Three proved to be a lucky number
God bless the lady in the Saint Vincent de Paul op shop . On placing two books - The Slow Men , by David Frith , editor of the Wisden Cricket Monthly, and Wolfe & Moltcalm , by Joy Carroll - on the counter of a North Queensland outlet , she replied by saying books were three for five dollars , could I find another of interest ?
Back to the small number of books picked through - and there was an overlooked real treasure : Grasberg Mining the richest and most remote deposit of copper and gold in the world , in the mountains of Irian Jaya, Indonesia.
Written by American mining engineer George A. Mealey , published by Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold , New Orleans , 1996, it is profusely illustrated , with fold out maps and an illustrated dustjacket, full of interesting information , including details of Darwin's part in the mining venture .
The book covers the discovery of mineral outcrops in rugged, inaccessible country, snow capped ranges nearby , by a Dutch geologist in 1936 , eventually leading to massive deposits with the largest gold reserves and third largest copper reserves in the world.
Another interesting twist is that the John D. Rockefeller , founder of Standard Oil, hired German immigrant, Herman Frasch , who went on to pioneer a technique to mine subterranean sulphur which involved injecting superheated water into deposits and then pumping the molten sulphur to the surface . Carried on by others , this technique made the Gulf Coast of the US the world centre of sulphur production . In 1912 , a syndicate was formed called the Freeport Sulphur Company whose widespread, diversified operations would eventually involve Darwin more than half a century later .
The dramatic 1961 disappearance on an ethnographic expedition of Michael C. Rockefeller, 23, son of Nelson A. Rockefeller , New York governor , later vice president of the USA , in which the editor of the Northern Territory News , Jim Bowditch , proposed parachuting into Dutch New Guinea , later Irian Jaya , to try and find him was outlined in the biography of the crusading newspaperman which ran in this blog.
Another interesting twist is that the John D. Rockefeller , founder of Standard Oil, hired German immigrant, Herman Frasch , who went on to pioneer a technique to mine subterranean sulphur which involved injecting superheated water into deposits and then pumping the molten sulphur to the surface . Carried on by others , this technique made the Gulf Coast of the US the world centre of sulphur production . In 1912 , a syndicate was formed called the Freeport Sulphur Company whose widespread, diversified operations would eventually involve Darwin more than half a century later .
The dramatic 1961 disappearance on an ethnographic expedition of Michael C. Rockefeller, 23, son of Nelson A. Rockefeller , New York governor , later vice president of the USA , in which the editor of the Northern Territory News , Jim Bowditch , proposed parachuting into Dutch New Guinea , later Irian Jaya , to try and find him was outlined in the biography of the crusading newspaperman which ran in this blog.
When my eldest daughter was a schoolgirl in Darwin she went to Irian Jaya at the invitation of an American girl whose father was connected with the mine in the 1970s. Souvenirs she brought back from that trip included a net bag and a mortar and pestle made from local stone , the latter kept until recent times , given away to a woman in Darwin .
During the early stages of construction in Irian Jaya , Freeport Sulphur/Indonesia operated out of Darwin after a 30 year work contract was signed in April 1967 with Indonesia , which had taken over the former Dutch territory .
Within a month of signing , Freeport , Darwin its logistics centre , sent in generators, a bulldozer and a truck on a converted WWll landing craft , the Turtle. The book says Ted Fitzgerald -alias Ever Ready Ted , for his readiness to fight - brought the first load across the Arafura Sea in May 1967. The vessel was intercepted by an Indonesian naval patrol boat , which fired a shot across its bow . They were arrested , but released later .
When this blogger worked on the Northern Territory News and covered courts in Darwin from l958-1962 , there was a person known as Ever Ready Ted , his nickname not due to fighting .
Anyway, the Ted in the book also brought in a load of pre-fabricated buildings in the landing craft and 18 husky Australians "off the beach" were recruited and shipped in by another vessel to set up camp and help get the drilling program going .
The author says 10 young "shrimp (prawn ) fishermen " from Darwin were employed to carry out work with pneumatic drills and sticks of dynamite.
It is surprising to learn that at one stage Freeport , needing a long range seaplane in the late 1960s , none being made anywhere in the world , bought in Oakland , California a WWll US Navy PBY, in very good condition, which had belonged to eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes , who intended to use it for salmon fishing in Alaska. Based in Darwin , it transported staff to Irian Jaya .
Cyclone Tracy in 1974 is said to have disrupted Freeport operations out of Darwin , the plane possibly one of many tossed about and damaged . The large plane in the centre of the shot below is a Fokker F27 .
