George Fisher (miner)

This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Hall of Fame (2019) published by the State Library of Queensland under CC-BY licence, accessed on 19 July 2019.

This Wikipedia article incorporates text from 2019 Inductee: Sir George Fisher CMG 1903 – 2007 (2019) published by the State Library of Queensland under CC-BY licence, accessed on 19 July 2019.

Sir George Fisher retired in 1970, but remained active through his involvement in the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation and the Queensland Country Party.

When James Cook University of North Queensland (now James Cook University) was established in 1970, Sir George Fisher became the University’s Foundation Chancellor. He held that position until 1974. The University named a significant building on its Douglas campus in Townsville after Fisher.

Fisher was awarded the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (Imperial) on 10 June 1961. He was knighted on 10 June 1967.

He set about building houses and facilities to attract a stable workforce and embarked on a large-scale exploration program resulting in extremely rich new mineral deposits. By 1959 a copper refinery was built in Townsville facilitating the local refinement of copper and the manufacture of copper products. He was always a strong advocate of local downstream value-adding.

With the impending retirement of Mount Isa Mines (MIM) chairman, Julius Kruttschnitt, Fisher joined MIM, then controlled by US company ASARCO, in 1952 as general manager, becoming chairman in 1953. Attracting him to Mount Isa was the prospect of freedom from overseas interference and autonomy to run the company as he saw fit. This was to be a major turning point for MIM and the town of Mount Isa which, in both cases, were to be transformed under his leadership.

During the 1950s, Fisher was also responsible for construction of Lake Moondarra, the largest private water storage project in Australia. He successfully negotiating with the Queensland Government and the Australian Government to have the Mt Isa to Townsville railway reconstructed was another major success during this era.

Fisher was born in Gladstone, South Australia into a farming family. He attended Gladstone High School and then Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. In 1925, he graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Engineering (mining).

Sir George Read Fisher CMG (1903 – 2007) was one of Australia’s leading mining executives. In 2019, he was posthumously inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame in recognition of his eminent business leadership, driving the long-term success of Mount Isa Mines and Mount Isa’s growth and development as a city.