Hi,
I'm Joe Lahita and spent three great years on Bougainville from mid- 69 to mid-72. I was writing to a friend in Melbourne today, about my stay in Panguna. I just thought I'd surf the web to see if there is anything there. I was involved with the Pilot Plant and later the hydraulicking efforts, training of indigenous drivers for the 105 ton trucks, Mine Maintenance and minor equipment commissioning on the ship loader in Arawa. And some consumption of stubbies on occasion...
Good job on the web site. I also have some pics, personal and from BC magazine that ran while I was there. I only remember nice things about the island, although I've had my share of Chimbu stories...
I have spent the last thirty years in North America, mainly in the States with steel manufacturing companies, engineering and plant operations. I many times long for Australia and have very pleasant thoughts about that island paradise that we helped screw up...
Very best regards to you all and happy dreaming.
Joe

PS. The guy in the blue shirt on page 4 I believe is Ken Philips (not sure of the spelling of his surname). He is a Kiwi and I think that he is back in NZ with his wife Chris, whom he met on Bougainville. It seems to me that a lot of you came after me. When I first got to Panguna, we were all but 80-100 expats and lots of locals. When I left, the mine site was under late commissioning. I worked with Jorgen Christiensen, Ken Saunders and his guys in maintenance in the late stages. Hated to leave, but I was also getting too 'comfy' and wanted to see the '72 Olympics. I'll keep in touch from time to time.

PPS. When I first arrived in Panguna I was assigned to Mal Woolhouse. At that time I believe Mal was the Mine Engineer and also in charge of Maintenance. Mal was an OK guy, quiet, and left me alone for most part, so I didn't get to know him too closely. The list of names given by Veronica Clarke, wife of 'Markus', are pretty much the guys I also knew. Later on I got reassigned to the BC group as the staff began to grow and also worked for Sam Saunders and Roger Christiansen. Also worked with John Barnes during the training of indigenous 105t truck drivers. I lived with John in London for a while when he was doing his MBA there and me doing some construction supervisory work in 1972-3. I have lost track of John's whereabouts. He'd be an interesting guy to locate.