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"He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it" - Plato
LETTER TO THE EMBASSY 2009
To: Mr. Mamadou Bandiougou Diawara, Ambassador Feb 23/2009
Government of Mali, Embassy
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
From: James Westgate Snell
Dear Sir,
This letter is in reference to my meeting with your Honorary Consul, Mr. Jeffrey Gilmour in Calgary Alberta last week. I would like to thank you and Mr. Gilmour for allowing this meeting to take place. On the advice of Mr. Gilmour, I am requesting a meeting with you and your staff.
My discussion with Mr. Gilmour was in regards to IAMGOLD / Anglo Ashanti and the Sadiola deposit currently being mined North West of Bamako. (Kenieba District).
In 1981, My Father, James Clinton Snell, P.Eng, conducted an extensive geological research project in the above mentioned area with the assistance of geologists from the government of Mali. The result of this excellent research resulted in several gold mines now producing in your country. (IAMGOLD….Sadiola and Yatela). It was my Father’s hope that the massive potential of this mining district could generate enough wealth to sufficiently finance the operations of the government of Mali. In a letter to Mr. Robert N’Daw, Ministry of Development, Industry and Tourism, my father mentioned that there was sufficient gold deposition in this area to stabilize Mali’s currency and transform the economy.
Unfortunately, my Father died last year. Thankfully, I have inherited all of his geological research pertaining to gold deposition in Mali. Over the years, he compiled extensive gold exploration targets, along with maps and reports. Almost all of these targets have yet to be explored. I would like to discuss with you the possibility of continuing my father’s work in Mali, to assist not only your citizens, but also my family. I have several areas that I would like to begin working in.
In addition, I would also like to discuss with you the ownership of the Sadiola gold mine. As mentioned, my father found this world class deposit for IAMGOLD (Mr. Mark Nathanson). Tragically, he was never paid for his work. Engineering invoices have not been paid and royalty commitments have not been fulfilled. (Please see attached documents). My father was unable to defend himself legally since he was very ill.
As a registered Professional Engineer in the province of British Columbia Canada, my father still owns the rights to his intellectual property. Consequently, there is a strong possibility that since the Sadiola discovery was not paid for by IAMGOLD, the government of Mali could legally and ethically assume 100% control of this mineral concession and others. I would, of course, provide my services in this process. All of the documents pertaining to IAMGOLD fraudulently obtaining their concession are being reviewed by the Public Safety Minister’s office in Ottawa as well as in the media.
I look forward to speaking with you soon and possibly continuing this work.
Sincerely,
James Westgate Snell
This all began with a cartoon sketch of my father. His roommate at the University of Alaska (Fairbanks) drew it in the late 1950's. It depicts my father riding a donkey towards a gold mine. The caption reads, "There's a gold mine in the sky far away." In 1981, a picture of my father was taken, riding a donkey, near the site where he discovered one of the world's richest gold mines....according to a Jewish Rabbi, King Solomon's mines.
In 1981, my father, James Clinton Snell, P.Eng, geological engineer, (registered in the province of British Columbia, Canada) received a telephone phone call from a Canadian business man living in England (Mr. Mark Nathanson, IAMGOLD founder), requesting to examine and evaluate a mining concession in Mali, West Africa. My father hired an assistant and flew into Mali. After meeting with the country’s mining/geological officials, he was told that they did not know of the man who had sent him there and that the mining concession did not exist. Frustrated and disappointed, my father decided that since he was in Africa, he would travel to an area of his choosing and conduct some prospecting and geological research. Through his extensive geological experience, he focused in on the western portion of Mali. Thousands of small circular shafts were visible from the air. He flew back to his hotel in Bamako and began researching.
After extensive research was completed, he hired a truck and drove out to the area of interest. Most of the shafts he had seen from the air were less than 30 meters in depth. The purpose of these shafts was the historical mining of alluvial gold. The local artisan miners had been digging these shafts and processing the ore by hand for perhaps thousands of years.
In terms of economic geology, my father knew he was in the correct area for finding several massive lode gold deposits. After many weeks of intense field work and study, he had compiled enough research to conclude that one of the sources of the rich free gold being mined was a deposit at Sadiola Hill, (see accompanying maps). He also focused heavily on the Yatela area north of Sadiola. He was convinced that Sadiola had the potential to be developed into a modern mine and could generate substantial wealth for Mali. He met with Mr. Robert N’Daw, (Minister of Development, Industry and Tourism) (see letter). He advised Mr. N’Daw that the newly discovered area could be used to assist in developing Mali.
My father flew home from Mali penniless and very sick. Mr. Nathanson refused to pay my father’s engineering invoices (see documents). Since my father had disclosed to Mali government officials the potential massive economic wealth of western Mali and the location of Sadiola, Yatela and other potential gold deposits, Mr. Nathanson may have wanted to distance himself legally from my father. Even though no payment for geological services was rendered, Mr. Nathanson demanded my father’s geological report titled “The Geology and Geomorphology of Gold Deposition Kenieba District, Mali, West Africa including Ore Reserve Potential and a Feasibility Study for Mining and Processing,” with accompanying maps and tonnage calculations. There was a historic estimate made by my father of 625 tons gold at Sadiola (surface reserves). It took my father many months to complete this report.
Mr. Nathanson then requested that my father fly to meet with him and financiers Mr. Hans Willi (Handels Kredit Bank, AG Zurich), George Hervey-Bathurst and Mr. Martin Boston (lawyer) in London. Before the meeting took place, Mr. Nathanson and my father visited a Synagogue in downtown London. While in the building, the Rabbi took my father aside and told him, "Mr. Snell, do you realize what you have found?" " You have found King Solomon's mines."
During the meeting with Mr. Nathanson and his associates, my father was promised that he would be rewarded for his excellent work. One night, after the meeting, there was an attempt on my father’s life. Both he and the family think that this incident was no coincidence.
Years later, it was discovered that the original partnership tied to the exploration area encountered significant difficulties. Infighting with above-mentioned financiers resulted in Mr. Nathanson independently obtaining a concession using the original geological report provided by my father. Mr. Nathason’s lawyer, Mr. Martin Boston & Co., (see document) spent time in prison after Mr. Nathanson, through his solicitor, requested a sting operation with the help of Scotland Yard (see document). Prior to the sting, Mr. Nathanson arranged for Mr. Boston to potentially destroy pertinent information relating to his former partner’s claim to the project in Mali. (their conversation was recorded). Attached is a letter from Mr. Boston to my father requesting a signed copy of the report and maps, which contained the location of the Sadiola deposit. There was a CBC Fifth Estate documentary on Mr. Nathanson’s business history. (DVD can be ordered through the CBC). Mr. Nathanson, who was privy to the inner workings of the sting operation, left his microphone on after the fact and was heard saying, “I got em…..I got em!" Allegations were made by Mr. Boston that Mr. Nathanson was assisted inappropriately in the sting operation by Mr. Alec Edwards, a long time employee of Scotland Yard. Not surprisingly, Mr. Edwards was subsequently hired (at an inflated salary) by Mr. Nathanson’s company FIA Forensics.
http://www.fia-forensic.com/offices/nassau.html
http://www.fia-forensic.com/team/pedwards.html
My father returned from his England trip exhausted but still hopeful he had a deal with Mr. Nathanson on royalties from Sadiola. This never came. Years later, our family heard that a rich gold deposit had been discovered in Mali, at Sadiola Hill. They listed "Dr" Mark Nathanson as the discoverer and founder. Later, he was given an Honorary Doctorate of Law degree from York University in Ontario after his generous financial contribution to that school.
Mr. Nathanson formed an Ontario-based mining company. (IAMGOLD Corporation). He teamed up with Anglo-Ashanti to mine my father’s discovery. My father was never paid his modest invoices for the project or his promised 8% royalty / operating shares. IAMGOLD / Anglo Ashanti have apparently been mining one ton of gold per month since 1996 (see press release attached) at Sadiola. IAMGOLD also has a mine at Yatela on the advice of my father (outlined in his report). As one would expect, IAMGOLD and other mining companies have gone on to explore and make more discoveries on the Mali gold trend that my father initially discovered.
Mr. Nathanson now lives off shore. He was man of the year at the New York City Police Service after contributing to the NYPD Police Museum and forensics room. He and a former 30-year veteran of the RCMP (Rod Stamler, former deputy commissioner of the RCMP) founded an international forensics company based in the USA. (FIA) (sold to T&M Prtotection Services). Mr. Nathanson and Mr. Stamler also founded the Nathanson Research Center for the study of organized crime and corruption at York University in Ontario, Canada. The Osgoode Law School website states, “In 1988, he (Mr. Nathanson) got his big break with the discovery, and subsequent development, of a huge gold deposit in Western Mali."
Follow the link below to find out who is on Mr. Nathanson's team at Osgoode Law
http://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/NathansonBackUp/page4executivepersonnel.htm
Acting Solicitor General Herb Grey as well as other politicians, dignitaries and law enforcement officials, attended Mr. Nathanson's honorary PhD cerimony. The website states: "He saw first hand the debilitating effects on all sectors of society that result from widspread and unchecked organized crime activity and from corruption among public officials. He resolved to do something about it by creating the Nathanson Centre." Mr. Nathanson was quoted as saying, "I always wanted to be a policeman. But I didn't want to live on a policeman's salary. I had to make some money first."
Several years before my Father’s suicide, the Fifth Estate again came and visited him in Vancouver. They eventually aired an incriminating story on Mr. Nathanson. The Fifth Estate implied that Mr. Nathanson might have originally been involved in arms trading.
LEGAL ISSUES
Mr. James Clinton Snell, registered Professional Engineer in the province of British Columbia was never paid for his work for IAMGOLD and Mr. Nathanson. Attached invoices are still outstanding.
Mr. James Clinton Snell has never been acknowledged as the true discoverer of the Sadiola Hill deposit by Mr. Nathanson, IAMGOLD or the mining industry.
Mr. Nathanson and IAMGOLD have never honored the royalty owed to Mr. James Clinton Snell for the discovery of the Sadiola Hill deposit.
CONCLUSION
The geological research, reports and maps remain the property of James Clinton Snell, P.Eng., and his family. Selling of this data to third party geologists or mining companies is an offence against James Clinton Snell, P.Eng and the government of Mali.Members of the IAMGOLD board of directors, including Mr. Nathanson, knowing the source of the discovery at Sadiola and the possible legal issues involved, fraudulently sold a large interest in the Sadiola deposit to Anglo Ashanti, exposing this company, shareholders and employees to significant liability and corporate instability.
IAMGOLD, having obtained/used the above mentioned geological data and property have exposed the general investing public to liability and potential loss.
The family of the late Mr. James Clinton Snell feels that justice needs to be served. Engineering invoices need to be paid with interest; a standard net smelter return needs to be honored by IAMGOLD. The true discoverer of this great deposit should be acknowledged and IAMGOLD and its management should be scrutinized for misrepresenting and misguiding investors, partners and the mining industry.
http://www.iamgold.com/op_mines_sadiola.htm
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