People/geologist, explorer

Jean Jacques Dozy

Jean Jacques Dozy (1908–2004), geologist, explorer, from Netherlands. Linked to copper.

The lucky break

On a 1936 expedition to climb the highest mountain in the South Pacific he described the Ertsberg, a contact deposit of magnetite laced with chalcopyrite.1,2

The downfall

His report appeared after war had reached the Netherlands and lay unnoticed until the East Borneo Company found it in 1959.1,2

Legacy

Freeport's Forbes Wilson read it and in 1960 trekked about 200 miles with Del Flint and John Bowenkamp. Sampling indicated about 13 million tons above 4 per cent copper.1,2

Story cards

Drag to turn the globe

Where next

Mines

DiscoveredGrasberg minerals districtA Dutch geologist wrote up the copper mountain in 1936.1

Places

DiscoveredTembagapuraHis report lay unread until 1959, then Freeport trekked in.1

Sources

  1. West Irian Copper Project OneMine
  2. Wikidata item Q1344548

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Chuquicamata from the ISS by Alexander Gerst (ESA), CC BY-SA 2.0. Pictures: Escondida Mine, Chile, NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Elektrisk malmletning. Undersökningar på Billiton, 1920., Okänd / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Kopermijn te Kolwezi in de provincie Shaba (Katanka), Mieremet, Rob / Anefo / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).