Forbes Kingsbury Wilson

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  www.ima-api.com/news.php?pid=2112&act=detail - [Cached Version]
  Last Visited: 8/27/2008  

  The history of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) began when an exploration manager of Freeport Minerals Company, Forbes Wilson went on an expedition to Papua in 1960.This was after he had read a report about the discovery of Erstberg or the Ore Mountain, a mineral deposit, by a Dutch geologist named Jacques Dozy in 1936.

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  www.koteka.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&i - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/7/2001    Last Visited: 4/10/2007  

  Forbes Wilson, a geologist with Freeport Sulphur of the US, first heard of Dozy's discovery in 1959.He persuaded the company to send him to West Papua the following year.After seeing Dozy's 'Ertzberg' (Ore Mountain), Wilson was so excited that he correctly predicted that Ertsberg would prove to be the largest above-ground copper deposit discovered at that time.

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  www.koteka.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&i - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/1/2000    Last Visited: 4/10/2007  

  In August, 1959, Freeport Director and top engineer Forbes Wilson met with Jan van Gruisen, managing director of the East Borneo Company, a mining concern.
  ...
  With the aid of a native guide, Wilson spent the next several months amidst the near-stone age natives as he forged through near impassable places on his way to the Ertsberg.Wilson wrote a book about this journey, called The Conquest of Copper Mountain.When he finally arrived, he was excited at what he found:
  
  an unusually high degree of mineralization ...
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  Wilson described the results of this effort:
  ...
  According to Forbes Wilson, Freeport had all but given up hope of developing its fabulous find in West Irian.
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  But even the official story seemed odd to Wilson.As early as November, a mere month after the October events, longtime Chairman of Freeport, Langbourne Williams, called Director Wilson at home, asking if the time had now come to pursue their project in West Irian.Wilson's reaction to this call is interesting:
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  Wilson explains that Williams got some "encouraging private information" from "two executives of Texaco."
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  Forbes Wilson threatened to drop them from the project.Bechtel Sr. jumped in, saying he would make the project Bechtel's top priority.He also guaranteed them $20 million in loans from the Exim bank.

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  Inside Indonesia 67 - Freeport's troubled future - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/27/2003    Last Visited: 12/27/2003  

  Forbes Wilson, a geologist with Freeport Sulphur of the US, first heard of Dozy's discovery in 1959.He persuaded the company to send him to West Papua the following year.After seeing Dozy's 'Ertzberg' (Ore Mountain), Wilson was so excited that he correctly predicted that Ertsberg would prove to be the largest above-ground copper deposit discovered at that time.

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  Inside Indonesia 67 - Freeport's troubled future - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/15/2002    Last Visited: 7/15/2002  

  Forbes Wilson, a geologist with Freeport Sulphur of the US, first heard of Dozy's discovery in 1959.He persuaded the company to send him to West Papua the following year.After seeing Dozy's 'Ertzberg' (Ore Mountain), Wilson was so excited that he correctly predicted that Ertsberg would prove to be the largest above-ground copper deposit discovered at that time.
  
  The political turmoil in West New Guinea and the subsequent takeover of the region by the left-leaning Sukarno meant that in the early sixties the project was considered too great a political risk for Freeport.However, the company did not forget the possibilities it had glimpsed.Just two weeks after the military coup in Indonesia in 1965 the company opened negotiations with the generals in Jakarta.Although the political situation in Indonesia was extraordinarily unstable, Freeport's connections to the highest echelons of power in Washington, including the CIA, the Pentagon, and the White House, must have given it some measure of assurance, as did the messages it was receiving out of Jakarta.
  
  With the balance of power firmly with the American mining company there was little the insecure regime would not do for Freeport and its powerful friends.

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  JFK, Indonesia, CIA and Freeport Sulphur - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/24/2008    Last Visited: 12/19/2008  

  In August, 1959, Freeport Director and top engineer Forbes Wilson met with Jan van Gruisen, managing director of the East Borneo Company, a mining concern.
  ...
  With the aid of a native guide, Wilson spent the next several months amidst the near-stone age natives as he forged through near impassable places on his way to the Ertsberg. Wilson wrote a book about this journey, called The Conquest of Copper Mountain. When he finally arrived, he was excited at what he found:
  
  an unusually high degree of mineralization ...
  ...
  Wilson described the results of this effort:
  ...
  According to Forbes Wilson, Freeport had all but given up hope of developing its fabulous find in West Irian.
  ...
  But even the official story seemed odd to Wilson. As early as November, a mere month after the October events, longtime Chairman of Freeport, Langbourne Williams, called Director Wilson at home, asking if the time had now come to pursue their project in West Irian. Wilson's reaction to this call is interesting:
  ...
  Wilson explains that Williams got some "encouraging private information" from "two executives of Texaco."
  ...
  Forbes Wilson threatened to drop them from the project. Bechtel Sr. jumped in, saying he would make the project Bechtel's top priority. He also guaranteed them $20 million in loans from the Exim bank.

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  JFK, Indonesia, CIA and Freeport Sulphur - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/22/2006    Last Visited: 7/14/2009  

  In August, 1959, Freeport Director and top engineer Forbes Wilson met with Jan van Gruisen, managing director of the East Borneo Company, a mining concern.
  ...
  With the aid of a native guide, Wilson spent the next several months amidst the near-stone age natives as he forged through near impassable places on his way to the Ertsberg. Wilson wrote a book about this journey, called The Conquest of Copper Mountain . When he finally arrived, he was excited at what he found:
  ...
  Wilson described the results of this effort:
  ...
  According to Forbes Wilson, Freeport had all but given up hope of developing its fabulous find in West Irian. But while the rest of the world's press was still trying to unravel the convoluted information as to who was really in power, Freeport apparently had an inside track. In the essay mentioned earlier, Scott cites a cable (U.S. delegation to the U.N.) which stated that Freeport Sulphur had reached a preliminary "arrangement" with Indonesian officials over the Ertsberg in April of 1965, before there could legitimately have been any hope in sight.
  
  Officially, Freeport had no such plans until after the October 1965 events. But even the official story seemed odd to Wilson.
  ...
  Wilson explains that Williams got some "encouraging private information" from "two executives of Texaco.
  ...
  Forbes Wilson threatened to drop them from the project. Bechtel Sr. jumped in, saying he would make the project Bechtel's top priority. He also guaranteed them $20 million in loans from the Exim bank.

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  Mining Foundation of the Southwest - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/1/2005    Last Visited: 2/12/2009  

  Forbes Kingsbury Wilson Mining Foundation of the Southwest
  
  Mining Foundation of the Southwest
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  Forbes Kingsbury Wilson
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  Forbes Kingsbury Wilson was born in York, Maine, on February 16,1910. He was educated at Worchester Academy in Massachusetts and graduated from Yale University in 1931 with a degree in Mining Geology.
  
  Upon graduation he worked as a shift boss at the Braden Copper Company in Chile until 1933. From this time on he held a succession of jobs: Mine Superintendent and General Superintendent Manager, Minera Timmins Ochali Mining Company in Colombia; Administrative Manager, General Engineer and General Manager, Freeport Minerals Company's Nicaro Nickel Company, Cuba and President, Rising & Nelson Slate Company, Vermont. In 1951 he rejoined the Freeport Minerals Company as Manager of Exploration in New York City. By 1956 He became Vice President and in 1970, Senior Vice President. In 1966 he became President and Director, Freeport Indonesia, Inc. a subsidiary of Freeport Minerals Company. He retired from Freeport in 1974.
  
  Forbes Wilson's greatest accomplishment was the development of the Ertsberg copper deposit in New Guinea (now Irian Jaya, Indonesia).
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  Wilson not only had to deal with unknown land, but also the threat of malaria and other diseases, the continuous bad weather, and the indigenous people who still practiced Stone-Age customs. On July 1, 1973 the Ertsberg became operational.
  
  Subsequently, largely based on Wilson's geologic interpretation of the region, in 1988 the Grasberg copper-gold deposit was located. Today the Grasberg/Ertsberg complex is the world's lowest cost producer of copper.
  
  Forbes Wilson received many honors during his career including the coveted Legion of Honor and the Daniel C. Jackling Award from the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers.

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  National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum - Leadville,... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/4/2009    Last Visited: 7/4/2009  

  In 1960, Forbes Wilson, Then in charge of a worldwide mineral exploration program for Freeport Mineral Company, masterminded an overland expedition into rugged and remote peaks of Irian Jaya (then Western new Guinea), Indonesia.
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  In touch with the outside world only by primitive jungle radio and the occasional parachute delivery of supplies,Wilson and his party trekked for 17 days across almost inaccessible terrain to an alittude of 12,000 feet. He encountered unforgettable country, eoxotic vegetation and a simple tribal society- all recorded in his book,"The Conquest of Copper Mountain"(1981).
  
  The results of the expedition were exhilarating: measured and sampled, the Ertsberg proved to be the world's largest above-ground outcrop of copper, with indications of a much larger mineral district.
  
  Forbes Wilson's vision and determination brought Freeport back to Indonesia in 1967. Under his guidance, the project was launched to bring the Ertsberb into production. A 63-mile access road was carved through the forbidding landscape; tunnels were driven through the middle of two mountains; and the world's largest tramway and longest slurry pipeline assembled.
  
  In what news media called " Freeport's Mission Impossible," the company succeeded, in five years, in bringing a sophisticated mining operation into production.
  
  In 1966, Wilson became president of Freeport Indonesia, Inc., a post he held until his retirement in 1974. Today, the enterprise operates one of the world's largest mining operations and produces approximately 5 % of the world's newly mined copper metal.
  
  Born in York, Maine, he was educated at Worchester Academy and Yale University, graduating with a B.S. degree in mining engineering in 1931. His first professional employment was with Braden Copper Company's El Teniente mine. His association with Freeport Minerals Company began in 1942 in Cuba.
  
  The Society of Mining Engineers (SME) gave Wilson the Daniel C. Jackling Award in 1977 and later that year named him a Distinguished Member for his outstanding service to the mining industry. In 1980 be received the Legion of Honor Award from the AIME.
  
  Forbes Wilson, a member of the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum, reviewed his exciting Ertsberg experience at the Second National Mining Hall of Fame Induction Banquet in San Francisco in 1989.

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  [Kabar-Irian] News: May 18-21 2006 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/18/2006    Last Visited: 6/14/2006  

  In August, 1959, Freeport Director and top engineer Forbes Wilson met with Jan van Gruisen, managing director of the East Borneo Company, a mining concern.
  ...
  With the aid of a native guide, Wilson spent the next several months amidst the near-stone age natives as he forged through near impassable places on his way to the Ertsberg.Wilson wrote a book about this journey, called The Conquest of Copper Mountain.When he finally arrived, he was excited at what he found:
  
  an unusually high degree of mineralization ...
  ...
  Wilson described the results of this effort:
  ...
  According to Forbes Wilson, Freeport had all but given up hope of developing its fabulous find in West Irian.
  ...
  But even the official story seemed odd to Wilson.As early as November, a mere month after the October events, longtime Chairman of Freeport, Langbourne Williams, called Director Wilson at home, asking if the time had now come to pursue their project in West Irian.Wilson's reaction to this call is interesting:
  ...
  Wilson explains that Williams got some "encouraging private information" from "two executives of Texaco."
  ...
  Forbes Wilson threatened to drop them from the project.Bechtel Sr. jumped in, saying he would make the project Bechtel's top priority.He also guaranteed them $20 million in loans from the Exim bank.

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