The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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Soroaka (Sorowako; 121.358E 2.5203S) is located in central Celebes Island in the Netherlands East Indies. Celebes was the only important source of nickel for Japan during the Pacific War. The lateritic nickel deposits here have been mined for centuries, and account for the high reputation of Indonesian keri swords. The modern mining complex at Soroaka was developed prior to the war by the same Canadian company that ran the Sudbury mine in Ontario, and the town was described by contemporaries as resembling nothing so much as a Canadian mining town transplanted to the tropics.
Production was about 3500 tons per year.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007 by Kent G. Budge. Index
