Once Upon a Time in a Crystal Cave (eBook, ePUB)

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Copper has been mined at a site in the North of Namibia since ancient times. People reputedly came from all over the world; as far afield as Rome and England to buy the precious metal. The ore body was laid down by volcanic activity followed by water infiltration and other geological events. The rock containing mineral value has now been followed far down into the ground and all the way, as it was mined deeper and deeper, pockets containing beautiful crystal specimens have been opened up by miners. The deposit contains well over 150 types of minerals which have come together in rare and exotic mixes to produce unique pieces that are sought after by collectors across the world. The Tucson annual minerals show even produced a magazine one year dedicated to the specimens found there entitled "Tsumeb The Unique Orebody". The orebody is permeated by water and this has been an agent of immense good fortune; hollowing out small and large pockets of space in the host rock. But the water has done more than this; it has combined minerals and allowed crystals to grow in a profusion of colours, shapes and sizes. These crystals, if properly removed and presented can be worth thousands of dollars each. An entire industry, not as well-known but just as lucrative as that of precious stones has arisen around the sale and collection of specimens. The collection of mineral specimens from their host rock is an art and quickly learned by otherwise often coarse and unfeeling mining men. These men often come to the mine deliberately to seek out the crystals but sometimes discover crystal fever when they get there. The work consists of three short stories which attempt to provide three different viewpoints on the mine and the lives of some of the people attracted to it by dreams of wealth or sent to it by more practical ambitions. The first presents an environmental conundrum; without the mine the pockets will never be seen, The crystals could never provide sufficient income on their own to justify mining at these depths. Without the rough and ready mining men; there will be no crystals. Without great care and sensitivity; there will be no preservation of beauty. As always profit forces solutions. The second tale describes the reality of a big find with all of the wheeling and dealing of an informal system developed over years by the mining men and accepted by the buyers of crystals. These buyers come from all over the world to provide quick and ready cash for good specimens, sometimes taking substandard pieces just to keep the market strong. The final story is more personal and looks at the interaction between three different characters, each with an approach to the ethos of mineral gathering that clearly sets them apart from each other. The intention of all three stories is to present a unique situation that will probably never be repeated and is at the same time worthy of recording for the world to come. The events described occurred in the early eighties, sometime before the mine closed forever. The whole experience was more than interesting it was a part of life one could be proud of.

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Born in 1947 in Eldoret, Kenya Roger attended school in Bournemouth, UK and St David's College in Johannesburg, SA.
Roger Russell fell into a long drop toilet when he was three years old, out of a car when he was four. He went on to almost drown himself at six, cut through his left leg when he was seven and crush his right arm when he was nine. By the time he was eleven he had spent over a year in hospital and had been the recipient of many hundreds of stitches. He was banned from playing soccer or rugby and could not run to save his life. He started in the mines at nineteen and lost his finger in an accident before a month had passed. He joined the U/G Rescue team and was gassed, trapped and lost underground within the space of a single year. Roger married in 1968 and is the father of four children by his first wife, Sharon, to whom he was happily married for twenty five years before she died of cancer in 1993. He has since remarried and lives with Cynthia on a 30 foot motor cruiser in Hermitage Marina near St Ives in the UK. They have one child, a boy named Gordon after Roger's father. In 1993, after the death of his wife, Roger walked from Beit Bridge on the Northern border of South Africa to Cape Town, a distance of 2000km. He slept alongside the road and walked alone and un-armed through one of the worst political times the country had ever seen. He saw then and has continued to see immense power in common people. In 1999 he walked right around South Africa to support a much maligned South African Police Services. He was mugged by a squatter camp gang, attacked by a policeman in a remote station in the Transkei and swept away in a flash flood in the Orange Free State. He has seen police barracks that were worse than some prison cells, met and spoken with criminals, saints and politicians. The British media called him a South African hero and Steve Tshwete, the South African Minister of Safety and Security at the time said he was truly a South African patriot. Roger has also walked in America on two occasions, promoting South Africa and cancer awareness to the people of California, Nevada, New Mexico and other states. Roger has written several books all of which he plans to publish with Smashwords in time.