Romeo, wherefore art thou? Up here, Juliet

I sat in on the Anaconda Mining presentation at the Resource Investors Forum earlier this week at the Sheraton Hotel. Dustin Angelo presented an update on the company’s current position, and spoke of the Romeo and Juliet prospect close to its Pine Cove mine on the Baie Verte Peninsula.

Curious about the name of the prospect, I spoke to Allan Cramm, the mine’s general manager, after the presentation, who told me the prospect was given the name in the ’80s by someone who was a more “sophisticated” geologist than most.

“Most of the discoveries in that area were named after clubs,” he said. “Stogger Tight, Baie Vista — but that one they named it, because physically Romeo is higher up and looking down on Juliet.”

I guess that’s why they’re geologists and miners and not English professors, though — after all, in Shakespeare’s play, Romeo calls up to Juliet on her balcony. As it happens, the company just announced a new gold-bearing zone they’ve called the Balcony Zone.

The Northeast Avalon Regional Economic Development Board is teaming up with the Memorial University’s Botanical Garden to reestablish the Fall Potato Festival, happening today at the garden on Mount Scio Road. The festival will feature the launch of the new edition of the board’s Avalon Food Map, which aims to connect consumers with locally grown food. Earlier this year, the board’s members voted to carry on despite having its federal and provincial funding cut, and will rely on membership fees and ad sales to try to make up the $300,000 funding lost.

St. John’s is hosting economic development professionals from across the country this weekend as Economic Developers Association of Canada holds its annual convention in the city. The conference’s theme is “Innovation on the Edge,” with delegates discussing ways to find new ideas for local, regional and national development. The conference runs Sept. 21-24.