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Bau is a
gold mining town in the Kuching Division of
Sarawak, Malaysia. Trading and
business activities with Kalimantan is also important to the local
economy.
Gold began being mined in Bau in the 1840s. It was discovered by Chinese
miners from Pangkalan Tebang. After the Chinese uprising in 1857, the
mining operations were gradually taken over by The Borneo Company with the
last Chinese syndicate being bought out in 1884. In 1898, The Borneo
Company introduced the cyanide process for extracting the gold, which led
to increased environmental pollution. The mines were closed in 1921
because most of the easily reachable minerals had been removed.
But during the Great Depression Chinese miners continued to work the
mines. The mines were reopened in the late 1970s when world gold prices
soared, but closed again in 1997 when the Asian financial crisis started.
However by 2002, Preston Resources began developing the mining operations
formerly held by Malaysia's Oriental Peninsula Gold. In 2006, Zedex
Minerals purchased the controlling interest.
Sources:
Wikipedia
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