King Solomon’s Gold

By David Ian Groves

A rumour re-emerges about the fabled King Solomon’s mines, a legend about fabulously rich gold mines in Africa, immortalized in novels and movies. James Buchanan, an exploration geologist in Tanzania, who has already solved the mystery of the ‘plagues’ in America to help US President Caitlin Custer to prevent a national disaster, sets out to investigate.

James soon realizes from his research on gold mines in the Middle East and North Africa that there were no major gold deposits that could have been King Solomon’s mines during his lifetime. James works on the assumption that the legends refer to King Solomon’s Gold, a golden treasure hidden somewhere in Africa. Using his geological knowledge, he progressively eliminates the possibilities, but discovering the real location is more difficult and hazardous. Can he do it alone, or will he have to call in a favour from President Custer to seek her political help?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Nov 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781786938206

David Ian Groves

David Ian Groves is an economic geologist and Emeritus Professor at the University of Western Australia. He had a very successful academic career in terms of 500 highly cited published papers and book chapters, keynote and invited lectures, as well as mentorship of many outstanding postgraduates. He has been awarded 14 medals and prizes, including the SEG Silver and Penrose Gold Medals and the SGA-Newmont Gold Medal, and being inducted into the Australian Academy of Sciences as a Fellow. Since his retirement from UWA, David has been made a National Geoscience Champion by the Australian Geoscience Council, one of the 125 Faces of Geoscience and AIMM Distinguished Lecturer for 2020 by the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He has continued his academic career at the China University of Geosciences in Beijing (CUGB), and consulted to industry, being involved in greenfield gold discoveries in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Canada.

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About the Author

David was born in Brighton, UK, but mainly educated in Australia. He is an emeritus professor in economic geology at the University of Western Australia and a visiting famous professor at China University of Geosciences, Beijing. He has received numerous international medals and awards, mostly for his research on gold. He also offers consultation to gold exploration companies and has been involved in discoveries based on conceptual thinking. He has adapted his geological forensic skills into the writing of cerebral thriller and mystery novels. King Solomon’s Gold is a sequel to The Plagues’ Protocol, also published by Austin Macauley Publishers.

Dedication

This novel is dedicated to my extended family, past and present, particularly the Groves, Hatch, Rixon, Kanakis, Hubbard and McKelvey ‘clans’, who have supported and inspired me throughout my life. The topic was inspired by the legendary author H. Rider Haggard, whose books initiated my boyhood interest in Africa and its culture.

Copyright Information ©

David Ian Groves 2021

The right of David Ian Groves to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398401990 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781786938206 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2021

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

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Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

I am indebted to my wife, Suzanne, who patiently edited the novel several times. Her voracious appetite for reading fiction helped to overcome my more scientific writing style and strongly assisted in ‘humanising’ the characters. I am grateful to Austin Macauley Publishers for having faith in me and transforming my plain text into a very professional book.

Chapter 1

As he had done for the past decade, Jabari sat in the shade of the ancient stonewall to shield himself from the merciless, African sun. His father had named him Jabari to suggest that he was fearless and brave but recently he had felt neither: just deep despair.

His father had passed on the tribal stories and legends to him as their African ancestors had done for over six centuries. They had no written chronicle. The sacred site he lived within had been prosperous through farming and trade for almost four centuries, until famine had enveloped the land, as the climate changed, and the cattle died, and crops withered. At about the same time, it was said that two pale strangers from the east had arrived and caused a plague amongst their people, with many dying of ‘the black-face death’. This resulted in the survivors migrating to the northeast and linking up with another race near the coast. Their language became a mixture of two races, and they lived peacefully for many years, before the elders decided to return to their sacred site, as the guardians of its secrets, as their ancestors had decreed.

Over time, their numbers dwindled due to famine, disease and local battles with their Bantu neighbours whose sangomas, or witchdoctors, alleged that they were a cursed race. After the death of his mother, Alika, the most beautiful one, Jabari’s father, Simba, told him and his most powerful brother, Jaali, that they must marry to have sons and continue their line. However, none of the local women would marry them because they did not have enough cows for the dowry and the sangoma would bring down a spell on them and their children if they dared to do so, as Jabari and Jaali were part of the cursed race. Unless they could find a solution, their line would die out and with it, the long-lived responsibility of the guardians.

Jabari was jolted awake from his daydreaming by the cries of his brother, Jaali, who was taking his turn to act as the guardian and watch over the site from a small walled enclosure on the top of the granite hill. Startled, he ran up the stone staircase between two giant, granite boulders, worn to a U shape by the millions of footsteps of his ancestors over the centuries. His brother was shouting and pointing to the south where appearing like a mirage in the shimmering sunlight, a swarm of giant, black bees was approaching. As they came closer, the humming of their wings became chanting with a strange clicking noise and the bees themselves transformed into ferocious, African warriors carrying short spears and hide shields. It was a fearful sight. The brothers looked knowingly at each other, sadness clouding their eyes. They knew that they could not continue their line nor could they afford to be captured, as they would be tortured to reveal the secrets that they had sworn to protect on the bones of their ancestors. With tears in their eyes, they embraced each other for the last time, stood back and looking into each other’s eyes simultaneously, stabbed the heart of the other.

Their father would be proud that they had lived up to the heroic names he had given them. The secrets of the sacred site of their ancestors would be safe forever.

As the warriors massed below the hill, their eyes widened in amazement at what they beheld in front of them. Some climbed up to find the brothers locked together in a grimace of death and urged the others to follow. Witnessing the gruesome scene before him, their sangoma extracted white powder from his pouch and on sniffing the powder, went into a frenzied trance in which he shrilly decreed that what they had witnessed was a bad omen, a foreboding of disaster if they stayed. So, the group moved on to the west to more fertile lands to forge a new nation, never to return.

Chapter 2

On Friday evening, 21 July 2023, James Buchanan sat drinking his cold, Tusker beer after dinner at the Patio Restaurant, oblivious to the rhythmic beat of the African music that pervaded the atmosphere in his favourite Sea Cliff Hotel in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He ignored the glamorous, provocative African girls who asked him if he would buy them a drink and suggested more with their eyes and gestures. For once, he did not marvel at the iridescent wave tops, as they rolled in from the Indian Ocean and gently caressed the low crumbling cliffs after which Sea Cliff was named. For once, he was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to take in his surroundings.

He thought first about the reason he had journeyed down to Dar from Mwanza on Lake Victoria at the request of the Canada-based chairman of the Board of TSX-listed Mzilikazi Minerals for whom he worked as chief exploration geologist on a three-month roster from Australia, at their exciting and expanding Simba Ubora gold project. He now only returned to Australia once a year on his rostered breaks, as he preferred to spend his time with his Watusi partner, Naomi Inyambo, in Mwanza or other accessible, more exotic places such as Zanzibar. There had been an increasing number of thefts and small artisanal miner invasions on their property, causing concerns for safety and security. This had been a problem in Tanzania for many years, particularly when groups from near the northern border with Kenya were involved.

He had been sent to see the commissioner for mines to ask if some arrangement could be put in place to increase security, as the Simba Ubora deposit was increasingly appearing, as if a several million-ounce gold resource was possible, although exploration was still in an early stage. The proposition on the table was that the Tanzanian army could gain a 5 percent interest in the project by providing security at the property, with the company paying the soldiers’ salary with a bonus for performance. There had been a precedent for this in the past when the army actually held ground which was a joint-venture to interested exploration companies. No immediate decision had been made, after all this was a government-related issue, but at least the deal was on the table, and meanwhile extra security guards were on site.

His thoughts then moved on to his most interesting experiences of the previous months: what he termed in his mind as solving the puzzle of ‘The Plagues’. A series of man-made incidents plus unusual natural events had hit the United States, and the predictions of a southern pastor fuelled fear that they were a retribution from God for the decline in Christianity and Christian behaviour in the USA. James had viewed this from afar via CNN and BBC World programs and had been intrigued to try to understand the logical reason for this threat. He loved to solve puzzles: it was like understanding the complexities that controlled the location and origin of mineral deposits in his role as a geologist. He smiled to himself, as he recalled that he had resolved the mystery using his mineral resources background when a US taskforce led by his now friend, Matt Kawolski of the Bureau of Anti-Terrorism (BAT), had struggled to see the cause because of fixation on religious terrorism rather than greed-inspired intimidation. He mentally patted himself on the back, as he recalled his correct prediction that it was related to an attempt to force the value of the US $ down and the gold price up, prior to announcement of a giant new gold discovery. He had even guessed the location and type of gold discovery and made a handsome profit on his speculative purchase of shares when he was subsequently proved correct. He chuckled at the thought. He had found the solution to ‘The Plagues’ when it had baffled others and had earned his professorial father’s rare praise as a result.

A successful Navy SEAL-led operation in Amazonia had thwarted the plot by the ex-KGB Directors of CzarMidas Gold, and, as Matt Kawolski admitted ‘saved his ass’. Matt had been promoted to second-in command to the White House Senior Advisor, Seth Masterton, by a grateful president, Caitlin Custer, who was ecstatic that the ‘plagues’ had been curtailed and her popularity had soared, as she prepared to seek re-election. A totally infatuated Matt, who had only been able to admire and love his president from afar, kept alive the vain hope that there may be more to their future relationship. James recalled the reward for his pivotal role with great pleasure. He had been invited to the Presidential Reception on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate the successful conclusion of the operation to remove the threat to the US economy. He unconsciously smiled, as he remembered that colourful day which he had enjoyed with Matt. He had also become friends with Captain Clint Sardoni of the Las Vegas Police Force and Sergeant Tamara Phillips from the British Army who had played important roles in nullifying the ‘plague’ threat. He smiled remembering that they had been attracted to each other and were now an ‘item’ as Clint explained. His more permanent reminder of the occasion was a photograph with President Custer in the Oval Office. His mother had been ecstatic on receiving a copy and she placed it on the piano next to the photo of her mother at a garden party with Queen Elizabeth. He knew she had invited all her friends to afternoon tea to show off. He smiled inwardly, as he thought it was probably the first time in his life when both parents actually showed that they were proud of him at the same time.

He was now eagerly looking forward to his next major trip, hopefully with Naomi, to Manaus in Amazonia in early September. In order to receive approval for her Navy ‘SEALS’ operation in Amazonia, President Custer had acceded to Amazonian President Unberto Oliveira’s request for a state visit to the Amazon. According to Matt, she was now regretting her impulsive gesture, when she had agreed to ride a black stallion through a jungle pathway, paddle a canoe on the Amazon, visit a US-funded tree-planting operation and have a reception and musical recital at the Manaus Opera House. Her Presidential Office had checked for the best conditions for the visit. Lowest rainfall was in July and August, but this was too early for planning, so early September had been the final decision, although final dates had not yet been decided. Year 2024 was an election year and the president could not wait until then to make a distracting visit. James was pleased that the president had been so grateful to him for his input that she had invited him and Naomi to join her, and had also arranged through Reef Gold Resources, the new joint-venture partner on the CzarMidas Gold ground, for him to visit the potentially giant Witwatersrand-style conglomerate-hosted gold deposit in Amazonia.

He was woken from his reverie by a waitress offering him another beer. Reluctantly, he declined, paid his bill and went to bed, his mind filled with pleasant memories and self-congratulation. He needed to sleep, as he had to rise early tomorrow to head to the airport for his flight back to Mwanza.

Chapter 3

James flew into a sunny Mwanza late on Saturday morning, never ceasing to wonder at the beauty of the granite hills, tors and islands rising out of a serene Lake Victoria with its myriad of small boats sailing on the waters. The only blot on the landscape was the green water hyacinth that formed extensive floating mats threatening to choke the harbour and shoreline, despite decades of effort to control it because funding for scientific solutions had been diverted into the pockets of officials.

His plane landed on the anomalously enormous military runway and within minutes, he had disembarked, thinking that if he were in the US, he would have ‘deplaned’, carried his overnight bag through the exit and fell into the waiting arms of Naomi. She was so pleased to see him; he thought he must have been away for months, not just two nights. As always, she looked gorgeous, her tight blouse and short shorts emphasising her curvaceous body.

Let’s get home, she whispered provocatively in his ear. Once there, she wasted no time removing the blouse, bra and shorts, leaving only a white G-string that showed off the contrast with her sleek, brown body. James, stripping as he went, chased her into the bedroom for some energetic lovemaking. He never tired of her teasing moves, her softness and the climax they always enjoyed together. It contrasted so much with the stories relayed by his male friends when they had a few beers and described their marriages or affairs. He thought how lucky he was: a rewarding job with hope of a major discovery, his financial windfall from his CzarMidas Gold investment, his health in a warm climate, and, above all, his relationship with Naomi.

He told her how much he loved her. She sighed with content and said gently, Then prove it by bringing me lunch in bed and then repeating our performance, a request that he had no hesitation in accepting. That evening, as a special treat, he took