40 – A descoberta do jazigo de Neves – Corvo, na região de Castro Verde – Almodôvar. 4.º parte

A réplica de Leca aos comentários referidos no post 39:.

“”It is a sad fact that since the discovery of the Neves – Corvo orebodies some 14 years ago there has been a spate of diviners, prospectors and others who claim to have been on the point of discovering the deposit, who had already located the deposit, who would have developed the deposit – if only. “If only” did not happen, whereas what I have attempted to describe did happen.
The article is an impersonal account of the approach that was adopted by SMS-SMMPP-BRGM to the investigation of an exploration permit area and of how – despite an initial, somewhat expensive, but negative, result – continued reassessment and reinterpretation ultimately paid dividends.
It is a case history that begins, in 1970, with the opening of negotiations between the Association and the Portuguese state for an exploration licence over the Baixo Alentejo area, and it is for this reason that my references were purposely restricted to written texts pertinent to the Association’s activities in the area prior to the intersection of massive sulphides by the second drill-hole in 1977.

The background work of the Serviço de Fomento Mineiro, on which the Association based both its choice of licence area and its further investigations, is acknowledged throughout and, in fact, I would be the last person to try and denigrate the SFM’s invaluable contributions to our understanding of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. I could have understood Dr. Rocha Gomes’ comments if the article had amounted in any way to a sort of ‘cock crowing’ – but it is merely a case history, factually presented and intended to be of benefit to the mining community at large, of a process that led to the discovery of the world’s largest concealed polymetallic orebody.

That it was the combination of the SMS, SMMPP and BRGM that made the discovery and not the SFM or another company is, for the purposes of the article, immaterial; that some geoscientists find that we were excessively slow in coming to the correct interpretation does not alter the conclusion that I have tried to put across: that Neves – Corvo was discovered through an amalgamation of exploration results and interpretations from different sub-disciplines and geoscientists and not from a single source alone.

I should like to profit from this occasion (and this is no afterthought, as some critics may like to suppose) once again to thank the technical staff, geologists and geophysicists and geochemists of the Serviço de Fomento Mineiro, all of whom I consider as friends, and to congratulate them on the excellent work that formed the platform from which the Neves – Corvo discovery was made.””

Como se pode concluir, nenhuma das minhas críticas foi contestada.

Desta réplica, um comentário me parece oportuno: O agradecimento ao pessoal técnico superior residente em Beja foi totalmente descabido.
O verdadeiro agradecimento deveria ser apresentado ao Director – Geral de Minas e ao representante (simbólico) da DGGM junto da SMS, pela sua contribuição para a adjudicação, consciente ou inconscientemente feita à Associação, da área da Faixa Piritosa onde o SFM já tinha começado a evidenciar a anomalia gravimétrica responsável pela descoberta do jazigo de Neves – Corvo.