Billiton: 150 years of life
Description
In Suriname, NV Billiton has become best known for its bauxite mining but when it was founded in The Hague, 150 years ago, the company revolved around mining and trading the raw material tin. The multinational company has always kept its name to that. Indeed, on Billiton (now: Belitung), an island off the east coast of Sumatra located in the great tin belt that runs along Malaysia, Thailand and Burma to China, an expedition of the later founders discovered large quantities of tin ore in 1851.
One of the discoverers, John Francis Loudon, wrote a book about it a few years later: 'The first years of the Billiton Company'. But Loudon (1821-1895) was a gentleman and had therefore heavily censored his own story. In reality, Loudon had been immensely annoyed during those years. Not only with the stubborn Baron von Tuyll van Serooskerken, but especially with the cheeky engineer Cornelis de Groot, who also took part in the expedition. This is evident from his notes and his original diary, which Loudon had stored in a special drum. That drum has been in the National Archives in The Hague since 1987.
Now, at the celebration of Billiton's 150th anniversary, Loudon's diary formed the basis for a new book: 'The discovery of tin on Billiton Island'. Writer and geologist Bert Manders set out to research the genesis of Billiton. Through descendants of Loudon, he came across the drum of original diary entries. Thus, more than a century and a half later, Loudon recounts how difficult the expedition was at the time and provides tasty comments on all kinds of people he had to deal with.
Separate from the history of 150 years of Billiton, mining engineer Hans Verschuur will recount his personal experiences of life on Billiton, larded with photographs and -even then- uncensored stories. Hans Verschuur was born and grew up on Billiton, married a childhood friend whose father also worked for Billiton and who grew up on Singkep, and worked for Billiton for quite some time, including in tin production in Thailand and on Singkep in Indonesia.
The Mining Department of KIVI NIRIA is pleased to invite you to a special and historic evening meeting
Programme Evening meeting '150 years of Billiton':
19:00 Reception with coffee/tea.
19:30 Lecture by Hans Verschuur
(Mining engineer, former Billiton employee and born on Billiton):
'Living and Working on Billiton: Experiences of a Miner'
20:15 Lecture by drs. Bert Manders
(Geologist, Fugro):
'The Discovery of Tin on the Island of Billiton'
21:00 Special Book Presentation
A free copy (160 pages) will be distributed to all members of the KIVI, Mining Section, who have registered for this evening via the website in good time. A maximum of 75 copies are available. For members of other KIVI departments, the book will be available that evening at a reduced price of Euro 9.50. For non-members, the book can be purchased at the price of Euro 19.50. For those who do not want to wait, the book can also be ordered at www.bol.com or www.kitpublishers.nl .
21:15 Raising the 'Glück Auf!' with toast, drinks and after-dinner chat.
Location
Prinsessegracht 23, 2514 AP The Hague
Organiser
Mining
Name and contact details for information
For more information, please contact Allert Adema