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Bulolo

Field	Value
name	Bulolo
image_skyline	Bulolo.png
image_caption	A satellite image of Bulolo
pushpin_map	Papua New Guinea
coordinates
pushpin_label_position	right
pushpin_map_caption	Location within Papua New Guinea
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	Papua New Guinea
subdivision_type1	Province
subdivision_name1	Morobe Province
subdivision_type2	District
subdivision_name2	Bulolo District
population_total	20,000
population_as_of	2010 est.
population_density_km2	auto
demographics1_title1	Main languages
established_title	Established
established_date	~1930
elevation_m	700
timezone1	AEST
utc_offset1	+10
blank_name	Location
* {{convert	43	km	abbr	on}} south of Lae
* {{convert	32	km	abbr	on}} north-west of Wau
blank1_name	Annual rainfall
blank1_info	1600 mm
blank2_name	Climate
blank2_info	Af

43 km south of Lae
32 km north-west of Wau Bulolo is a town in Wau-Bulolo Urban LLG, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. It was once an important gold dredging centre in the former Territory of New Guinea, situated on the Bulolo River, a tributary of the Markham River, about 32 km north-west of Wau. The town is served by Bulolo Airport. 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, with the PNG Forest Products Limited the main enterprise. There is also an Insect Farming and Trading Agency, which promotes insect farming 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 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.

References

[http://www.mra.gov.pg/GeologyMining/MiningHistory/tabid/119/Default.aspx Mining History] {{webarchive. link. (July 17, 2010 , MRA)

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

populated-places-in-morobe-province gold-mines-in-papua-new-guinea surface-mines-in-papua-new-guinea

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