The Big Score: Robert Friedland, INCO, And The Voisey's Bay Hustle Book

Two stars alone just for being able to read the titanic drill intersections from the Ovoid Zone. Aside from that, a well written, well organized account of the biggest thing in exploration in the 90s, until it was eclipsed by BreX. McNish gives context while avoiding the folksy meanderings that many of these popular books about exploration are prone to. She also recounts the essential facts without getting bogged down in technical minutia.

The story is told from the point of view of promoters, shareholders, prospectors, drillers, geologists, local native bands and investors; all of the different kinds of people involved in an exploration project. So it is a very well-rounded book that shows evidence of a lot of research.

While Friedland was a great negotiator and promoter, none of his unpredictable "screwball" tactics would have been very effective had he not been in possession of such a stupendous prize. But he deserves a great deal of credit for getting the most out of the asset for himself and Diamond Field shareholders.

Some other takeaways:
-never tell another prospector about a hot showing you want to stake;
-don't risk your life for a mineral exploration project;
-luck (or bad luck )plays a big role in exploration, (if it's true that the Falconbridge guys were going to test these targets the folloing year and lost their exploration funding, I'd imagine it would take a long time to get over that).