So, you want to be a prospector...

[Guest guest]

So, you want to be a prospector...

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=19c88812-6781-40d7-

9644-c5e3eb0082c9

Published: Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Danger lurks in the sweltering caves of Mexico, and the source of

that danger: bat poo. It sounds like something out of a drive-in

horror movie, but veteran prospector Renaudat can tell you

just how real and how dangerous those bat droppings can be.

Mr. Renaudat, who came to Canada from France in 1966, has been

searching for minerals for various companies throughout British

Columbia, Ontario and Quebec for about 25 years.

In 2004, he was hired by Endeavour Silver Corp. to collect samples

from caves at a property 10 kilometres northeast of Culiacan, a city

near the west coast of Mexico.

In one of those caves, without realizing it, he inhaled spores of a

fungus that infected his lungs and made him feel seriously ill by

bedtime.

" The first night at the motel I got the shakes, " he recalls. " I was

freezing cold and could not sleep, even with three blankets. "

The symptoms persisted for several days. At first, Mexican doctors

thought he had the flu. By the fifth or sixth day, the company

realized the situation was so serious that it hired a jet to fly Mr.

Renaudat back to Vancouver.

" It was a very tough time for me. I lost about 14 months of work. "

What he had inhaled was histoplasmosis capsulatum, a fungus that

grows in locations piled deep with bat and bird droppings, says Dr.

Judith Eger, a senior curator with the Royal Ontario Museum in

Toronto.

Nobody knows exactly why, but the spores released by the fungus are

dangerous to some people, yet have little effect on others. The

spores become airborne after people or animals enter caves and stir

up the ground.

Dr. Eger says anyone entering such caves should wear special masks

to protect themselves from inhaling the spores. " The fungus spore is

about two microns across. It is very small, so you have to wear a

mask that is going to inhibit your breathing considerably in order

to filter out spores of that size. "

The problem is that tropical caves filled with bat droppings tend to

be hot and dank -- the last sort of place you'd want to enter

wearing an uncomfortable mask.

" Typically those things are very poorly ventilated and there's

massive mounds of guano on the floor, so it stinks. You've got a

mask on, but being Mexico, it's hot, " says Bradford Cooke, chief

executive of Endeavour Silver.

That said, Mr. Cooke says the risks posed by histoplasmosis are

fairly well understood by geologists and prospectors who habitually

venture into caves in Mexico.

While it may be uncomfortable, a mask offers simple protection

against the spores. Mr. Cooke worries more about the jungles of the

Amazon or Africa, which are rife with malaria and dengue fever, and

where sickness can be difficult to treat.

" I can tell you right now that if you don't have the right drug for

the right strain, then it's going to get you. That's the big health

risk. "

Dave Comba, a well-known Ontario-based geologist who has worked with

Mr. Renaudat, describes the prospector as one of the best he has

been involved with.

" He's very effective at finding mineralizations, " Mr. Comba

says. " He picks up what you're looking for, then goes off and finds

it.

" I think he prefers working on his own or with a very small group.

He likes to be instructed, then let go. He doesn't like to be

managed day in, day out. Which is typical of prospectors. They're

very effective on their own. "

Mr. Renaudat has recovered from his illness. He has a cabin in

Oliver, B.C., and is now working on a confidential, six-week drill

job.

He says he's worried that not enough people know about

histoplasmosis -- particularly tourists who may stumble into a

Mexican cave without knowing its dangers.

" This accident of mine could have been prevented, " Mr. Renaudat

says. " All of what happened to me should never have happened. "

[Guest guest]

thank you KC, I had wondered if the bats getting stuck in my walls

were adding to my illness and contacted a bat specialest who told me

that bat urine actually causes toxic molds to grow along with the bat

poo. wonder if its this kind, but this doesn't explain why the bats

have left my home, if they are immune to toxic mold, why were they

getting in and dieing? maybe they were starveing while stuck in my

walls and found theri way out to late. this specialest said that bat

poo can make you ill

too.

>

> So, you want to be a prospector...

>

> http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=19c88812-6781-40d7-

> 9644-c5e3eb0082c9

>

> Published: Tuesday, March 07, 2006

> Danger lurks in the sweltering caves of Mexico, and the source of

> that danger: bat poo. It sounds like something out of a drive-in

> horror movie, but veteran prospector Renaudat can tell you

> just how real and how dangerous those bat droppings can be.

>

> Mr. Renaudat, who came to Canada from France in 1966, has been

> searching for minerals for various companies throughout British

> Columbia, Ontario and Quebec for about 25 years.

>

> In 2004, he was hired by Endeavour Silver Corp. to collect samples

> from caves at a property 10 kilometres northeast of Culiacan, a

city

> near the west coast of Mexico.

>

> In one of those caves, without realizing it, he inhaled spores of a

> fungus that infected his lungs and made him feel seriously ill by

> bedtime.

>

> " The first night at the motel I got the shakes, " he recalls. " I was

> freezing cold and could not sleep, even with three blankets. "

>

> The symptoms persisted for several days. At first, Mexican doctors

> thought he had the flu. By the fifth or sixth day, the company

> realized the situation was so serious that it hired a jet to fly

Mr.

> Renaudat back to Vancouver.

>

> " It was a very tough time for me. I lost about 14 months of work. "

>

> What he had inhaled was histoplasmosis capsulatum, a fungus that

> grows in locations piled deep with bat and bird droppings, says Dr.

> Judith Eger, a senior curator with the Royal Ontario Museum in

> Toronto.

>

> Nobody knows exactly why, but the spores released by the fungus are

> dangerous to some people, yet have little effect on others. The

> spores become airborne after people or animals enter caves and stir

> up the ground.

>

> Dr. Eger says anyone entering such caves should wear special masks

> to protect themselves from inhaling the spores. " The fungus spore

is

> about two microns across. It is very small, so you have to wear a

> mask that is going to inhibit your breathing considerably in order

> to filter out spores of that size. "

>

> The problem is that tropical caves filled with bat droppings tend

to

> be hot and dank -- the last sort of place you'd want to enter

> wearing an uncomfortable mask.

>

> " Typically those things are very poorly ventilated and there's

> massive mounds of guano on the floor, so it stinks. You've got a

> mask on, but being Mexico, it's hot, " says Bradford Cooke, chief

> executive of Endeavour Silver.

>

> That said, Mr. Cooke says the risks posed by histoplasmosis are

> fairly well understood by geologists and prospectors who habitually

> venture into caves in Mexico.

>

> While it may be uncomfortable, a mask offers simple protection

> against the spores. Mr. Cooke worries more about the jungles of the

> Amazon or Africa, which are rife with malaria and dengue fever, and

> where sickness can be difficult to treat.

>

> " I can tell you right now that if you don't have the right drug for

> the right strain, then it's going to get you. That's the big health

> risk. "

>

> Dave Comba, a well-known Ontario-based geologist who has worked

with

> Mr. Renaudat, describes the prospector as one of the best he has

> been involved with.

>

> " He's very effective at finding mineralizations, " Mr. Comba

> says. " He picks up what you're looking for, then goes off and finds

> it.

>

> " I think he prefers working on his own or with a very small group.

> He likes to be instructed, then let go. He doesn't like to be

> managed day in, day out. Which is typical of prospectors. They're

> very effective on their own. "

>

> Mr. Renaudat has recovered from his illness. He has a cabin in

> Oliver, B.C., and is now working on a confidential, six-week drill

> job.

>

> He says he's worried that not enough people know about

> histoplasmosis -- particularly tourists who may stumble into a

> Mexican cave without knowing its dangers.

>

> " This accident of mine could have been prevented, " Mr. Renaudat

> says. " All of what happened to me should never have happened. "

>