Islands Trader

Fishes For Small Ones

To Sydney-based Islands trader, Peter Fischer, small fish are sweet. He sees no future in chasing trade where big business is established.

I am small, working small markets where big people don’t go”, he says. “That is how I worked my business up, by going to small markets, or to big markets where big people don’t go”. And that means everywhere even Ethiopia.

Mr Fischer, who has been an Islands trader for about 10 years, has concentrated his main activities in Micronesia, building up a business in many lines, but chiefy Australian foodstuffs. Now he finds Micronesia is becoming “ overrun” so he is seek ing his small markets elsewhere. Not that he intends to abandon Micronesia. He has too many friends there.

His markets in Micronesia have become more difficult because Australian goods, which were once comparatively cheap, are now dearer than United States goods. He has had to raise his prices to keep up with cost

increases in Australia, and this has allowed US goods to get in at lower prices.

Not that he is hitter he accepts this as a fact of business life. In his search for small markets he left Australia late in August for Van couver and Alaska. From Alaska he planned to fly to Bermuda and Nassau, then across to San Francisco and Honolulu. From Honolulu he in tended to return to Australia via Micronesia.

He likes travelling and will take up markets anywhere. In fact it was through travel that he became an Islands agent. He had gone from Australia to the Pacific area for a holiday, and was asked to buy something for a particular firm. One thing led to another, and now Peter Fisher Trading Co is well known in several parts of the Pacific, as well as M icronesia.

Mr Fischer, formerly a RAF non commissioned officer, came to Australia in 1954. He was an importer for several years before changing his business into that of an Islands trader.

copper and 0.51 grams of gold a tonne.

The planned open pit at Ok Tedi also contains 25 million tonnes of gold ore averaging 2.861 grams of gold a tonne.

Beyond the planned pit limits there are about 55 million tonnes of ore, averaging 0.57 per cent copper, and in the adjacent underground ore body at Gold Coast there are 26 million tonnes of high grade ore averaging 2.33 per cent.

The directors said results showed a satisfying increase in mineable reserves from the pre-1975 estimate of 137 million tonties, averaging 0.88 per cent copper.

Reserves were now sufficient to justify a planned throughput of 40,000-50,000 tonnes of ore a day. At that rate of produc tion, the mine should be “reasonably profitable”. Gold values were marginally higher than those of Panguna, and were sufficient to act as a cushion in times of low copper prices.

Depending on further arrangements to develop a consortium, which may include BHP, there will be further exploratory drilling, followed by a full feasibility study, and depending on the results of that study, mine development. Current indications are that the first ore could be mined in 1984.

Royal Engineers

work on Pitcairn

A party of British military engineers is at work on Pitcairn Island to help the islanders improve marine landing facilities and draw up plans for the building of an airstrip.

The party of six Royal Engineers,

led by Captain Hugh Cowan, includes

three divers. Tasks of the team in

clude deepening and clearing the ap

proach to the jetty, extending the jetty tself, reparing and improving the dipway, improving the road from the

anding, and preparing plans for

uture work, including the builing of wo breakwaters.

An airstrip on Pitcairn would provide an air link with Mangareva, n French Polynesia which has the learest airfield.

Islanders are actively helping in naay aspects of the work.

The Royal Engineers, who arrived n May, are expected to remain on

htcairn until January, 1977.

• The European Economic Communi y will pay Fiji a minimum guaranteed •rice of SF3O4 a ton for sugar in the com ng season. The price operates from April , and is $6O a ton higher than the 1975 uaranteed price. However, in 1975, ecause of a world shortage, the EEC paid lore than $5OO a ton. Fiji sales in 1976 are xpected to yield about $7O million, com ared with $lOO million in 1975. Growers 'ill receive $2O a ton for their cane