The Mineral Industry Of Other South Pacific Islands - Fiji

Fiji has been an independent country within the British Commonwealth of Nations since 1970. It consists of an archipelago of more than 300 islands ranging from tiny coral atolls, cays, and rugged coral limestone islets, to the larger mountainous islands of Kandavu, Taveuni, Vanua Levu, and Viti Levu of volcanic origin. The islands of Fiji straddle the 1800 meridian about 1,800 kilometers south of the Equator in the part of the southern Pacific Ocean known as Melanesia. The production of gold and silver from the Emperor Mine at Vatukoula on the island of Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji, remained Fiji's only metallic mineral producer. Mining began at the Vatukoula site in 1933, producing 124 million troy ounces of gold and 147 thousand troy ounces of silver by yearend 1985.