A Leading Light in Pacific Mining

A Pacific Crossroads

A Young Geological Environment

Base and Precious Metal Mineralisation

Mining, Past
and Present

Exploration Activity

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Mineral Resources Department, Fiji - Home

Fiji lies south of the equator in the western Pacific, about 3,100 km northeast of Sydney and 2,100 km north of Auckland. A volcanic archipelago consisting of about 320 islands, it has a total area of 18,376 km2. The two largest islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, cover nearly 16,000 km2 of this, and host the majority of the country's 803,000 population.

	Please click on the small map above to view a full size version. The full size map is 172k

The country has a tropical marine climate without extremes of temperature or humidity. Topography divides the main islands into wetter and drier zones, the wetter south and eastern sides of both Viti Levu and Vanua Levu attracting significantly more rain (around 3,000 mm annually) than the north and west. Temperatures average 22°C between May and October, rising by some 10°C between December and April when the heaviest rains occur.

Fijian culture is dominated by two principal ethnic groups, native Fijians and people of Indian descent, who between them comprise around 95% of the population. The Indian community came to the islands around the beginning of this century during the development of Fiji's sugar industry. The population is predominantly rural and, with a comparatively high level of human resource development, Fijians have the standard of living of a lower-middle income developing country.

After 96 years as a British Crown Colony, Fiji became an independent nation within the Commonwealth in 1970. Ethnic tensions brought military government in 1987 and the declaration of a republic; after a brief period, civilian rule was restored and a new Constitution was enacted in 1990.

Today, Fiji has a bicameral parliamentary system with a 70-seat elected House of Representatives and a 34-member appointed Senate. Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, a former Prime Minister, is the country's President and Head of State. General elections held in 1992 and 1994 returned a coalition government headed by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka; the next general elections are scheduled for 1999. Fiji rejoined the Commonwealth in mid-1997 after a ten-year absence.

	In 1928, Capt. Kingsford-Smith and his crew made aviation history by flying non-stop from Hawaii to Suva. Today, Air Pacific provides Fiji's trans-ocean links

Fiji's economy is dominated by sugar, which typically contributes around 8% of GDP and 27% of exports by value. Tourism and garment manufacture are the other major foundations of the economy, while mining, timber and coconut oil production also make important contributions. In 1996, gold exports of 164,300 oz were worth an estimated F$87 million, the second-largest item after sugar.

Fiji has experienced moderate growth in GDP during most of the last ten years, with a significant increase in growth to around 4.4% in 1996 supported by new developments in the mining and quarrying industries. Annual inflation is currently between 3% and 4%, reflecting movements in New Zealand and Australia. The Fijian dollar is linked to a weighted basket of the currencies of its major trading partners, and currently stands at around F$1.4 to the US dollar.

© Mining Journal 1998

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