Company makes dream come true
For Maria Pichichero it was a miner miracle.
The 60-year-old woman, who worked at Argyle Diamond Mine more than 30 years ago, had always dreamt she would put on a hard hat and step on site one last time.
In October last year, before her 60th birthday, she sent a handwritten letter and some old photographs to the Rio Tinto office in Kununurra.
"This is my 60th birthday present to me - a return to Australia and the beautiful Kimberley region," she wrote.
"We would love to revisit the mine after all this time.
"I used to work on site taking samples and processing them in the lab.
"Please contact me by email. Thank you, Maria."
Dropping the letter into a Vancouver post box, she wondered if she would ever hear back from anyone from the corporate mining company.
But her dream to put on a hard hat and visit Argyle Diamond mine one last time came true last week, when she and her husband Bruce Caird were invited to stay overnight.
An email from Argyle Diamond Mine communication co-ordinator Katie Innes inviting her to the mine on not only a tour but an overnight stay brought tears to her eyes, Ms Pichichero said.
"I was so surprised and honoured with how they welcome(d) me," she said.
"It felt like a homecoming.
"I didn't really expect an answer, but this was just beyond what we could have expected."
After spending the night in an on-site donga, the pair, dressed in a hard hat and a high-visibility shirt, were up at 6am for breakfast in the mess hall.
First order of the day was a security check and then a tour through the warehouse.
After a tour to the top of the mine, Ms Pichichero and Mr Caird inspected some diamonds at the recovery area - where Ms Pichichero finally purchased a diamond.
"I would never have dreamed of buying a diamond as a 20-something-year-old," she said.
"But because this will probably be the last time we are here, I just knew it was right."
Ms Pichichero, who now lives in Vancouver, worked at Argyle as a lab technician in 1982.
"To me, there were a lot of things which had changed," she said.
"The accommodation now is beautiful
"There are also a lot of women, which is great to see.
"I feel so lucky to have been able to show my husband this place."
