One of the reasons I am bringing this article forward to readers now is that the mine personnel are celebrating the production of 150 million ounces of silver since 1986.

The settlement did not grant an immediate approval for the project, but it did begin to clear the way for the company to apply for federal permits—a path the Obama administration previously had thwarted.

The metal is expensive, not because it is rare but because of the expense to produce and work it. The minerals mined for titanium are all oxides, unlike many base metals that are mostly mined as sulfide minerals.

He had meetings with Honduran officials at all levels, set up a new corporation called Raptor Mining in El Corpus, Honduras, and is in the process of establishing a non-profit called “Step Up for Honduras.”

My partner had the contacts and it wasn’t long before we had an agreement in place and the company had a geologist on site. I recall a time when he was getting the lay of the land, so to speak, and he broke off a rock sample and inspected it with his magnifier.