Grasberg: Mining the richest and most remote deposit of copper and gold in the world, in the mountains of Irian Jaya, Indonesia

Grasberg: Mining the richest and most remote deposit of copper and gold in the world, in the mountains of Irian Jaya, Indonesia by Mealey, George A.. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780965289009.

In 1936, deep in the heart of New Guinea, a young Dutch geologist made a remarkable discover; a glistening black outcropping of high-grade copper ore. Although Jean Jacques Dozys Ertsberg was the largest above-ground copper deposit ever found, it was so remote, he said, that it may as well have been "on the moon." But after World War II, his dusty report reached Freeport Sulphur exploration chief Forbes Wilson, who was instantly captivated by this unlikely deposit. After pioneering a near-impossible road through the swamps and mountains of Irian Jaya, and negotiating the first foreign contract with Indonesias Suharto government, the company shipped its first Ersberg copper in 1972. Fifteen years later, just a few kilometers from the original mine, Freeport geologists found Grasberg, a deposit with the largest gold reserves and third-largest copper reserves in the world.