Bogala Graphite Mine
Bogala Graphite Mine () is a graphite mine located near the village of Aruggammana in Kegalle District, Sabaragamuwa Province. It is one of the largest graphite mines in Sri Lanka, with commercial mining at this location first commencing in 1847. Merenyagé Arnolis Fernando, born 12 August 1850 in Moratuwa, the second son of Merenyagé Juanis Fernando, a carpenter, and Silapu Perumagé Angela Fernando. Fernando started work as a carpenter but went onto become a foreman on a Sinhalese graphite mine. In the 1880s he became a graphite mine owner in his own right and over the next two decades assembled considerable capital assets. By 1906/07 he controlled a number of graphite mines including sites at Pusshena, Aruggammana, Medagoda, Panangala and Kurunduwatte, as well as a number of coconut and cinnamon plantations. His sons, James Alfred Fernando (1894–1936) and Ernest Peter Arnold Fernando (1904–1956), were responsible for expanding the family company's, A. Fernando and Co., interests at Bogala where they discovered a substantial graphite vein, founding the Bogala Graphite Company in 1941. The Bogala mine was nationalised in 1971 falling under the control of the State Graphite Corporation of Ceylon, which was renamed in 1979 to the State Mining and Mineral