Sir George Fisher | |
---|---|
Born | George Reid Fisher 1903 |
Died | 2007 103–104) | (aged
Education | Gladstone High School Prince Alfred College |
Alma mater | University of Adelaide |
Occupations |
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Awards | Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Honorary Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Complete list |
Sir George Read Fisher CMG HonFAusIMM (1903 - 13 July 2007) was one of Australia's leading mining executives. In 2019, he was posthumously inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame in recognition of his eminent business leadership, driving the long-term success of Mount Isa Mines and Mount Isa's growth and development as a city. [1]
Fisher was born in Gladstone, South Australia into a farming family. He attended Gladstone High School and then Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. In 1925, he graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Engineering (mining). [2]
Fisher commenced his career in Broken Hill where he quickly rose to underground manager and then general manager at the Zinc Corporation. There he learned to deal with the formidable Barrier Industrial Council, successfully displaying the capacity to establish a fine rapport with the union leaders. Central to this and later success were his remarkable people skills. [3]
The Allied Works Council seconded him in World War II to create tunnels in the cliffs of Darwin Harbour to store fuel supplies so they would be safe during bombing raids by Japan. [4]
With the impending retirement of Mount Isa Mines (MIM) chairman, Julius Kruttschnitt, Fisher joined MIM, then controlled by US company ASARCO, in 1952 as general manager, becoming chairman in 1953. Attracting him to Mount Isa was the prospect of freedom from overseas interference and autonomy to run the company as he saw fit. This was to be a major turning point for MIM and the town of Mount Isa which, in both cases, were to be transformed under his leadership. [3]
He set about building houses and facilities to attract a stable workforce and embarked on a large-scale exploration program resulting in extremely rich new mineral deposits. By 1959 a copper refinery was built in Townsville facilitating the local refinement of copper and the manufacture of copper products. He was always a strong advocate of local downstream value-adding. [3]
During the 1950s, Fisher was also responsible for construction of Lake Moondarra, the largest private water storage project in Australia. He successfully negotiating with the Queensland Government and the Australian Government to have the Mt Isa to Townsville railway reconstructed was another major success during this era. [3]
Under Fisher's leadership, mine production went from 1,500 to 16,000 tons per day. Copper production went from zero to 100,000 tons per year, ready to go to 150,000 before he retired. Lead production was over 100,000 tons. It was probably the largest lead and silver mine in Australia, and one of the largest in the world at the time. The copper was at number nine worldwide and reserves went from three million tons to 140 million tons. Under his leadership, the town developed from 6,000 people to over 20,000 people and the payroll went from seven million pounds, to 31 million pounds. [3]
Sir George rendered extensive and meritorious community service. He was a giant of the mining industry, a world-recognised innovator, and among the most significant pioneers of regional development in Australia's history. [3]
Sir George Fisher retired in 1970, but remained active through his involvement in the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation and the Queensland Country Party. [4]
When James Cook University of North Queensland (now James Cook University) was established in 1970, Sir George Fisher became the university's Foundation Chancellor. He held that position until 1974. The university named a significant building on its Douglas campus in Townsville after Fisher.
Fisher died on 13 July 2007 aged 104. [4]
Fisher was awarded the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (Imperial) on 10 June 1961. [5] He was knighted on 10 June 1967. [6] In 1974, he was also awarded an honorary fellowship of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (HonFAusIMM). [7]
The George Fisher mine is named after him. [8]
Mount Isa is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, based on combined production of lead, silver, copper and zinc.
Mount Isa Mines Limited ("MIM") operates the Mount Isa copper, lead, zinc and silver mines near Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia as part of the Glencore group of companies. For a brief period in 1980, MIM was Australia's largest company. It has pioneered several significant mining industry innovations, including the Isa Process copper refining technology, the Isasmelt smelting technology, and the IsaMill fine grinding technology, and it also commercialized the Jameson Cell column flotation technology.
Sir Laurence Charles "Brodie" Brodie-HallHonFAusIMM was an influential figure in the mining industry of Western Australia (WA).
Sir Gordon Colvin Lindesay ClarkFAusIMM was a renowned Australian mining engineer and company director. He had a profound influence on the metallurgical industry in Australia and on the attitudes of many of its later leaders. Over four decades, he was instrumental in transforming Western Mining Corporation from a small gold miner into a diversified giant.
The Great Northern Railway is a 1067 mm gauge railway line in Queensland, Australia. The line stretches nearly 1,000 kilometres linking the port city of Townsville, Australia to the mining town of Mount Isa in north-west Queensland. Along with a passenger service called the Inlander, it is a major freight route connecting the Mount Isa Mines to the Port of Townsville. In 2010, the line moved 5.8 million tonnes of cargo, and this is expected to increase significantly in coming years.
The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) provides services to professionals engaged in all facets of the global minerals sector and is based in Carlton, Victoria, Australia.
The ISASMELT process is an energy-efficient smelting process that was jointly developed from the 1970s to the 1990s by Mount Isa Mines and the Government of Australia's CSIRO. It has relatively low capital and operating costs for a smelting process.
MIM Holdings Limited was an Australian mining company created in 1970 as the parent company of Mount Isa Mines Limited, which operates the Mount Isa mines in north-west Queensland. Based in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland, MIM Holdings owned and/or operated coal, gold, and base metal mines in Australia and Argentina. It also operated lead and copper smelters in Mount Isa, a copper refinery in Townsville (Queensland), a lead refinery at Northfleet (England), zinc smelters using the Imperial Smelting Process at the National Smelting Company located within Avonmouth Docks (England) and Duisburg (Germany), and a precious metals refinery in Sydney.
The Cannington Silver and Lead Mine is an Australian underground mine located in north-west Queensland, in the Shire of McKinlay, about 200 kilometres (124 mi) southeast of Mount Isa. The deposit was discovered by BHP in 1990. The mine was the supplier of silver for the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics and the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. Cannington takes its name from the pastoral property near the deposit.
The George Fisher Mine is a mine located near Mount Isa in Queensland, Australia. It is one of the largest zinc, lead and silver mines in the world. The mine is located 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Mount Isa in North West Queensland. It mine has estimated reserves of 150.4 million ounces of silver. It was named after George Fisher, the former chairman of Mount Misa Mines.
The Collinsville Coal Mine is a coal mine located in Springlands and Collinsville in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. The open-cut mine lies in the northern Bowen Basin. Collinsville produces coking and steaming coal for both domestic use and export. Exports leave the country via Abbot Point.
The Jameson Cell is a high-intensity froth flotation cell that was invented by Laureate Professor Graeme Jameson of the University of Newcastle (Australia) and developed in conjunction with Mount Isa Mines Limited.
The IsaKidd Technology is a copper electrorefining and electrowinning technology that was developed independently by Copper Refineries Proprietary Limited (“CRL”), a Townsville, Queensland, subsidiary of MIM Holdings Limited, and at the Falconbridge Limited (“Falconbridge”) now-dismantled Kidd Creek refinery that was at Timmins, Ontario. It is based around the use of reusable cathode starter sheets for copper electrorefining and the automated stripping of the deposited “cathode copper” from them.
Julius Kruttschnitt IIMAusIMM was an American-born Australian mining manager, who helped to establish the mining industry in Queensland, Australia.
Casa Grande is a heritage-listed villa at Nettle Street, Mount Isa, City of Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Donoghue, Cusick & Edwards and built in 1949. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 May 1999.
Sir James William FootsAOFTSEHonFAusIMMMIMMFCIC was an Australian mining engineer and Chairman of Mount Isa Mines and Chancellor of the University of Queensland.
Fisher is a suburb in the City of Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Fisher had a population of 65 people.
Alban Jude LynchAOHonFAusIMM was a mining engineer and academic who helped develop the mineral processing teaching experience for mining students in Australia.
Spinifex State College Junior Campus is a heritage-listed state high school at 6–12 Fifth Avenue, Parkside, Mount Isa, City of Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Department of Public Works (Queensland) and built in 1954. It is also known as Mount Isa State High School and Mount Isa Intermediate School. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 23 August 2018.
James Richard MayAM FTSE HonFAusIMM was an Australian chemical engineer and company director who was the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Minerals Industry Research Association Limited (AMIRA) between 1968 and 1994. He was also a fellow of a number of chartered institutions and organisations and was on various committees and academic institutes.
in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the initiation and management of mineral research and technology through his role as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Mineral Industries Research Association (AMIRA) and involvement with research organisations throughout Australia.
This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Hall of Fame (2019) published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence , accessed on 19 July 2019.
This Wikipedia article incorporates text from 2019 Inductee: Sir George Fisher CMG 1903 – 2007 (2019) published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence , accessed on 19 July 2019.
Media related to George Fisher (miner) at Wikimedia Commons