ARMENIAN PROSPECTOR STAKES CLAIM IN WEST AFRICA
by Tom Vartabedian
Published: Wednesday January 22, 2014
“Papa” Papalian with children from an orphanage in Ghana. Courtesy
image.
Around these parts in a land marked by malaria, extreme heat, cobra
and blood-sucking mosquitoes, they call Rafik Papalian simply Papa.
He’s Papa to the natives and the orphans in this barren land after
sponsoring a school as part of a community service incentive to secure
a prospector’s license.
The “Papa” remains a derivative of his Armenian surname which he
proudly owns. Sometimes, it’s Papa Rafik. Other times, he may answer
to Papa Papalian. The “patriarch” bides his role seriously here after
purchasing 100 acres of land on which to mine.
The name “Ghana” means “warrior king.” In some ways, it typifies
Rafik Papalian. He’s been a true warrior though the ordeal inside a
country known for its instability where weapons roam freely.
No hot running water. Extreme heat over 100 degrees daily. No basic
necessities except for a cell phone. Nets are required for sleeping.
That’s the life this 53-year-old from Exeter, New Hampshire, has
chosen for the past 2 ½ years in his pursuit of the BIG DIG. The
random gold nuggets and diamond fragments he’s found beneath the
African soil keeps him scouring for more.
With 20 paid employees, it’s adding up to a tidy sum but Papalian
remains optimistic. It’s the jeweler in him. Besides his wife and
four children, he left behind a jewelry shop in Plaistow, NH, which
is in the capable hands of another Armenian named Khachik Mouradian,
who’s been with him 14 years.
“I wanted to open a gold mining company with a group of investors,”
he says. “It was my ultimate goal to see where the gold came from.”
Why West Africa?
“According to my studies, Ghana is one of the top eight countries
in the world for gold mining,” he adds. “My jewelry business had hit
a lull and I needed a career change — a new investment. We made a
family commitment to sacrifice in order to make this work.”
Oil and mining industries attract investors like Papalian. He calls
his venture the Ashanti Gold Mining Belt.
Amid the turmoil and the risk, he was able to secure a mining license.
He bought a parcel of land that appeared lucrative and went
prospecting. Geologists were hired and Papalian learned to communicate
in chie, the native language.
Next came equipment and permanent housing. He set up quarters inside
a guest house. The room he habitates measures around 10-foot square.
Typical foods are yams, plantan (bananas) and other fruits. Bush meat
comes from anything in the wild.
Gold prospects have ranged from one to 10-gram nuggets. Diamond
deposits have been an added inducement. There are days he’s so covered
with mud, he takes a shower with his clothes intact. It goes with
the territory. There’s no rest for the weary, except to eat and sleep.
“Right now, we’re at the break-even point,” he notes. “With the gold
we’ve found, it’s led to better equipment and pumping machines. The
best is yet to come, I see it happening.”
Papalian is also cultivating an Armenian community here. He’s hooked
up with four Belgium Armenian prospectors who have been mining for
11 years. They get together, speak their native Armenian language,
even prepare some Armenian cuisine.
A lumber company in Ghana has an owner named Avo Sarkisian who hired
20 Armenians from Beirut. Welcome them to the clan.
“We share our thoughts and help one another,” Papalian says. “It’s
our own little Armenian community out in the middle of the African
frontier.”
His charity extends to the school he founded there. He performed a
similar role in Iran where he was raised, sponsoring an orphanage.
Papalian also adopted two orphaned African girls and got them placed
into caring homes.
Meanwhile, his New Hampshire jewelry shop has handbags and shoes on
display, the proceeds of which support the orphans.
Papalian emigrated from Iran in 1977 just before the government
was overthrown. Had he remained, he would have been drafted by the
military. A brother Rouben was killed in the war.
He remained a year in India, worked as a cook in England, eventually
earning enough money to settle in America. He arrived in Haverhill, MA,
under the sponsorship of a local priest, the Rev. Haigazoun Melkonian,
where he secured his high school diploma and ultimately a degree in
electrical engineering from Northern Essex Community College.
To sustain himself, he worked as a cook, bagged groceries, and sold
pizza. The years that followed as an engineer and diamond salesman
allowed him to help support his family in Iran.
A jewelry store he opened in Haverhill was robbed two weeks later,
resulting in the loss of $50,000 worth of merchandise. Not to be
defeated, he reopened again in Plaistow, then added a second and
third operation in Southern New Hampshire.
Perhaps it was his faith in God which kept Papalian mobilized. He
spent 15 years as a deacon in the Armenian Apostolic church.
The parents he didn’t see for 23 years were finally reunited with
him in 1997 inside the United Arab Emirates. They rented a home in
Dubai and stayed there a month.
“My dad dropped his cane and we all hugged,” Papalian recalled. “At
the time, we had three children and a fourth on the way. It was the
first time my parents met my wife and their grandchildren. It was a
very emotional moment.”
A return trip home for Christmas brought him together with his family
and business before heading back Jan. 30 for another six months to
pursue his investments.
“When we put the new company together, it’ll be called “Ararat Mining,”
he beams. “And we’ll fly the Armenian Tricolor as our symbol.”
http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2014-01-22-armenian-prospector-stakes-claim-in-west-africa