What Of Nauru's Phosphate
pp. 127-129 · Read in the full issue
Hopes With Japan?
Nauru will never replace the US as Japan’s principal phosphate supplier. The republic could, however, become an important secondary supplier to Japan.
The British Sulphur Corporation, a world-wide market research and publishing house specialising in phosphates and other fertiliser materials, recently made this prediction to PIM.
The London-based corporation said Nauru’s phosphate deposits have a life of between 20 and 25 years and Ocean Island’s deposits will not last over 10 years “at the present rate of exploitation”.
“Many other phosphate deposits are known in the Pacific area and discoveries are constantly being made,” the corporation said. “None of these discoveries is of sufficient interest to justify development.”
Australia, New Zealand and Japan are likely to remain the principal markets for the two islands’ phosphate.
No other country within the Pacific region will be interested in largescale imports of high-grade phosphate at a premium price, while ° f A sea , f re 'B ht wi l . Preclude SUS2,OOO and five years later it will shipments outside the region, said British Sulphur Corporation.
Japan currently buys three million
tons of phosphate annually, most of which comes from the US, with the balance from producers in Africa, the Near East and Nauru, The extent to which Japan will seek to buy Nauru phosphate will. to some extent, be determined by technological considerations on the part of the fertiliser producers using the material, said British Sul phur Corporation, It was certain, the corporation said, that Nauru will never replace the US as the principal supplier to Japan, but Nauru can become an important secondary supplier, and the extent of Japanese interest will affect future price levels, both in Japan and in Australasia, In Australasia, the balance of re quirements not supplied by Ocean and Nauru will continue to be met by Christmas Island, the US and various African producers until such time as the exploitation of the Queensland deposits gets underway.
PIM understands that although no definite , ans have been announced to ahead with phosphate in Queensland, work on facilities will begin in the early 1970’5, production
will start a year or two later, and these supplies will not seriously affect Nauru or Ocean Island supplies until about 1975.
The corporation has estimated that world production of phosphate rock will rise to between 92 and 94 million tons this year. The two big producers, Russia and the US, are exporting only about 25 per cent, of their production, and competitors in the Middle East and Africa are exporting between 75 and 100 per cent.
In recent years, exports from Israel and Jordan have jumped 50 per cent. Most other producers in creased exports by smaller amounts last year.
Nauru, Christmas and Ocean Islands’ exports increased “notably” in 1968 after a “downturn” in 1967. Production from the “Pacific area” in 1968 was 3,815,000 metric tons. The corporation emphasised that exports from these islands are dependent on good weather condi tions to enable the required number of phosphate ship loadings.
Gilberts electricity
a live issue
The 1,600 odd people (Europeans and Islanders) who live outside the three townships of South Tarawa— Betio, Bairiki and Bikenibeu—are up in arms over attempts by the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony Govern ment to charge them up to 75 per cent, of the cost of installing trans formers outside their homes before they can use electricity services. And it costs between $2,000 and $3,000 to install a transformer.
The government is setting up an electricity line around South Tarawa between Betio and the atoll’s airstrip, Bonriki, 20 miles away. Transformers
are being installed free at the three townships because higher consump tion of electricity in the townships is expected to repay the transformer costs.
With backing from the Catholic and Protestant missions (whose head quarters lie outside the townships), public meetings have been held and the people faced with paying for the transformers have formed the “Com mittee of Residents of Rural South Tarawa”.
Mr. Temete, chairman of the com mittee, has petitioned Mr. Val Andersen, the GEIC’s Resident Com missioner, to reconsider the trans former charges, which he describes as unacceptable. So far the Resident Commissioner has refused to do any such reconsidering, Mr. Temete, in his petition, pointed out that after paying over $2,000 for the transformer a rural contributor would be entitled to nothing more than was already enjoyed by residents of the towns.
“We believe this to be wrong on both moral and economic grounds.
The would-be contributors are doing a significant amount for the welfare of the colony,” he said.
In a written reply to Mr. Temete’s petition, Mr. Andersen’s office said the transformer charges, determined by Mr. Andersen on the advice of the Governing Council, were the lowest the government could “reasonably offer” and they involved “considerable subsidy” from public funds.
Low rates of consumption in rural areas meant there was little or no prospect of recouping capital costs, or added costs of servicing the installations.
The government said that it was difficult to justify a case for supply ing rural areas of South Tarawa at a substantial loss when it was not possible to do so for rural areas else where in the colony.
At last report, moves were afoot to petition the colony’s House of Representatives about the transformer charges.
They'll learn from
CRA's troubles
The Kennecott Copper Corporation of America has found promising copper in Papua-New Guinea, but the Americans are determined to avoid the tribal strife which has beset their British and Australian col leagues with Conzinc Rio Tinto on Bougainville.
Kennecott has retained a Cali fornian firm of public relations ex perts, specifically to find out what went wrong with CRA on Bougain ville—and so that Kennecott can learn from CRA mistakes!
Kennecott’s copper is in the upper reaches of the Ok Tedi (Alice) River in the north-west of Western Papua, and if it’s a commercial strike, the American company will be mining among people vastly more primitive than those on Bougainville.
CRA’s Bougainville troubles con tinued in May. Two hundred village people at Guava on the edge of the Kawerong Valley copper deposit, swooped down to break up a sur veyors’ camp.
In March, the Administrator had given CRA a 10,000-acre special mining lease over most of the Kawerong Valley, and in May, con tract surveyors began marking the lease boundaries.
Government and company men had told the Guava a few days earlier that even though the lease took in much Guava land, not all of it would be marked. The Guava was moderately happy about this.
Then the surveyors arrived—and somebody had forgotten to tell them about the concession. They began marking the boundary, in the eyes of the Guavas, taking some of the land which according to the kiaps and CRA was not to be touched.
Guava reacted by ripping down the surveyors’ camp and ordering them out.
District Commissioner D. N.
Ashton flew in from Kieta, did some quick talking and Guava was pacified —to the extent of helping the sur veyors re-erect their camp a few days later.
Simultaneously in Port Moresby, CRA announced the appointment of a former RAAF officer. Mr, Douglas Moseley, as Liaison Officer with the Konedobu Administration.
Mr. Moseley, in Papua - New Guinea during the war, will try to establish a daily, workable line of communication between the govern ment and CRA, and will look after things like integration at Panguna, the training of local workers, and
Soon to arrive in Nauru on her delivery voyage, the republic's first ship—the "Eigamoiya"—will assist the phosphate industry.
LA’s place in the development of aigainville.
Kennecott of America is watching ►sely to see if it can gather ideas • any mining in Western Papua.
Meanwhile, the Australian Govern ;nt has rejected appeals from the inters’ Association of New Guinea - a commission of inquiry into the pua-New Guinea Administration’s licies on Bougainville, and the ndling of the CRA prospecting.
The planters demanded the inquiry April soon after the Administra n confirmed that it wanted the KM) acre Arawa Plantation on ugainville for the CRA town.
The planters said government icers were hopelessly out of touch th the native community, and the re was ripe for a searching exami tion of all government policies.
The owner of Arawa, Mr. F. R. :Killop, said after hearing of nberra’s rejection of this request: he government has got to start asulting the Bougainville people— ; got to stop just telling them lat’s going to happen—nobody es to be told instead of asked”.
Mr. McKillop, in hospital in Sydney May, has resigned himself to losing - plantation.
Arawa produces 500 tons of cocoa nually (two per cent, of total ritory production) and the govern :nt is thinking of paying something tween $500,000 and $1,000,000 in mpensation. Several hundred acres adjacent native land will also be quired, with compensation of about 50,000.
Government men and CRA com ny officials are looking at Whyalla, uth Australia, as a possible model a company township CRA wants build on Arawa and nearby areas.
With the next meeting of the House Assembly beginning on June 17, rior New Guinean members of rliament have been heading for ►ugainville for a hard look at the est situation. Five Ministerial and sistant Ministerial members have en visiting, and so has the Parlia mtary Leader of the Pangu Pati, r. Michael Somare.
The members with Ministerial ik will be expected to bring some ;asures of responsibility to debate Bougainville in the Assembly in ne.
One of the points that will be made the House is that a lot of the iections of the landholders to CRA uld, even now. be disnelled by reement to pay them a much bipper are of the copoer proceeds that 11 accrue to CRA and the Adminis ition.