Battlefields, Zimbabwe

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Battlefields is a small settlement in Mashonaland West province in Zimbabwe. It is located off the main road from Harare to Bulawayo between Kadoma and Kwekwe. The name Battlefields was given not on account of any fighting which took place there, but because many of the mining claims and reefs were named after famous battles, such as Trafalgar and Tel el-Kebir. [1]

Zimbabwe Republic in southern Africa

Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique. The capital and largest city is Harare and the second largest being Bulawayo. A country of roughly 16 million people, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona, and Ndebele the most commonly used.

Harare City and Province in Zimbabwe

Harare is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 960.6 km2 (371 mi2) and an estimated population of 1,606,000 in 2009, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area in 2006. Situated in north-eastern Zimbabwe in the country's Mashonaland region, Harare is a metropolitan province, which also incorporates the municipalities of Chitungwiza and Epworth. The city sits on a plateau at an elevation of 1,483 metres above sea level and its climate falls into the subtropical highland category.

Bulawayo Place in Zimbabwe

Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland. The city's population is disputed; the 2012 census listed it at 653,337, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about 1.2 million. Bulawayo covers an area of about 1,707 square kilometres (659 sq mi) in the western part of the country, along the Matsh' Amhlope River. Along with the capital Harare, Bulawayo is one of two cities in Zimbabwe that are also a province.

2019 mining accident

In February 2019, at least 38 illegal gold panners were trapped by flood water in two mine shafts, after heavy rainfall caused a dam wall to burst. [2] By 17 February, 8 people had been rescued and 24 bodies recovered, with dozens more still missing and feared dead. [3]

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Gold panning, or simply panning, is a form of placer mining and traditional mining that extracts gold from a placer deposit using a pan. The process is one of the simplest ways to extract gold, and is popular with geology enthusiasts especially because of its low cost and relative simplicity.

Coordinates: 18°36′S29°50′E / 18.600°S 29.833°E / -18.600; 29.833

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References

  1. "Colourful Place Names". Window on Rhodesia. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  2. Lovemore (13 February 2019). "BREAKING: 38 Miners Feared Dead In Flooded Battlefields Mine Shafts ⋆ Pindula News". Pindula News. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  3. "The number of bodies retrieved from Zim mine rises to 24". SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.