Wau History

Wau History. Wau is situated at an altitude of around 1100 metres in Morobe Province PNG. The Wau Ecology Institute is a biological research station situated near Wau. Wau was the site of a gold rush during the 1920s and 30s. While much of the mineral reserves have been extracted, industrial gold mining continues at Edie Creek and at the newly established Hidden Valley Gold Mine operated by Harmony Gold - South Africa.

A satellite image of Wau and the mines, looking towards Bulolo. Source Wikipedia.

Aerial View of Hidden Valley Gold Mine above Edie Ck Wau and 5.5 km pipe conveyor conveying crushed ore to the processing plant. Source PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum 2013.

, some 210km north-west of Port Moresby.

Wau was the site of a gold rush during the 1920s and 30s when prospective gold diggers arrived at the coast at Salamaua and struggled inland along the Black Cat track. The first strike at Wau, the start of what would be known as the Morobe Goldfield, was made at Koranga Creek by William ‘Shark-Eye’ Park, probably towards the end of 1921. Park and his partner, Jack Nettleton, ran a clandestine mining operation for twelve months from April 1922 until a new Mining Ordinance enabled them to get their gold out legally. Nettleton, it is known, took out 6000 troy ounces, or about 190 kg, of gold in August 1923. Only a handful of miners worked the field, rich as it was, until 1924. From 1924 to 1926 perhaps 20 miners were on the field producing about 200 kg of gold a year. The real rush began in 1926 with much bigger discoveries at Edie Creek, above Wau. The new rush made air transport viable and Wau’s airstrip opened in 1927 by the Parer brothers originally of Spanish descent. In 1928 there were 200 miners and production was about three tonnes a year. The influx of miners was often in conflict with the area's indigenous populations, including the Biangai along the Bulolo River and the Watut along the Watut River. During the early gold rush (1924–1927) prospectors and carriers employed from the coast followed paths through some of the Biangai villages. The beginning of air transport reduced the need for lines of carriers. In 1972, in the 6000 hectares case, PNGLR 71 (19 July 1972) the Biangai won the restitution of the Morobe Goldfields in the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea and compensation was awarded in respect of historical gold sales. Park quit Wau in 1926 as a wealthy man. After this properly capitalized companies were formed. New Guinea Goldfields, Ltd (NGG) was the biggest operator, but there were many others: for example, Koranga Gold Sluicing, Sandy Creek Gold Sluicing, Edie Creek Gold Mining Company, The Golden Deeps N.L., Upper Watut Gold Alluvials, Placer Development Limited, ETC. In subsequent years, NGG consolidated control over much of the mineral reserves using its large capitalization to purchase the smaller leases. Underground mining began with the Day Dawn mine in 1931; several similar operations were opened before and after the Second World War. These mines were exceedingly small by modern standards, the biggest being Upper Ridges with a total production of 2.9 tonnes over eighteen years. Open cut mining was conducted at Golden Ridges mine between 1932 and 1941, and other pits yielded gold in the Namie area both before and after the war. Most were small and short-lived; the richest was Golden Peaks, producing about six and half tonnes of gold between 1962 and 1977. The Golden Peaks mill also processed ore brought to it by an aerial ropeway from new workings at Upper Ridges. Bulolo Gold Dredging (BGD) began operations at the sister town of Bulolo in 1932 and was responsible for the bulk of pre-war gold production: about forty tonnes in total. Seven of the eventual eight dredges worked the Bulolo Valley gravels; one only, No. 6, worked in the Wau Valley. Large operations ceased to be attractive after WWII, partly due to pegging of the gold price at pre-war prices and the last dredge ceased operating in 1965. Source Wikipedia.

One of two hotels in Wau8. Note Mt Kaindi in

the background. 1930’s. Source PNGAA.

One of the richest goldmining leases on the

Edie Creek goldfields. Source PNGAA.

General view of New Guinea Goldfield's Edie Creek (called Mt

Kaindi) HQ.

A gold-mining lease on the Edie Creek. Source PNGAA.

Cliffside - a goldmining lease Bulolo River, between Wau and Bulolo. (Home of

Doris Booth OBE).

No 6 Gold dredge based in Wau Valley 1963. Source PNGAA.

At the Battle of Wau in January 1943, the Australian Army stopped an advance by the Japanese.

8 Eminent TPNG Forester Peter Eddowes 1961-1981. We were involved in a major ‘burn-off’ in the Wau valley in 1963. Frank Coppock oversaw the operation, and a whole day was spent in a successful ‘burn’. After that, we all retreated to the old Wau Pub for a few ales where caution had to be observed due to the presence of ‘termites’ in the floorboards!

25/2/1944 The top portion of the Wau airstrip which is unique in that it runs up the slope of a hill

requiring pilots to use judgment in landing. The aircraft are, from left to right, a CAC Wirraway of 4 Squadron RAAF (coded QE-L), a Douglas A-24 Banshee 41-15801 of the USAAF and a Stinson L-5 Sentinel 42-98060 of the 25th Liaison Squadron USAAF. Source Australian War Memorial.

Wau Airstrip 1976. Photo credit Ian

Whyte.

A road was established soon after World War II to Lae and this fostered the further development of local timber and agricultural industries that were originally established in support of the mining industry. While much of the mineral reserves have been extracted, industrial gold mining continues at Edie Creek and at the newly established Hidden Valley Gold Mine operated by Morobe Goldfields (a subsidiary of Harmony Gold - South Africa). Timber mills in Wau were started by Roy Hyde in 1935, who arrived with his wife, two sons and a daughter. Timber was floated down the Bulolo river to the coast, which was used for house building in Lae and other resorts along the coast. Natives would guide the rafts to their destinations.

NGG Ltd sawmill at the mouth of the Binatang Creek Wau. September 1941. Photo Credit Jim Cavanaugh.

Notable people who were born in Wau included – e.g., John Laws Australian radio personality, born in Wau 8 August 1935 or lived in Wau – e.g., eminent TPNG forester Gary Archer9 .

9 Eminent TPNG Forester Gary Archer 1963-1973 - In 1948 we moved to Bulolo, where my father worked as a sawyer at the Golden Pines sawmill, just outside Bulolo. From 1949 I attended primary school at Bulolo and later at Wau, where my father worked for New Guinea Goldfields (NGG) as a gold miner and later as foreman at their sawmill. One of my schoolmates was Marybeth Owers, the daughter of NGG surveyor Noel ("Jerry") Owers, who located the road to the Kokoda Trail during the Second World War and after whom Owers' Corner is named (Aust. War Memorial, 2003).

Long term resident Gary Archer provided the following early photos10 of Wau courtesy of the publication taim bipo.

Gary Archer doing the pays at Bulolo, 1963. (Photo credit Chris Borough).

Road to Edie Creek from Wau.

Wau Airstrip.

Photo post World War 2. Source taim bipo.

Photos showing the construction of the goldfields road Wau to Edie Creek late 1920’s early 30’s. Source taim bipo.

10 Source taim bipo-a selection of old photographs from Papua New Guinea 1880-1960’s by Michael Coutts 1990 Publisher South Pacific Magazine ISBN -998085880X.

Gold dredge 12th August 194811 .

Gold dredges 12th August 1948.

Abandoned Gold Dredge after 1948.

11 Source taim bipo-a selection of old photographs from Papua New Guinea 1880-1960’s by Michael Coutts 1990 Publisher South Pacific Magazine ISBN -998085880X.