operations impossible. in Serbia A more successful between-the-wars venture was the development of the Trepča Mines in Kosovo while in Yugoslavia. In 1925 an exploration program was launched to assess the potential of the Lead-Zinc deposit at the location. The 50-year concession was obtained in 1926 by Selection Trust from Rade Pašić, son of Nikola Pašić, Yugoslav prime minister until the same year. On 9 September 1927 Selection Trust launched its Trepča Mines Limited subsidiary in London. Mining operations began in 1930 with pilot production of sulphide Lead and Zinc mineralisations. The mine was appropriated by the Germans upon their invasion of Yugoslavia and Trepča at one point was supplying 40% of all the Lead required for the German war effort. in Australia With decolonialisation in Africa advancing rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, the company increased its presence in Australia. One of its major successes was its involvement in the early phases of the country's iron ore expansion through the Mt Newman discovery. The company became even more prominent from the late 1960s for its involvement in the Nickel Boom. Rising world nickel prices and a prolonged strike at an Inco's Creighton Mine nickel mine at Sudbury, Ontario meant that the discoveries were rapidly developed, bringing about a frenzied market in nickel explorers and developers between 1967 and 1971. The boom was triggered by the discovery of significant nickel resources in Kambalda, Western Australia in 1966, Mount Windarra in 1969 and Agnew (by Selection Trust and its satellite, Consolidated African Selection Trust) in 1971. It was noticeable that Agnew was initially largely in the hands of London investors and that the sole Australian connection was an indirect 2.4% stake in the project held by Selcast Exploration, a locally listed satellite of Selection Trust. This imbalance was partly remedied by Mount Isa Mines buying into the control group of the project. Succession & Acquisition by BP In 1950, Chester Beatty handed control of Selection Trust over to his son, also named Alfred Chester Beatty, who ran it until 1968. It was acquired by BP in August 1980, and named successively, BP Minerals International Ltd and BP Minerals Development Ltd. The acquisition by BP was the largest takeover in the history of the London Stock Exchange at the time. Most of BP's minerals assets were sold to the British mining company Rio Tinto Zinc for £2.38 billion in 1989. References External