The Conquest of Copper Mountain: A Vivid, Personal Account of the Discovery and Development of a Spectacular Outcrop of Ore in the Remote Peaks of Irian Jaya, Indonesia

By Forbes Wilson

'The Conquest of Copper Mountain' is the dramatic story of a geologist's dream come true: the discovery and subsequent development of the largest outcrop of base metal in the world. In 1960, Forbes... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689111533
• ISBN13: 9780689111532
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Atheneum
• Length: 243 Pages
• Weight: 1.26 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Fabulous

A phenomenal, and detailed account of the re-discovery, delineation and ultimately the mining of the Ertsberg copper occurrence, Irian Jaya. Originally discovered by Dutch (Shell Oil) explorers during a 1936 geological expedition of the New Guinea highlands, Freeport in 1960 embarked on a very risky and humanly difficult excursion to document and sample the remarkable occurrence.Ertsberg is situated at an elevation of over 12,000-ft, but is within 60-miles of the Arafura Sea, separating Irian Jaya from the Indonesia archipelago. The terrain from the coast up to the Erstberg (ore mountain) is almost impenetrably rugged, heavily vegetated by rain-forest and impossible steep. Above and fringing Ertsberg is the Carstenz Top, the only year-round glacier situated so close to the Equator, at 4-degrees south.This documentary covers the historical background, indigenous peoples, human and corporate efforts to bring Ertsberg to commercial production. The protecting and documenting of the numerous tribes of indigenous peoples largely not before known was and remains a big focus of the effort.This is a must read for anyone who enjoys hiking, camping, discovery and stories of human phyiscal hardship. Much like "The Endurance" about Shakleton and his crew, this book tracks the events of the re-discoverers of Ertsberg.