The Fossickers

Book excerpt: The Fossickers is an action-adventure novel involving the discovery of iron ore and gold by a small group of wildcat miners in the Great Eastern Desert of the Pilbara, located in the isolated north of Western Australia. The mining project is offered to a large London-based mining investment group. The scene then shifts from the Pilbara to London, where conspiracy by an opposition mining investment company arises. Chinese-backed financiers obtain the discovery data and attempt to control the project, taking it away from the London group. A small British security company is retained to recover the stolen data from the Chinese. In the aftermath, the original London investment company's executive and his wife are murdered. The scene shifts between England and Australia, describing the tough and isolated conditions of the miners, who call themselves The Fossickers. There is plenty of typical Australian bush humour, combined with a murder mystery that spans the globe. Who will end up controlling the mine? Ramon L. Mills is a retired international timber trader who lives in Melbourne, Australia. Publisher's website: http: //www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/TheFossickers.html