Bulolo is a town in
Wau-Bulolo Urban LLG,
Morobe Province
Morobe Province is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands P ...
,
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
. It was once an important
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
dredging
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...
centre in the former
Territory of New Guinea
The Territory of New Guinea was an Australian-administered United Nations trust territory on the island of New Guinea from 1914 until 1975. In 1949, the Territory and the Territory of Papua were established in an administrative union by the nam ...
,
Mining History
, MRA situated on the Bulolo River, a tributary of the Markham River, about north-west of Wau. The town is served by Bulolo Airport
Bulolo Airport is an airfield serving Bulolo, in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea.
Airlines and destinations
References
External links
*
Airports in Papua New Guinea
Morobe Province
{{PapuaNewGuinea-airport-stub ...
.
Built in June 1930, the Bulolo strip was originally 1,150 yards by 120 yards. In 2010 it had an estimated population of 20,000.
Currently, the town's major industries includes forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...
, with the PNG Forest Products Limited the main enterprise. There is also an Insect Farming and Trading Agency, which promotes insect farming
Insect farming is the practice of raising and breeding insects as livestock, also referred to as ''minilivestock'' or ''micro stock''. Insects may be farmed for the commodities they produce (like silk, honey, lac or insect tea), or for them them ...
and conservation.
History
Dredging for gold was begun on 21 March 1932, with the whole of the 1,100 ton dredge (No 1 dredge) transported to the field in pieces by air from the port city of Lae. The largest single part was the main tumbler shaft, 12 feet long and weighing 6,870 pounds. Construction of No 2 dredge was underway before No 1 dredge was completed. In all eight dredges were constructed and operated, the last going into operations in 1939.
Dredging operations were interrupted by the war in 1941, and were not resumed until six years later. On 5 February 1942 at 11am, Bulolo was bombed by five twin-engine bombers.
Gold production in 1952 amounted to 122,035 ounces, valued at £1,311,241, and constituted 77 per cent of the gold produced in New Guinea in that year. As the gold petered out the dredges were abandoned and they can still be found along the Bulolo river bed.
Bulolo was the headquarters of a company formed to exploit the pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...
forests that grow in the valley. In conjunction with the milling of timber an extensive scheme of re-afforestation was undertaken to ensure perpetuity of supplies.
Since the 1950s Bulolo has been connected to Lae by a vehicular road along the Bulolo and Markham River valleys.
See also
* John Alexander Agnew
References
Further reading
*
* - The story of the great gold dredging endeavour.
* - An excellent resource where Sinclair acknowledges and credits the research and recollections of Ian Grabowsky, a prominent figure in early aviation in both Papua New Guinea and Australia.
External links
Bulolo University collegeInsect Farming and Trading Agency
{{Authority control
Populated places in Morobe Province
Gold mines in Papua New Guinea
Surface mines in Papua New Guinea