Close Encounters of the Third(Geological) Kind

After graduating from Queens in 1972 I worked in The Ulster Museum, then spent 2 years exploring for stratiform copper mineralisation in Western and South Australia. Thence back to Belfast until 1979 field mapping for the Geological Survey of NI.

I transferred to the Geological Survey Overseas Division and joined the team based in Bandung, Java, which was mapping the whole of northern Sumatra. This experience led on to further Oil Company projects in Indonesia, offshore Vietnam and in Siberia and the Russian Far East, including Yakutia, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk and Sakhalin Island. I also lived and worked on oil and gas exploration projects in Romania, Azerbaijan, Libya, Tunisia and Equatorial Guinea.

Locally, I was on the team that discovered gold mineralisation in County Mayo and undertook new exploration for Chromite on the island of Unst in the Shetlands.

Finally, I accepted the position of Exploration and Development Manager for the Timor Sea Designated Authority, based in Dili, Timor-Leste.

As part of my work in East Timor I was tasked with reviewing the geology and economic potential of all the ex-Portuguese colonies. Sao Tome and Principe stood out as the most fascinating and visually stunning.

So we visited for several weeks. These intra-plate volcanic islands sit along the ‘Cameroon Volcanic Line’ and, as well as a fascinating geological story, they also provide a history of Portuguese Colonial Exploitation, slavery, and post colonial re-birth.

The presentation will attempt to provide a geological and social history for this fascinating and very much by-passed island nation.