Free Smoking Gun (Adam Cartwright Trilogy Book 1) by Dennis Debney

stony faced. I didn’t have to be told that he had been out voted and was displeased.
    ***
    I had known the other applicants by reputation but had never met them previously. They were all strong type A personalities who certainly got the job done. Two seemed to be basically decent guys who tended to mix socially with their subordinates.
    The other two had quite different management styles. They were well known for intimidation of their subordinates and never accepting personal responsibility for their own mistakes. One of their lieutenants had once quipped to me that the only management book ever read by his boss was probably called; ‘Bullying for Dummies’.
    Even so it was preposterous to think that the attack on me had been motivated by such petty resentment.
    ***
    After the meeting the CEO had introduced me to the fair haired man. I had guessed correctly, he was the Project Manager and he had been unhappy. His name was Tom Barton. I was to learn later that he had argued strongly against the level of independence given to the Construction Manager and my appointment in particular.
    Even though we did not connect on a personal level, and he still espoused the view that I was the wrong man for the job, I did not see any possible connection between him and the attempts on my life.
    ***
    That led my thoughts to whether someone on the project site could be responsible. Perhaps there was someone sufficiently motivated by rivalry or resentment to seek my elimination.
    The total workforce on site numbered just under four hundred, about three quarters of whom were under my control. The rest were either permanent employees of the Red Rock Mine, or employees of a contract mining company that had been awarded the contract to carry out the mining operation. They were all under the control of Jack Gilmore, Red Rock’s senior mining engineer. In the next couple of months Red Rock Mine would appoint an Operations Manager and other staff prior to commissioning of the Mill and processing plant.
    I had little contact with the contract mining employees who had separate accommodation facilities and dining room. Where space was available, the construction workers shared accommodation and mess facilities with the permanent Red Rock employees. Tent accommodation had been provided for the overflow of construction workers with a surprising number happy to sleep in a four man military-style tent.
    On my first visit to Red Rock, Jack Gilmore had shown me around the site. His job was to develop the open pit and provide ore for the testing and commissioning of the processing plant and facilities. He was supported by a couple of junior mining engineers, a geologist and some administration staff. Later they would all take up roles as full time employees at the mine after it was commissioned.
    Gilmore had driven me up a roughly graded track, suitable for 4WD access only, to a vantage point on a ridge overlooking the mine site. Alongside the track there was a roughly painted sign proclaiming it to be the way to ‘Lookout Hill’. When we were parked at the top, Gilmore spread a map of the mining lease on the bonnet of the vehicle and then proceeded to point out the proposed location of the various features marked on the map. The lookout point was ideal, giving a panoramic view of the entire mine site.
    Like all mining operations, pre-planning of a mine site was crucial. Jack Gilmore’s mining contractors needed to remove a substantial quantity of waste rock before reaching ore grade material. The waste rock had to be removed from the pit to a permanent storage location several kilometres distant. The layout of the mine site was designed to provide for efficient operation for the life-of-mine. An area of three kilometres by two kilometres had been reserved to suit the eventual perimeter of the open pit. Similar areas had been set aside for the permanent storage of waste rock and a tailings dam. These areas utilized several gullies leading from the main