Struggle for success at the gold mines
BY the 80s, Emperor Gold Mining (EGM) Company had been abstracting gold, silver and tellurium from the Tavua basin in Vatukoula for 45 years.
Hundreds of miles of tunnels, shafts and cavernous holes had been hewn and blasted out of the hard basalt below Vatukoula, as company miner’s extracted gold bearing rocks and ships (large buckets) carried rocks up to the surface where it is sorted, processed and gold extracted.
According to an article published by The Fiji Times on March 25, 1980, very few people really knew what was involved in getting the gold out of narrow lodes (or seams) that descend at various angles down through the earth’s crust at Vatukoula.
A trip into the catacombs at Vatukoula would quickly end any ideas that picture gold miners chipping away rocks with a pick in his hunt for gold nuggets.
The reality of the work in a mine was something quite different.
In damp, dark conditions 140 men sweat, worked machinery and explosives which were designed for the job.
Ear-splitting pneumatic drills were used to bore holes for explosives in order to blast away rock from the 93-known metal — rich lodes that run down through levels of mine to 2000 feet below the surface.
Mechanical boggers scooped rocks into train trucks pulled by battery-operated engines that ran along tunnels with names like “Duchess Drive” and “Regent”.
At the time, Emperor was only working the upper levels of the mine as they strived to improve work efficiency.
William Blair Anderson and Australian college Barry Lovely, who both held senior positions in the EGM, had been teaching the miners new ways of mining to increase rock tonnage extracted.
“Once you get them working 100 per cent you can afford to mine the lower grades whereas before you had to lay them off,” Anderson said.
They had found that the most effective way of increasing miner’s efficiency was to put them on contract for ore broken instead of wages and bonuses.
Under the new system, they found that a man who was getting paid $25 a day was getting $48 and was also capable of earning $60 a day.
“We are happy because we’re getting the tonnes, they’re happy because they’re getting the money.”
One of the major changes introduced by Mr Anderson was that instead of having two men working in one place at a time, the men were convinced that it was better that they work alone.
To this the miners agreed, having dispelled the belief that it was safer working with two men sideby-side.
“Before there were too many people we would work with,” said a Rotuman miner Tifere Mario.
After working in the mines for 18 years, Mario said that this was the first time he had known everyone working down there to be happy.
With production levels increasing, the work of Mr Anderson and Mr Lovely along with their miners was beginning to pay off.
EMG assistant general manager Phil Schinidt said that in the 23 years that he had been with the company, it had been plagued by the lack of profitability and trying to make ends meet.
“This is the first time since I have been here, that it looks as if we have got a reasonably bright future,” he said.
The mine was beginning to make a handsome profit with the high gold prices and increasing productivity.
EGM had earlier reported a $900,000 profit for the first six months of the financial year ending on January 15.
Despite this, the mine was not without problems. A soaring oil bill of $2 million a year was causing a few headaches, while the shortage of professional staff limited expansion.
On top of this, the gold prices started to decrease from $800 an ounce to $470 an ounce while Emperor Timber Industries was also running of logs in the face of opposition from landowners.
EMG managing director Jeffery Reid believed that the aim of keeping the workforce happy was to increase productivity and this could not be done with an irresponsible union.
A row developed between Fiji Trades Union Congress representative Jim Smith and EGM consultant and training officer Sanirusi Matalomani.
Government had stepped in and said that EGM was not allowed to employ women at the mine between 6pm and 6am after allegations that the company was working seven women there in slave conditions.
Sooner or later, the company would need to come to terms with the mine workers union despite troubles in the past.
Secretary of the National Union of mine workers, Ioane Silaitoga, reckoned that the workers at the mine would not speak up because they were afraid of the company’s reprisals. This, he said, was why the union had failed to get official recognition.
In spite of all the involved labour problems, Vatukoula community life was clearly picking up. A minor rugby union was formed that year with seven teams competing, while soccer and netball teams challenged each other. Staff were also provided with a renovated club building where dance, birthdays, wedding and other occasions would be held.
On the wider front, there was a possibility that in the land surrounding Emperor Gold Mining territory, Pacific energy and minerals test would be brought up bringing some positivity to it. If they went ahead with mining, more jobs and profits would be created to give the area a boost.
Meanwhile, Emperor was in business with its own accounts and was doing well.
This was good news for the 7000odd community at Vatukoula and Fiji as well.