Nauru Phosphates Corporation

The Nauru Phosphate Corporation (NPC) is a State enterprise whose activity is the extraction of the Phosphate present in the basement of the island of Nauru. It is the heiress of the various British companies which followed one another since the beginning of the XXe century: the Pacific Island Company , the Pacific Phosphates Company and the British Phosphate Commissioners . The saving in Nauru depended almost exclusively on this industry until the quasi-exhaustion of the phosphate resources to the turning of the 21e century. Since, the activity continues but at intervals much less constant than in the past.

Presentation

In May 2005, the NPC employed approximately: 1500 people is the three quarters of the workers of the island.

The extraction of phosphate is done with open sky on the central plate of Nauru which occupies 80% of the island. Once the removed vegetation and the ground, the phosphate is directly accessible between high pitons of coral Calcaire several meters and is taken by tractopelles and crane S. an ore stock is made up in the center of the plate and is then charged on trucks (in the past a train) which conveys it to the treatment plant to the foot of the plate.

Between 1968 and 2002, Nauru exported 43 million tons of phosphate what brought back to him 3,6 billion Australian dollars.

Today, the phosphate layers are almost exhausted and poses from now on the problem of the rehabilitation of the center of the island, made up of pitons limestones arid and sterile.

History

In 1900, the British Albert Ellis, who work on behalf of the Pacific Island Company , a British company based in Australia, discovers important phosphate layers on the islands of Nauru and Banaba. Starting from 1906, the company, famous Pacific Phosphates Company in 1901, is devoted almost exclusively to the extraction of phosphate in Nauru.

Following the First World War which involved the entry of Nauru in the British colonial empire, the British Phosphate Commissioners is then installation to replace the Pacific Phosphate Company and continues the exploitation of phosphate until independence, except during the period of the Second world war during which the Japanese occupy the island.

In 1967, whereas Nauru starts a process of Décolonisation, the Nauruans repurchase the British company and in 1970 the lately independent State nationalizes the company and Nauru Phosphate Corporation renames it

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