Hello rockhounds

Adnan Kashoggi, Saudi millionaire and once reputed to be the richest man in the world wrote from his Swiss jail (a temporary setback in his plans) that his success had been based on a simple formula. And in hindsight, it was a formula that probably needed a dose of morality as to him it was any opportunity at any cost. Admittedly when the hammer came down Adnan was forced to sell his famous yacht to Donald Trump. I had the pleasure of seeing his Ferrari lifted by crane onto the docks in Gibraltar during a visit in the mid 80's.

 

Nevertheless, Adnan was at the pinnacle of his power and as any successful magnate can attest, there has to be some wisdom lock up in his head. Nobody reaches those heights without a solid philosophy. Adnan kept it simple. He believed that opportunity visited every person several times in their life. His first tenant was to see that opportunity when it was presented. According to who you are and what you believe that fortuitous moment will differ in appearance.

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Adnan had seen his opportunity in arms dealing and shady transactions in the Middle East. Our belief is that everything comes at a price, either we’ve pre-paid, or the price is yet to be exacted. According to our beliefs we saw our opportunity in something that was set before us by the fates – raw crystal treasure that came in abundance. Well we at Dark Star love crystals and here was an opportunity to spend our life in their presence. Up until now those of our partnership all worked in divergent fields, but without true life satisfaction. Surely our lives until then had been building the skills to be successful as crystal miners and with some patience and major effort maybe we could take the opportunity somewhere.

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Thus it was that we were then faced with the second point of Kashoggi’s formula – having the courage to take that opportunity, and of course, there are many who would quite happily have us fail, a patronizing smile, a comment on the internet, or outright criminality. One morning early 2025 we arrived on claim to find a treasured plate of crystals smashed with a sledgehammer. Clearly our project was met with mixed reviews. AS we later learned, a hunter had done it and remarked that he'd intended to return and fill our fissures with rocks.

 

Coming as an opportunity it’s already written in the stars that you can be successful. Failing that, something that looks like an opportunity, but has only failure written into its outcome seems more like a trap. Well in committing to a certain path the secret is to distinguish between the road to success and the road to failure and might we add that success is purely subjective. If it’s only money at any cost you end up like Adnan. We hoped that our vision of success was something of greater significance, learning and teaching, bringing happiness to others and of course prosperity to our endeavor.

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So courage and being assured of our worth was needed and between us we talked it out and decided that we had the skills and commitment to fulfill a venture as improbable as that which faced us. Yes, the Government agents with whom we interacted seemed surprised that we would rise up from what was then termed “Grass-roots Prospectors”. We were soon disabused of that notion. A simple 7 page assessment report became inadequate. We then found ourselves submitting something in the realm of 50 pages with maps and photos and untold hours of research. You see, we aspired to fill the role of what was typically considered to be the domain of large established mining companies, but in truth we knew nothing of the needed set-up.