by George Henry Nolan (Author)
This is a story of George Henry Nolan spanning four decades between 1920 and 1960. His eldest brother Joe had controlled the family purse strings and lost his father's fortune, amassed on the diamond diggings in South Africa, to the smooth operators on the Bikita Tinfields in 1932. George chose to go it alone. His story is also the tale of the many colourful characters he met along the road from wattle and daub to Lithium Lodge. Life in the mining camps and Jo-burg slums in the early days was tough, but, at times both hilarious and tragic. Prospecting in unexplored wild malaria infested country a health risk. His struggle with the incompetence and prejudice of the Ministry were endless. In the fifties he proved the economic value of the world's largest petalite deposit. He then had to deal with the chicanery of the metal brokers, the lithium corporations and mining magnates. George had to learn fast the complicated art to straddle the ropes of big business.