University of California Berkeley Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Western Mining in the Twentieth Century Oral History Series Alexander M. Wilson LEADING A CHANGING UTAH CONSTRUCTION AND MINING COMPANY: UTAH INTERNATIONAL, GE-UTAH, BHP-UTAH, 1954 TO 1987 With an Introduction by Keith Wallace Interviews conducted by Eleanor Swent in 1996 and 1997 Copyright c 2000 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the Nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well- informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Alexander M. Wilson dated June 20, 1996. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. The legal agreement with Alxander M. Wilson requires that he be notified of the request and allowed thirty days in which to respond. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Alexander M. Wilson, "Leading a Changing Utah Construction and Mining Company: Utah International, GE-Utah, BHP-Utah, 1954 to 1987," an oral history conducted in 1996 and 1997 by Eleanor Swent, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2000. Copy no. May 1, 1987, Alexander M. "Bud" Wilson retires as chairman of Utah International. Cataloging information Wilson, Alexander Murray, Jr. (b.1922) Mining engineer, executive LEADING A CHANGING UTAH CONSTRUCTION AND MINING COMPANY: UTAH INTERNATIONAL, GE-UTAH, BHP-UTAH, 1954 TO 1987, 2000, xx, 269 pp. Tulare County background; WWII, Burma Road; UC Berkeley College of Mines; positions with Yellow Pine Mine, Stibnite, ID, and Mountain Pass Mine, CA; Utah Construction & Mining Co. from 1954, head of mining division: Lucky Me uranium mine, Navajo Mine at Four Corners; Utah Development Co., Australia: Queensland Coal, Bowen Basin, Mt . Goldsworthy, Hay Point port, negotiations with Whitlam government, Mitsubishi; sale of construction division to Fluor, 1969; Utah International, President, 1971: difficulties of merger with GE, 1975; Escondida Mine, Chile, Peruvian nationalization of Marcona Co.; BHP-Utah, acquisition and merger, 198A-87; discusses dealings with government leaders in US, Canada, Japan, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Chile, South Africa, big game hunting, industrial health issues, Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Foundation, family and health matters. Introduction by Keith Wallace, President of BHP-Utah International Inc. (retired) Interviewed in 1996 and 1997 by Eleanor Swent for the Western Mining in the Twentieth Century series. The Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. TABLE OF CONTENTS--Alexander Wilson PREFACE i INTRODUCTION by Keith Wallace xiii INTERVIEW HISTORY xvi BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION xx I GROWING UP IN TULARE, CALIFORNIA, 1922-1941 1 Grandfather Frank Creech 1 Great-Uncle William Manley, Hero of Death Valley 2 The Wilson Family 4 Mother Grace Ethel Creech Wilson 4 The Depression 6 Visalia Junior College 8 The University of California at Berkeley, 1941-1942 9 II WORLD WAR II AND SERVICE IN THE ARMY, 1942-1946 12 Pearl Harbor 12 Serving on the Burma Road with the Aviation Engineers 13 A Postwar Conversation with Mr. Mezeki 15 Battling Malaria 16 The Uprising in Kunming after the Japanese Surrender; A Thrilling Rescue of Six Americans 18 Return Home after a Long Time 20 Readjusting to Family and Civilian Life 23 III RETURN TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY, 1946-1948 25 Anita Whistler, Helpful English Instructor 25 Morrough O Brien, Dean of Engineering 28 Carlton Hulin, Professor of Geology 28 IV WORKING AS AN ENGINEER FOR THE YELLOW PINE MINE, STIBNITE, IDAHO, 1948-1951 30 Beverlee Forsblad Wilson and Her Teaching as an Advantage 30 Robert Clarkson 31 Recollections of Stibnite and Yellow Pine 32 The Smelter and Industrial Health Hazards 41 Wilson s Historic and Painful Treatment for Kidney Poisoning 42 Lifelong Friendships Made in Stibnite: Clarkson, DeMoss, Wallace 44 V WORKING FOR MOLYBENUM CORPORATION, 1951-1954 45 Mountain Pass Mine, Near Nipton, California 45 Mill Superintendent 46 Living in a Trailer with Three Children 47 Tony Mecia Comes to Visit and Recruit for a Job with Utah 49 VI UTAH CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, 1954 51 Metallurgist, Argonaut Mine, Vancouver Island, BC 51 The Lucky Me Uranium Mine, Wyoming, and Learning New Metallurgy 53 The Ion Exchange Processing Plant at Lucky Me 55 Tony Mecia s Fatal Plane Accident, 1960 60 Utah s Offices in Palo Alto and San Francisco, California 62 Separating the Construction and Mining Divisions 65 The Cedar City, Utah, Iron Mines 69 Good Relations with the Operating Engineers Union 70 Beginning to Develop the Lucky Me 73 Health and Safety in Working with Uranium; Smoking 78 Staffing the Operation 80 VII HEADING THE MINING DIVISION, UTAH CONSTRUCTION AND MINING COMPANY, 1963 84 Getting to Know Edmund Littlefield 84 The Navajo Mine at Four Corners 85 Introducing Computerization at Lucky Me 92 "Everything Began Coming to a Head" in the Early 1960s 93 Putting Together the Mt . Goldsworthy Joint Venture 97 Utah Construction Company s Good Reputation in Australia 101 Western Australia Premier Charles Court 104 VIII UTAH AND QUEENSLAND COAL, FROM 1965 107 The Bowen Basin Metallurgical Coalfield 107 Charles McArthur s Critical Role in Developing the Flow Sheet 108 The Vision of Allen Christensen 109 Developing the Blackwater Mine 110 Mr. Tomibichi of Mitsubishi 111 Negotiating the Franchise Agreement with the Queensland Government 112 The Crucial Act of Parliament, 12 December 1968 113 The Crucial Agreement on Building the Railroad to the Mine 116 The Central Queensland Coal Associates Act 120 Developing the Goonyella Mine 122 Developing the Deepwater Port at Hay Point 122 Building the Staff 125 Other Responsibilities Including Shirley Basin, Wyoming 130 Selling the Construction Business to Fluor in 1969 132 IX FAMILY AND HEALTH MATTERS 135 Daughters Shelley, Christie, and Lexie 135 Wilson Appears on the Venceremos "Hit List" 136 Hepatitis at Forty 138 Improving Company Health Services 139 Knee Surgery 140 A Terrible Trip Home from Jakarta with Salmonella 141 Drinking in the International Business World 142 Managing Jet Lag on Flights to Australia 144 X RUNNING THE COMPANY 146 A Rapid Rise on the Corporate Ladder 146 The Whitlam Government in Australia from 1972 147 Meetings with Rex Connor 151 Applying Lessons Learned in Australia to the Escondida Mine, Chile L 56 XI MERGER WITH GENERAL ELECTRIC, 1975 158 "The Troops Were Unsettled" 158 Inundated with Human Resource People 160 Relations with Washington 163 Relations with Ottawa 164 African Ventures and Adventures 165 A Meeting with Prime Minister Pieter Willem Botha 166 Dealing with Heads of State in Many Countries 168 Hunting and Fishing as Major Interests 169 Very Little Difficulty with Environmentalists 172 Samarco (Simitri and Marcona) in Brazil 174 Marcona in New Zealand, Peru, and Shipping 175 XII SALE OF THE CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS TO FLUOR, 1969 179 A Very Successful Construction Division 179 An Unexpected Loss at Manipouri, New Zealand 179 A Good Deal Buttoned Up in Three Meetings 180 Change of Control Makes One Perspire Pretty Heavily 182 XIII UTAH INTERNATIONAL 184 Shifting Into Being a Mining Company 184 Utah s Land Development Activities 184 Retirement Homes: Forecasting Death a Lousy Business 186 Military Construction 187 Peru s Nationalization of Marcona 188 A Caribbean Aragonite Operation and Problems with Drug-runners 189 Cyprus Mines and Marcona: A Bad Taste in the Mouth 191 Acquisition of Ladd Petroleum, 1973 193 Selling the Uranium Business to Cogema 195 XIV FIRST PRESIDENT OF UTAH NOT RELATED TO A FOUNDER 197 1971, A Time of "More Than the Usual Uncertainties" 197 "Industrial Unrest" Reveal s GE s Different Motivation 198 A