The two grains in the bottom RH corner are about the size of a matchhead so not the most impressive nugget/gold grain ever panned. But still - its there.
ETA - I should point out fine gold is a good thing as any sampling will then be are more representative of the orebody. The assay for this sample was 77g/t which shows how tiny what we're chasing really is (3g/t is economic, over 10g/t is excellent)
Dolmens are megalithic constructions though opinion is divided whether they are tombs, places of worship or simply shelters/grain stores (perhaps all of these at once!). They weren't built for fun though - the capstones weigh over 100kg (for the geos they're granite slabs/boulders). Portugal has several well preserved "antas" including the "famous" Anta do Zambujeiro. My parents, my brother and I have all tried to find this "landmark" on more than one occasion without no luck. It shouldn't be so hard as there's a nice big signpost on the main road pointing down a dirt road. The only problem is that this road leads to a farm and there is no sign directing you to stop or turn off. I wish this was unusual but in all times I've followed these signs looking for ruins/dolmens I've only found one - at Sao Geraldo (near Montemor). Even then Ali and I stopped at a mound of dirt and convinced ourselves that this might be "it"!!!! Maybe there are so many in the Alentejo the locals don't consider them a novelty?! Luckily we kept going though - I think the "two-storey chamber" is unusual for a dolmen but I'm no expert.
Cos somebody likes them....
Unfortunately though flowers = pollen = my nose running like Niagara Falls if I come within a country mile of anything blooming. Kinda hard when you live/work/hide indoors avoiding flowers in a country town. One of the reasons I've been a grumpy sod all week although there's a few companies who are doing their best to aggravate me. So the internet has been keeping me entertained since my cousin left - I don't whether this story is simply amusing, or inspiring for the fact that "beer taster" is a profession!!!! Of course kids alcohol is bad - if you're tempted by the devil's water just read the story of Latawyna the horse.
Yesterday I had my 6-monthly phone call from the President of the local rugby club. He rings before every pre-season, and usually once more during the season, just in case I've hired the All Black front row or a couple of fringe Wallaby backs and not told him. We chat for 10 minutes or so about this and that - how the clubs going, progress on the new rugby ground which is being built, how exploration is going, whether I should go down for a run (since I've only ever played touch I'm not considered as a recruit). And then with a promise that I should go to training for a beer or we should meet for lunch we hang up, until the next time.
So if there are any front rowers out there, a pair of halves to replace those out with injury or a full-back "who can really defend, tackle hard" and you're willing to move to Montemor then you've got a game. You just need a job, a house and a language course.
My cousin Ali visited me last weekend which was grand as ever. Since she's interested in ancient ruins we took the opportunity to visit Portugal's largest Roman settlement at Conimbriga.
Conimbriga is huge but not much remains above knee height except for part of the city wall and an arch near the old shower block. For me it became a little confusing trying to imagine the buildings from the ruins especially when I think back to Mirobriga - a smaller site but with more walls and columns remain to help you visualise the buildings. Perhaps for that reason concrete paving and columns have been used to partially reconstruct the forum at Conimbriga (I'm not sure whether this is a full re-building project or not). However I can't decide on the merits of this when I see remains of the real columns piled up in a heap.
What Conimbriga does have is some of the best preserved mosaics I've seen anywhere, even better than Aquila in Italy. This is from the House of Fountains where for the bargain price of 50c you can start the watershow. I only hope it was impressive for the Roman times since they were a trickle compared to more modern fountains, or my backyard sprinkler.
Another thing the Romans left in Portugal was a series of mines up and down the country. Spain and Portugal was very important to the Empire because of the metals they could extract and use. Most of the mining done in Portugal in modern times has centered on these old workings and you can't help but be impressed by how they found these deposits and how well they exploited them. In this case in one of our projects they also processed the ore in a furnance, leaving the slags behind in dumps. 2000 years later the grass is still coloured an interesting shade of red. 
Happy May Day! Or Day of the Workers as it's titled here. Naturally its a public holiday and public holidays seem to be celebrated with marching bands, parades and fireworks/firecrackers at 9am (because it would be against the revolution to sleep in??!!). So since I'm awake I might celebrate and do some work since I represent the oppressive management regime.
