A 61m aerial view overlooking Vatukoula, Fiji & the gold mines from the Korowere Settlement.  Its name is Fijian for "gold rock" & the area is a principle gold mining area w/ the first discovery of gold occurring in 1872 by Baron de Este along the Nasivi River.  Gold discovery in commercial quantities started here in 1932 resulting in a gold rush from people all around the Fiji islands arriving at the diggings.  By 1939 about 107,788.5 oz of gold were recovered which was more comparable to outputs from nearby New Zealand & eastern Australian states.

By 1952, the population of Vatukoula was 4,500, the second largest in the Colony of Fiji. The largest group was indigenous Fijian, while other groups included Pacific Islanders, Indian, Chinese, European, and people of mixed origins.  Vatukoula has been fraught with challenges, especially for the local population dependent on this single-industry town for their source of livelihood. Over the years, there have been accumulating concerns and periodic conflicts regarding: wages, safety practices, housing conditions, gender inequities, associated social problems, and the mine's environmental impact, particularly the air pollution caused by sulphur emissions.  The main mine, the Emporer Mines, shut down on December 5, 2006 due to low price of gold leading to abrupt disappearances of livelihoods to the community.  The mine reopened in April 2008 w/ production done on a smaller scale.  The population of Vatukoula as of 2017 is 1,131 citizens.

More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatukoula