BHP moving ahead with Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan

By David Giles Global News
Posted August 17, 2021

The long-delayed Jansen potash project, located about 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon, is expected to produce about 4.35 million tonnes of potash per year. 

BHP Group is going ahead with its oft-delayed Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan.


The Australian mining giant announced Tuesday morning that it has approved $7.5 billion in capital expenditures for the project approximately 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon.

“This is an important milestone for BHP and an investment in a new commodity that we believe will create value for shareholders for generations,” BHP chief executive Mike Henry said in a statement.

“In addition to its merits as a stand-alone project, Jansen also brings with it a series of high returning growth options in an attractive investment jurisdiction.”


READ MORE: BHP sets 2021 timeline for Jansen, Sask. potash mine investment decision

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said this is the single-largest economic investment a company has ever made in the province’s history.

“BHP’s decision highlights the strength of our potash resource and will undoubtedly help build a strong economy for Saskatchewan,” Moe said in a statement.

“We are thrilled to see this landmark potash mine move ahead. This project paves the way to create thousands of good-paying jobs for the people of this province.”

Construction is expected to take six years, with the first ore targeted for 2027.

BHP said the mine is expected to produce 4.35 million tonnes of potash yearly with the potential for future expansion.

Henry said Jansen is located in the world’s best potash basin and opens a new front for the company to grow.

He predicted operations at the mine will last for 100 years.

“Jansen will deliver healthy returns as a high-margin, expandable resource which can support a century or more of operations,” Henry said.

“Potash provides BHP with greater diversification by commodity, country, and customer. This is a new and exciting chapter in BHP’s history.”


READ MORE: BHP delays decision on Jansen potash mine

Economic spinoffs

BHP said the project will create 3,500 jobs at its peak construction and 600 jobs in ongoing operations.

The company said its workforce will be gender-balanced and Indigenous employees will make up 20 per cent of the labor force.

BHP said there will be economic opportunities for local and Indigenous companies.

It has signed opportunity agreements with six First Nations around the Jansen site.

Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre said the news of the project shows the investment climate is strong in Saskatchewan.

“The positive economic impact of this decision for our province cannot be overstated,” she said.

“The Jansen Mine will generate tens of billions of dollars in taxes and royalties and create thousands of quality jobs for the people of Saskatchewan.”

BHP also said it has signed a deal with Westshore Terminals in Delta, B.C., to handle the potash that will be shipped to export markets.

   

Analyst says Jansen mine catalyst for ‘Saskaboom 2.0’

Saskatoon / 650 CKOM

Brent Bosker

Aug 17, 2021 | 12:57 PM

The BHP Jansen potash mine, located about 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon. (Supplied)

A Saskatchewan business analyst says the province will see the economic spinoffs of a new potash mine for years to come.

BHP announced Tuesday it will bring its long-delayed Jansen potash project into production. The $7.5 billion capital investment includes the construction of an underground mine, processing facility and rail infrastructure.

“It adds to the value or worth of the province,” said business commentator Paul Martin.

“Once you build a mine you can’t unbuild a mine. Saskatchewan will be forever changed by this.”

The ripple effects, Martin says will be felt for a long time with new jobs, investment at the community level and new royalty revenue for the provincial government.

BHP has spent billions already on the project that has been touted as the largest potash mine in the world, with annual production of 4.35 million tonnes.

Martin believes there’s room for another mine despite the potash industry just going through a major expansion.

“Global populations are growing; demand for food and fertilizer as a consequence is growing. By the time this (mine) comes on stream the demand should have caught up to all the growth (Saskatchewan) did in the last 10 years and it should not over-saturate the market. It should be just in time, is what (BHP) is betting on,” said Martin.

According to Martin, global commodity markets are in the early stages of a resurgence and the Jansen mine will help the province capitalize on that growth.

“Saskatchewan’s economy is taking off right now and it’s being pushed by investment capital,” he said.

“Saskatchewan is back into Sashays and Sashays 2.0.”

Global firm bets billions on Sask. potash mine

CTV News SaskatoonStaff
Published Tuesday, August 17, 2021


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WATCH: CTV Saskatoon’s Pat McKay gets reaction to the largest investment in Saskatchewan’s history.

SASKATOON -- BHP has announced it will pour billions of dollars into a potash mine southeast of Saskatoon.

On Tuesday, the Australian firm said it has approved $7.5 billion in spending for its Jansen potash mine.

The mine has been in the works for a decade but a sluggish potash market had stalled the project.

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"This is an important milestone for BHP and an investment in a new commodity that we believe will create value for shareholders for generations," the firm's CEO Mike Henry said in a news release.

The Jansen Stage 1 project is expected to produce 4.5 million tonnes of potash a year, according to the company.

The community of Jansen is located roughly 150 kilometres from Saskatoon.

Premier Scott Moe was beaming during a news conference held in Regina Tuesday morning.

"While we were all sleeping last night one of the largest mining companies in the world approved one of the largest projects in their history, " Moe said, desribing the project as the "largest private economic investment" in Saskatchewan history.

"It certainly isn't every day in Saskatchewan or anywhere else where we have the opportunity to announce a new mine in the province, certainly not one the size and scope of what we are announcing here today," Moe said.

The province estimates the project will create around 3,500 jobs annually during construction and and provide direct employment for 600 workers once it is up and running.

Construction is expected to take six years, followed by a two-year "ramp-up" period.

The mine could operate for up to a century, according to BHP.

According to the company, it has already epent over $5.6 billion on the project over the years, describing the cost as a "significant initial outlay."

The firm said its approach would be different if considering the project again today.

As it shared news of its multi-billion dollar bet on the Saskatchewan mine, the firm also announced it would spin off its petroleum business.

"Our petroleum and Jansen decisions will increase the weighting of BHP’s remaining portfolio towards the future facing commodities that are most positively leveraged towards population growth, rising living standards, electrification and decarbonisation," Henry said in a note to shareholders.

 

Fizzing sodium could explain asteroid Phaethon's cometlike activity

by Jet Propulsion Laboratory

This illustration depicts asteroid Phaethon being heated by the Sun. The asteroid’s 

surface gets so hot that sodium inside Phaethon’s rock may vaporize and vent into

 space, causing it to brighten like a comet and dislodge small pieces of rocky debris. 

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC

Models and lab tests suggest the asteroid could be venting sodium vapor as it orbits close to the Sun, explaining its increase in brightness.

As a comet zooms through the inner solar system, the Sun heats it, causing ices below the surface to vaporize into space. The venting vapor dislodges dust and rock, and the gas creates a bright tail that can extend millions of miles from the nucleus like an ethereal veil.

Whereas comets contain lots of different ices, asteroids are mainly rock and not known for producing such majestic displays. But a new study examines how near-Earth asteroid Phaethon may in fact exhibit cometlike activity, despite lacking significant quantities of ice.

Known to be the source of the annual Geminid meteor shower, the 3.6-mile-wide (5.8 kilometer-wide) asteroid brightens as it gets close to the Sun. Comets typically behave like this: When they heat up, their icy surfaces vaporize, causing them to become more active and brighten as the venting gases and dust scatter more sunlight. But what is causing Phaethon to brighten if not vaporizing ices?

The culprit could be sodium. As the new study's authors explain, Phaethon's elongated, 524-day orbit takes the object well within the orbit of Mercury, during which time the Sun heats the asteroid's surface up to about 1,390 degrees Fahrenheit (750 degrees Celsius). With such a warm orbit, any water, carbon dioxide, or carbon monoxide ice near the asteroid's surface would have been baked off long ago. But at that temperature, sodium may be fizzing from the asteroid's rock and into space.

"Phaethon is a curious object that gets active as it approaches the Sun," said study lead Joseph Masiero, a scientist at IPAC, a research organization at Caltech. "We know it's an asteroid and the source of the Geminids. But it contains little to no ice, so we were intrigued by the possibility that sodium, which is relatively plentiful in asteroids, could be the element driving this activity."

Asteroid-meteor connection

Masiero and his team were inspired by observations of the Geminids. When meteoroids—small pieces of rocky debris from space—streak through Earth's atmosphere as meteors, they disintegrate. But before they do, friction with the atmosphere causes the air surrounding the meteoroids to reach thousands of degrees, generating light. The color of this light represents the elements they contain. Sodium, for example, creates an orange tinge. The Geminids are known to be low in sodium.

Until now, it was assumed that these small pieces of rock somehow lost their sodium after leaving the asteroid. This new study suggests that the sodium may actually play a key role in ejecting the Geminid meteoroids from Phaethon's surface.

The researchers think that as the asteroid approaches the Sun, its sodium heats up and vaporizes. This process would have depleted the surface of sodium long ago, but sodium within the asteroid still heats up, vaporizes, and fizzes into space through cracks and fissures in Phaethon's outermost crust. These jets would provide enough oomph to eject the rocky debris off its surface. So the fizzing sodium could explain not only the asteroid's cometlike brightening, but also how the Geminid meteoroids would be ejected from the asteroid and why they contain little sodium.

"Asteroids like Phaethon have very weak gravity, so it doesn't take a lot of force to kick debris from the surface or dislodge rock from a fracture," said Björn Davidsson, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and a co-author of the study. "Our models suggest that very small quantities of sodium are all that's needed to do this—nothing explosive, like the erupting vapor from an icy comet's surface; it's more of a steady fizz."

Lab tests required

To find out if sodium turns to vapor and vents from an asteroid's rock, the researchers tested samples of the Allende meteorite, which fell over Mexico in 1969, in a lab at JPL. The meteorite may have come from an asteroid comparable to Phaethon and belongs to a class of meteorites, called carbonaceous chondrites, that formed during the earliest days of the solar system. The researchers then heated chips of the meteorite to the highest temperature Phaethon would experience as it approaches the Sun.

"This temperature happens to be around the point that sodium escapes from its rocky components," said Yang Liu, a scientist at JPL and a study co-author. "So we simulated this heating effect over the course of a 'day' on Phaethon—its three-hour rotation period—and, on comparing the samples' minerals before and after our lab tests, the sodium was lost, while the other elements were left behind. This suggests that the same may be happening on Phaethon and seems to agree with the results of our models."

The new study supports a growing body of evidence that categorizing small objects in our solar system as "asteroids" and "comets" is oversimplified, depending not only on how much ice they contain, but also what elements vaporize at higher temperatures.

"Our latest finding is that if the conditions are right, sodium may explain the nature of some active asteroids, making the spectrum between asteroids and comets even more complex than we previously realized," said Masiero.

The study, titled "Volatility of Sodium in Carbonaceous Chondrites at Temperatures Consistent with Low-Perihelia Asteroids," was published in The Planetary Science Journal on Aug. 16, 2021.

Rare blue asteroid responsible for Geminid meteor shower reveals itself during fly-by

More information: Joseph R. Masiero et al, Volatility of Sodium in Carbonaceous Chondrites at Temperatures Consistent with Low-perihelion Asteroids, The Planetary Science Journal (2021). DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/ac0d02

Journal information: The Planetary Science Journal 

Provided by Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

 

Signed in secrecy off Newfoundland 80 years ago, the Atlantic Charter changed world history

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Charter was signed in secret off coast of Argentia

Alex Kennedy · CBC News · Posted: Aug 17, 2021 

Four months before the U.S. went to war, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Sir Winston Churchill chat aboard HMS Prince of Wales on August 10, 1941, a rendezvous that gave the world the Atlantic Charter. To the extreme left behind FDR is Capt. Elliott Roosevelt, his son. (The Canadian Press/AP)

War historians in Newfoundland and Labrador are marking the 80th anniversary of the signing of the Atlantic Charter, a closed-doors deal between Britain and the United States that helped shape the course and aftermath of the Second World War.

The charter was signed near Argentia, on ships off the coast of Newfoundland, on August 14, 1941, by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

It included eight principles the world could follow at the end of the war, including an agreement between the two countries not to seek territorial expansion, free seas, and international labour and economic standards.

Gary Walsh, immediate past-president of the Crow's Nest Officers' Club, said the beginnings of the deal came at a time when the war wasn't going so well for the British — and Churchill knew he needed help from the Americans.

"They were afraid that Germany may invade and whatnot," Walsh told The St. John's Morning Show on Friday.

"They decided 'we have to meet,' and of course Churchill was very anxious to get the Americans to join in. So a very top secret set of meetings was arranged. And they decided to meet at a very secret location … and Newfoundland was selected of all places."

Walsh said Newfoundland was chosen for several reasons. It wasn't overly populated, which meant there was less chance of being caught by a spy. The island had also connected the British and Americans in the past through naval and air bases, which allowed for a safe meeting place.

"The year before in 1940 … the British allowed the Americans to set up some naval and air bases in their British territories, one of them, of course, being Newfoundland."

Roosevelt even had a family connection to the island, with his son, Franklin Roosevelt Jr., stationed in Gander in 1940.

The anniversary, which is commemorated every five years, was celebrated Saturday. Festivities included a dinner in Placentia, remarks from Premier Andrew Furey and federal Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole and a showing of a play that was created for the 75th anniversary called Mysterious Visitors.

Walsh said the signing of the charters highlights an important time during the Second World War that he hopes can be preserved for years to come.

"They wanted this eight principles that the world could follow once the war was over. That's what came out of the charter," he said. "This meeting really developed a joint, strong initiative to get together...and there's a lot of historians who think it's very much worth commemorating."

The ancient symbol that was hijacked by evil

(Image credit: Alamy)


By Kalpana Sunder16th August 2021

How an auspicious sacred sign was twisted to become the graphic embodiment of hate and intolerance. Kalpana Sunder explores the extraordinary history of a potent emblem.

The equilateral cross with legs bent at right angles – that looks like swirling arms or a pattern of L shapes – has been a holy symbol in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism for centuries. And, of course, the swastika (or the similar-looking hakenkreuz or hooked cross) is also a symbol of hate, embodying painful and traumatic memories of the Third Reich. The symbol of Nazism, it is associated with genocide and racial hatred after the atrocities of the Holocaust.

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The swastika has a long, complex history – much older than its association with Nazi Germany – dating back to prehistoric times. The emblem was a sign of well-being and long life, and was found everywhere, from the tombs of early Christians to the catacombs of Rome and the Lalibela Rock Churches, to the Cathedral of Cordoba. "The motif appears to have first been used in Eurasia, as early as 7,000 years ago, perhaps representing the movement of the sun through the sky… as a symbol of wellbeing in ancient societies," says the Holocaust Encyclopedia.


The Mezquita Cathedral in Cordoba, Spain, is adorned with intricate symbols including the swastika (Getty Images)

The word swastika comes from the Sanskrit roots su (good) and asti (to prevail), meaning wellbeing, prosperity or good fortune, and has been used in the prayers of the Rig Veda, the oldest of Hindu scriptures. In Hindu philosophy it is said to represent various things that come in fours – the four yugas or cyclical times, the four aims or objectives of life, four stages of life, the four Vedas. Swastika is even a girl's name in certain parts of India.

In Buddhism, known as the manji in Japanese, the emblem signifies the Buddha's footsteps. To Jains it means a spiritual teacher. In India, it's a symbol of the sun god with a clockwise orientation, and the auspicious symbol can be seen, often smeared in turmeric, drawn on thresholds and shop doors as a sign of welcome, or on vehicles, religious scriptures and letterheads. It is displayed at weddings and other festive occasions, to consecrate a new home, and while opening account books at the beginning of the financial year, or starting a new venture.


In Indian philosophy it represents the fourth state of consciousness, which is beyond waking, sleeping and dreaming – Ajay Chaturvedi

Ajay Chaturvedi, author of Lost Wisdom of the Swastika, tells BBC Culture: "The swastika is a four-dimensional cube used in Vedic Mathematics, and also symbolises an entire state of being in Indian philosophy – the fourth state of consciousness, which is beyond waking, sleeping and dreaming. The sign as used by Hitler was demonising [it]… and using it in politics, without any understanding of what it stood for in Indian philosophy, where symbols are always backed by meaning and deep significance."

Windows created in the shape of the swastika on a building in Lalibela, Ethiopia (Credit: Alamy)

Different civilisations associate the sign with outstretched hands, four seasons, four directions or with spreading light in all directions. In the 19th-Century book The Swastika: The Earliest Known Symbol, and Its Migrations, Thomas Wilson documents how the swastika was found all over the ancient world, on everything from quilts and shields to jewellery. Some believe that its shape was inspired by an ancient comet. The Ancient Greeks used swastika motifs to decorate their pots and vases. The ancient Druids and Celts also used the sacred sign, and in Norse mythology the swastika represented Thor's hammer.

The National Museum of the History of Ukraine houses a wide range of objects featuring the symbol. The oldest is probably a mammoth-ivory figurine of a bird, found in 1908, with a meandering swastika pattern on it that was carbon-dated to 15,000 years ago. Seals depicting swastika motifs have been found in the Mohenjo-Daro and Harappan ruins in India.


There are few more potent symbols with alternative meanings than the swastika in its many iterations – Steven Heller

US art director Steven Heller, author of Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption? tells BBC Culture: "I am a graphic designer. Symbols and signs and how they are used and manipulated is important to my practice. There are few more potent symbols with alternative meanings than the swastika in its many iterations."

Before World War Two, the swastika was used in branding – seen here at the Carlsberg factory entrance (Credit: Alamy)


In the early 20th Century, the swastika was widely used in Europe as a symbol of good luck. Interlocked swastikas were used in textiles and architecture. "The sign was used in many ways before Hitler adapted it. A sign of good fortune, fertility, happiness, Sun, and it was given spiritual import as well as commercial value when it was used with or as a brand or logo," says Heller. In the early 20th Century, the swastika was used as a symbol of good luck in advertising, architecture and jewellery. The Danish brewing company Carlsberg, headquartered in Copenhagen, used the symbol as its logo from 1881 to the 1930s, and then discontinued it because of its Nazi association.

Until recently, the Finnish Air Force used a swastika as an insignia on its badges. Rudyard Kipling featured the symbol on many of his book covers because of his association with India. It was used as a symbol by the Scouts in Britain until 1935 – like Kipling, Robert Baden Powell may have picked it up in India. For the Navajo people in the US, the right-facing swastika was a symbol of friendship, which they gave up after World War Two.

Hindu cultural organisations and religious groups have tried to explain that the Nazis did not use the swastika, but a hooked cross. The Nazi swastika has the arms turned to 45 degrees giving a slant to the symbol, whereas the swastikas of Hinduism are presented with the base arm lying flat.

A complex history

When Adolf Hitler was looking for a symbol for his newly launched party, he used the hakenkreuz, rotating the swastika to the right and omitting the four dots – he then adopted this as the party's emblem in 1920. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's minister of propaganda, passed a law in May 1933 that prevented unauthorised commercial use of the hooked cross.

In Hindu tradition, the emblem is frequently used at festive occasions such as weddings

DALIWAL  (Credit: Alamy)


It has been suggested that Hitler's adoption of the symbol may have had its roots in Germans finding similarity between their language and Sanskrit, and drawing a conclusion that Indians and Germans came from the same "pure" Aryan ancestry and lineage. During his extensive excavations, the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered, in 1871, 1,800 variations of the hooked cross on pottery fragments at the site of ancient Troy, which were similar to artefacts from German history. "This was seen [by the Nazis] as evidence for a racial continuity and proof that the inhabitants of the site had been Aryan all along," writes anthropologist Gwendolyn Leick.

Of course, cultural appropriation usually harms the original culture. The German Orientalist Max Muller wrote to Schliemann, and warned him to avoid using the word swastika on the icons: "Swastika is a word of Indian origin, and has its history and definite meaning in India. I know the temptation is great to transfer names, with which we are familiar, to similar objects which come before us… the occurrence of such crosses in different parts of the world may or may not point to a common origin."

Not everyone agreed with this interpretation, however. In his book The Sign of the Cross: From Golgotha to Genocide, Dr Daniel Rancour-Laferriere, an expert on Christianity, suggests that Hitler's decision to use the hakenkreuz as a symbol of the Nazi party "may have been due to his childhood upbringing at the Benedictine Monastery in Austria, where he repeatedly saw the hooked cross in many places".

In Hinduism the swastika cross has for many centuries been a symbol of religious devotion (Credit: Alamy)


But over the decades, the swastika has become a contentious and controversial cultural icon. In his book The Swastika and Symbols of Hate, Heller says: "The swastika is an ancient symbol that was hijacked and perverted, twisted into the graphic embodiment of intolerance." In many European countries including Germany, public display of Nazi symbols is prohibited by law, and violating such terms is a criminal offence.

New York State Senator Todd Kaminsky introduced a bill in the New York Senate in 2021, which would require schools in the state of New York to teach that the swastika is an example of a hate symbol. Due to the bill's national implications, organisations including the World Hindu Council of America urged the New York Senate to differentiate between the original swastika and the Nazi hakenkreuz.

Director of advocacy and awareness for the World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) Utsav Chakrabarty said, "We acknowledge the horrid way the swastika has been misused and misinterpreted… For the past 70 years, the swastika continues to remain a vilified and maligned symbol. This must be corrected. Instead of censoring the symbol, we must celebrate the positive history of it."

An ancient mosaic in Uzayzy, Jordan, shows a version of the sacred emblem (Credit: Alamy)


Even members of the Jewish community have highlighted on several occasions the way in which the sign has been misused. "A distorted version of this sacred symbol was misappropriated by the Third Reich in Germany, and abused as an emblem under which heinous crimes were perpetrated against humanity, particularly the Jewish people. The participants recognise that this symbol is, and has been, sacred to Hindus for millennia before its misappropriation," said the declaration made at the Second Hindu Jewish Leadership Summit in Jerusalem held in February 2008.


I want to neutralise the swastika, to remove its association with evil, so that no one need fear it anymore – Edith Altman


Swastikas have however been allowed in the filming of historical movies and the making of video games. There have been some attempts to redeem its image by artists down the ages. The symbol was included by pop star Madonna in a video in 2012, accompanying the song Nobody Knows Me. Madonna later said that she used it to show growing intolerance of people to other communities and people.

The KiMo Theatre in New Mexico, USA, is adorned with traditional Navajo emblems (Credit: Alamy)

In 1993, a Jewish artist named Edith Altman – who lost her grandparents to the Holocaust – created an installation entitled Reclaiming the Symbol: The Art of Memory. She painted a gold swastika on a wall above a black Nazi swastika painted on the floor. "I want to neutralise the swastika, to remove its association with evil, so that no one need fear it anymore," she told the Chicago Reader.

The anti-Semitic use of the swastika did not end with World War Two. Even today racist neo-nazi gangs use the sign to desecrate Jewish graves or houses of worship. Some people feel that its taboo status has enhanced its appeal for hate groups. "The latest 2021 police figures from the two cities with the largest Jewish populations, New York and Los Angeles, show both cities tracking for a record year for overall hate crime, with Jews being the most targeted in New York and third most targeted in Los Angeles," says Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism (CSHE), and a professor of criminal justice.

In 2020, a 21-year-old Indian student in the US, Simran Tatuskar, faced a backlash on social media after she attempted to portray the swastika as a peaceful symbol that should be included in the school syllabus. One group tweeted: "In Nazi Germany, one of the first things anti-Semites did was erase the history and persecution of the Jews, minimise their struggles and appropriate their beings. By normalising the swastika, this is repeating that vicious cycle." Ultimately Simran Tatuskar had to clarify her position on the issue, and apologise for any unintentional misunderstanding.

The Shoin Shrine in Hagi, Japan, features the ancient sign (Credit: Getty Images)


Before the 2021 Olympic Games in Japan, the decision to drop the Japanese symbol (the manji) for temples on tourist maps, and replace it with a pagoda icon, provoked a backlash. When the elements of a culture are adopted out of context, it seems, its history and heritage become tainted.

As Brian Levin puts it: "Unfortunately, but rightly, the most recent and widespread use of the swastika as a symbol of Nazi hatred and genocide will forever cast an indelible shadow over its lengthy history and alternative meaning. It is important, however, to note that expanding our teaching of history and civics can incorporate not only the origins of symbols, but how they can be co-opted and rebranded to the most evil of ends."

SEE  MANWOMAN SACRED SWASTIKA

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/07/online-retailer-shein-was-selling-metal.html

Archaeologists find skeleton, evidence of Greek in Pompeii

ROME (AP) — Archaeologists in the ancient city of Pompeii have discovered a remarkably well-preserved skeleton during excavations of a tomb that also shed light on the cultural life of the city before it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in AD 79.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

A skull bearing tufts of white hair and part of an ear, as well as bones and fabric fragments, were found in the tomb in the necropolis of Porta Sarno, an area not yet open to the public that is located in the east of Pompeii’s urban center. The discovery is unusual since most adults were cremated at the time.

An inscription of the tomb suggested that its owner, a freed slave named Marcus Venerius Secundio, helped organize performances in Greek in Pompeii. Experts said it was the first confirmation that Greek, the language of culture in the Mediterranean, was used alongside Latin.

“That performances in Greek were organized is evidence of the lively and open cultural climate which characterized ancient Pompeii,” the director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said in a statement announcing the discovery.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Zuchtriegel said Marcus Venerius clearly had been able to make a living for himself after he was freed as a slave, given the “monumental" size of his burial tomb. “He didn't become super rich, but certainly he reached a considerable level of wealth," Zuchtriegel said.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD destroyed Pompeii. Excavations over the years have yielded remarkable discoveries of tombs, chariots and brilliantly frescoed homes.

The Associated Press

 

Pompeii tomb offers new hints about cultural life in ancient city

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Newly excavated tomb belonged to man who organized performances in Greek

The Associated Press · Posted: Aug 17, 2021 

Archaeologists in the ancient city of Pompeii have discovered a remarkably well-preserved skeleton during excavations of a tomb. The discovery is unusual since most adults were cremated at the time. (Alfio Giannotti/Pompeii Archeological Park via AP)

Archeologists in the ancient city of Pompeii have discovered a remarkably well-preserved skeleton during excavations of a tomb that also shed light on the cultural life of the city before it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in AD 79.

White hair and part of an ear, along with bones and fabric fragments, were found in the tomb in the necropolis of Porta Sarno, an area not yet open to the public that is located in the east of Pompeii's urban centre. The discovery is unusual, since most adults were cremated at the time.

This is the tomb of Marcus Venerius Secundio, located in the necropolis of Porta Sarno, in an area not yet open to the public in the east of Pompeii’s urban centre. (Alfio Giannotti/Pompeii Archeological Park via AP)

An inscription on the tomb suggested that its owner, Marcus Venerius Secundio, helped organize performances in Greek in Pompeii. Experts said it was the first confirmation that Greek was used alongside Latin.

"That performances in Greek were organized is evidence of the lively and open cultural climate which characterized ancient Pompeii," Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, said in a statement announcing the discovery.

• Fast-food eatery discovered at Pompeii helps reveal favourite dishes of ancient Roman citizens

• When in Ancient Rome, recycle: Evidence of garbage reuse found in Pompeii

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD destroyed Pompeii. Excavations over the years have yielded remarkable discoveries of tombs, chariots and brilliantly frescoed homes.

 British Columbia

Anti-pipeline activists mark one year of treetop occupation in Burnaby

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Protesters have been living in tree houses to block the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project

Michelle Gomez · CBC News · Posted: Aug 17, 2021

Trans Mountain anticipates it needs to remove 1,275 trees from this forest in Burnaby, B.C. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

Tim Takaro first ascended the trees of the Brunette River Conservation Area on August 3, 2020. Over a year later, he and other protesters still occupy the treetops.

Takaro, an SFU professor and retired physician, is one of the leaders of StopTMX, the group behind the lengthy treetop protest of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. 

"We have to stop building new fossil energy infrastructure or we are going to face even more death and destruction than we've already seen," Takaro said. 

The expansion project will twin the existing 1,150-kilometre pipeline, increasing the amount of petroleum it carries from Alberta to British Columbia's coast from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels per day.

The project has been contested by several groups including Indigenous activists, environmental organizations, and municipal governments. While these groups have taken their fight to the streets and the courts, StopTMX has taken it to the trees. 

Part of the Brunette River Conservation Area has been cleared of trees by Trans Mountain. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

With a team of about 40 people, they always have at least one person occupying each of their two tree houses, usually switching off every two to five days. The group consists of a wide range of activists, from teenagers to elders. 

"This is an intergenerational struggle and it's about intergenerational justice. We are obligated to leave a planet that is sustainable for our children and their children's children," said Takaro. 

Food, water, and other supplies are delivered to the main tree house using a system of pulleys. The protesters are able to go up and down with climbing equipment, and can walk in between the tree houses on a ladder walkway that connects the two. 

An unnamed protester occupies one of two tree houses. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

Maureen Curran joined the treetop protest last summer, and has been involved ever since. She was recently named the Burnaby-South candidate for the federal Green Party, and will be running against NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in the upcoming election. 

Curran described her time spent in the treetops as "surprisingly peaceful" despite the noise from the nearby train tracks and traffic from the highway. 

"The birds come to visit. I got to watch a hawk hunt for its dinner one night … it really changes your perspective."

Maureen Curran, Green Party candidate for Burnaby South, climbs up to a tree house. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

Takaro believes the protest has been successful so far. 

Following two on-site inspections in April, an enforcement officer from Environment and Climate Change Canada ordered Trans Mountain to halt construction in the area until August 15 due to bird nesting season. 

Environment and Climate Change Canada ordered Trans Mountain to put up signs stating that work must be halted until August 15 due to nesting birds. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

According to Takaro, the enforcement officer was there to witness a tree with a hummingbird nest being cut down. 

"The mighty hummingbird has been able to stop this project since April." 

'There's no vaccine for climate change'

Takaro estimates Trans Mountain has already cut about half of the 1,275 trees they say need to be cleared from the area. 

Trans Mountain did not respond when asked how many trees they have cleared from the area so far, but said they are still on track for "mechanical completion of the project by the end of 2022, with commercial operations commencing shortly thereafter." 

Takaro, whose group would like to see the project cancelled, notes the economics of the project grow "worse by the day."

StopTMX's second tree house is connected to the other by a ladder bridge. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

"We are counting a victory every day that construction is not happening in this place." 

In February 2020, Trans Mountain CEO Ian Anderson announced the cost of building the expansion had increased from an initial estimate of $7.4 billion to $12.6 billion. 

"COVID is taking lives every day and causing damage every day. So is climate change and it's accelerating," said Curran.

"We have a vaccine that can get rid of COVID. There is no vaccine for climate change."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michelle Gomez

Michelle Gomez is a CBC News Researcher in Vancouver. You can contact her at michelle.gomez@cbc.ca.