The gold-mining town of Vatukoula came alive when 600 people from surrounding areas as far as Nadi, Lautoka and Suva turned out to watch the annual Fiji Rock-drilling Championships on Saturday, August 4, 1984.
Four days later, The Fiji Times published an article that highlighted a special feature of the day-long event — the participation for the first time of 12 overseas miners.
Six miners from Kimbalda in Western Australia and six from Tasmania managed to take most of the top places in the singles and doubles events.
But the chairman of the Fiji Rock-drilling Championships, Mark Pizey, said the “Fiji boys” who had started practising in 1983 made the Australians work hard to take the prizes.
The Ingersoll Rand-Clyde Engineering and DuPont Explosives Division of Australia sponsored the championship.
Rock-drilling championships have become a popular type in mining communities around the world.
The miners used compressed air-driven rock drills with drill steel attached to the front to drill holes in mines for blasting.
The competitors were timed to drill a hole through the centre of a concrete cylinder.
There were 64 entrants in the singles event and 16 pairs for the team events. The prizes consisted of a trophy which was an engraved tanoa, watches, and cash prizes.
Mr Pizey said an Australian miner had won $9000 prizemoney in one year in Australia and the officials hoped they would be able to offer something similar in the Fiji championships.
The winners in the singles events were; first: Harry Hensen of Kimbalda, Western Australia; second: Lance Stebbings, Queenstown, Tasmania; third: Werner Borchert, of Kimbalda; and fourth Vorasi Albert of Vatukoula. In the double event, first place went to Harry Hensen and Laurie Thomas of Kimbalda, second place to Kim Watts and Geoff Skinner of Kimbalda and third place to Viliame Vula and Munivai Fesau of Vatukoula.
Mr Vula and Mr Fesau were to represent Fiji in the doubles event and Mr Albert was to later represent Fiji in the individuals in the Australasian Rock-drilling Championships in Australia in 1985.
