diamonds are colored.”
“The colored diamond market has been existing for as long as the natural diamond market. It’s never been in as high demand.”
“Not black.”
He rubs his chin. “Black diamonds? Who the hell wants black diamonds? Yeah, there’s a new fashion thing going on, but they’re still well below the natural diamond value, and it’s nothing but a phase. It’ll fall out of fashion as quickly as it became a rebel slash gothic craze.”
“In a few months’ time, it’ll be all the rage.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“I believe in making the waves, Mr. Ellis, not in surfing them.”
“You’re going to create a new trend? May I ask how?”
“Let’s just say I have the resources and contacts to make it happen.”
“Why aren’t you presenting this directly to the board? Why tell me?”
“I’m going to take over this mine, and when I do, I’ll need a skilled Operations Manager. The mess Dalton Diamonds made of this site is going to be cleaned up. I want to turn this place around and give the miners better working conditions.” I wave the report in my hand at him. “The records you made public prove if you don’t change your prospecting program, you’ve reached your excavation limit. My initial geology report proves there’s more to this mine. If this mine remains with Dalton Diamonds, it’ll be dead before the end of the year. I’m offering to give it a facelift and a lifespan of at least twenty years longer, if not more. Are you with me, or not?”