In 2009, I was in the Limpopo Province (South Africa) learning what it means to be an exploration geologist. Exploration geology's main purpose is to determine where and how big the mineral deposit is in an entirely new area. In my case, I was looking for coal. The area is well-known for it's coal reserves and when I joined the project, further and more detailed drilling was being done. The project area was more than an hour's drive from the closest town and on farmland. The farms were mostly game farms and it was always tricky to arrange drilling without interfering with the owner's hunting activities. But, none of the geologists wanted to get shot, so any drilling was planned down to the last detail.
My day consisted of driving between 1 and 2 hours to the field in a 4-by-4 bakkie (truck) filled with equipment, lunch and water. Limpopo is hot. You get SPF 30 sunblock, SPF 50 sunblock and then SPF what-the-hell-are-you-doing-in-Limpopo sunblock. I had to manage the drilling teams and make sure they kept to the rules we had agreed on with the farmer (i.e. no fires, rehabilitate the area and so on.) The drilling rigs were drilling thick diameter vertical core boreholes which were also logged geophysically. My main job was to log the boreholes - describe all the rock types and characteristics and at what depths they were found. Logging on game farms has its perks. I saw giraffes, many different kinds of buck, buffalo, rhino and on one occasion a group of big cats which might have been leopards. The downside is that some of the game can be dangerous. Very dangerous if you believe all the stories that the farmers tell you. Buffalo has been known to circle around hunters and charge them from behind.
I was alone on the farm one Friday since the drilling team had taken off for their long weekend. There was no cell phone reception, except under a specific tree on the project team's farmhouse a few kilometres away. I had a radio which kept me in contact with our main office in town, but it was quiet on the farm's dirt roads. To prevent rain and animals from disturbing the core, black plastic sheeting is put over the 10 m rows of rock core. The first surprise came when I was taking the plastic off - a huge lizard about 60 cm long with an equally long tail was napping between the core. Before I could scream like a little girl, it waddled off surprisingly quickly into the bush. After that, I always struck the plastic or shook it a bit before I lifted it. I logged the borehole as usual and took a break around lunch to sit on the back of the bakkie under a tree's shade and eat a sandwich. That's when I noticed something coming down the sandy road toward toward me. It was quite far, but after a few minutes I realized it was a buffalo. Cool, was my first thought and then, damn. I started remembering all the war stories about hunting buffalo that some of the farmers had told me. I had visions of an enraged animal charging and overthrowing the bakkie with me inside. I finished my sandwich and calmly tried to get back to the logging. But, every few minutes I would glance down the road and check the buffalo's progress. It kept moving closer. I then climbed on the bakkie and planned an exit strategy. Running into the bush would be counter-productive since I would probably stumble over a snake who acted first and asked questions later. I had just thought of a revolutionary plan of simply driving away when I looked up and noticed that my buffalo had disappeared. Grinning like an idiot I had carried on logging.
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| One of the few rainy days in the field |
I enjoyed working in the field for that year. It was great being outdoors and in the bush and experiencing all the wildlife. I had one or two close encounters with poisonous snakes, but I survived my stint as an exploration geologist. I realized that as much as I enjoyed it, I would rather be at the mine where I work with more people and do short- and long-term planning jobs.
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