According to a Barrick Gold publication in which they looked
at production values for several different mines, anywhere from 2 to 90 tons of
rock was excavated for every ounce of gold produced. Some mines had better production
efficiency than others, but if we just take an average there, we are looking at
over 45 tons of rock dug out for a single ounce of the shiny stuff. That means
out of everything harvested, less than one ten-thousandths of a percent was
actually what they were targeting. Over 99.9999% of what they mined was
worthless. Yet, all over the world, billions of dollars are spent each year in
the mining and exploration of gold. Why? Because the payoff is worth it and
sometimes you have to dig through a lot of junk to find the gold.
These companies understand the numbers and realize the only
way to find more gold is to dig through more useless rock. The more gravel,
dirt and stone they excavate, the closer they are to the next ounce of precious
metal. As individuals though, we miss this. We want to hit gold every time. If
we have a few shovels full of dirt and rocks and no treasure, we want to quit
and dig somewhere else. Or we complain our shovel is too small. Or give up all
together.
A miner accepts the fact huge amounts of rubble come with
every tiny bit of gold. We need to take this lesson and apply it to life. We
must be okay with digging through tons of failure for every ounce of success
because that precious nugget far outweighs what we dug through to get it. We
must realize the only way to come up with a great idea is to wade through
mounds of bad ones. This picture doesn’t work as well anymore with the
implementation of computers, but remember seeing renditions of a writer or poet
sitting at a desk with a mountain of crumpled up papers in the corner and a
small manuscript in her hand? All those discarded attempts were the rocks and
rubble she had to excavate to produce the gold she now holds.
Every advancement, new concept or breakthrough lies within
layers of dirt and dross. Most attempts will not strike gold, but you must
believe every shovel full of rocks brings you just a little bit closer to success.
The more dirt you move, the more gold you’ll find. So just keep digging.
Comments
Post a Comment