Soroako

Soroako, also spelled Sorowako, is a small mining town in the north-east of South Sulawesi province, in the centre of Sulawesi island in Indonesia. It is known to have the largest open-pit mine in Indonesia owned by PT Inco (IDX:INCO), a subsidiary of the Canadian based mining company Vale Inco.GeographyIt is located in the Verbeek mountains, Soroako is surrounded by three natural lakes: Lake Matano, Lake Towuti and Lake Mahalona. Matano Lake is the deepest lake in Indonesia.Matano Lake is surrounded by ring of small mountain rock. The weather sometimes can be very severe, often with thunder and lightning storms. Small earthquakes are common as well. Almost every year in December - January, a strange phenomenon occurs in the center of Matano Lake. A large tornado appears to stand still in the middle of the lake and remains there for a short time. Seen from shore the tornado looks to have a diameter of approximately 10 meters. While the tornado is standing still above the lake a cloud comes down to the surface of the lake and then seems to come up again through the funnel of the tornado.The source of Matano Lake is believed come from an area west of the lake that the native people call Matano village. In this area one can sometimes see white-bellied sea eagle.