the human face of mining in australia

Hi guys,

I thought I would share the following with you because it is something dear to the employees of Pluton, and particularly myself, and something that may give you an idea about what we go through behind the scenes:

As I have said on a many occasions on the PLV threads, the native title holders of Irvine Island, the Mayala People, are crucial to Pluton’s success.

We have a excellent relationship with the Mayala and they are very supportive of mining on Irvine. We share the common belief that mining will create value for all stakeholders and that the Mayala will share in that success.

The Mayala have agreed to conditions asked by Pluton that have, for good reason, been a no-go in the past to others. It really is a very good relationship that I personally hope will create not only value for Pluton shareholders but life changing benefits for the Mayala.

Late last week we were advised of the suicide of a young Mayala man. This young man had worked for us on the last exploration program and his family have not only been supportive of what we are doing on Irvine, but have also provided us with family members as employees. This is a family that means a lot to Pluton employees. This is not the first tragic death amongst the Mayala People since we have become involved with them.

As Pluton has only 7 employees we all know this family well, and of course we all were affected by this tragedy.

This is not the first time Pluton has provided a small amount of financial assistance to assist with a funeral. Unfortunately this type of tragedy is more common amongst the indigenous people than we hear about. These Mayala are good people and they have become our friends. They have accepted us with open arms and we really have an affinity with them, and tragedies like this affect all of us.

We continue to work with the Mayala and I expect that we will all benefit from the relationship, not just Pluton shareholders but the Mayala as well.

Lat year I met visited with some very sick Mayala people in Broome hospital. One, I recall well, lives at the Broome hospital because he needs daily dialysis. He told me all he wanted was to die in own country, Mayala country.

However his community, and the community of the majority of the Mayala People, One Arm Point, has a medical centre but no dialysis machine. This guy was younger than me.

I sincerely hope that Irvine can provide the funds needed to overcome these issues. Where Governments can’t, or won’t, help it really is up to mining companies to make the difference in these people’s lives. One of my personal goals is to be invited to open a new medical centre at One Arm Point funded by both Pluton and the State Government, funded by the proceeds from Irvine Island. I don’t think this is too much to ask.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you about this because it is important for shareholders to understand that not only do we at Pluton hope you benefit financially from being a shareholder, we hope that our presence in the region makes life changing benefits to our friends, the Mayala.

The issues I face on a daily basis with my daughter in year 12, and two younger sons in years 10 and 6 pale into insignificance compared to the people who have welcomed all of us onto Irvine Island.

You can rest assured that Pluton is making a difference, and will so more into the future, to the lives of people who we need and also need us.

Hope this gives you a little insight to some important issues that face all of us at Pluton. I just thought some of you would find this information important.

Kind regards, Tony.