Copperbelt

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Central African Copper Belt geologic map of Katanga Supergroup and mine locations Central African Copper Belt.png
Central African Copper Belt geologic map of Katanga Supergroup and mine locations
Native copper from Mufulira, Zambia Copper-20507.jpg
Native copper from Mufulira, Zambia

The Copperbelt is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining.

Contents

Traditionally, the term Copperbelt includes the mining regions of Zambia's Copperbelt Province (notably the towns of Ndola, Kitwe, Chingola, Luanshya, and Mufulira in particular) and the Congo's Haut-Katanga and Lualaba provinces (notably Lubumbashi, Kolwezi, and Likasi). In some contexts the term may exclude the Congo entirely. Zambia's Copperbelt became a province soon after independence in 1964, when it was named "Western province". President Kenneth Kaunda changed the name to its present-day "Copperbelt province" in 1969. From the time of the Bantu expansion, both the Congo's Katanga and Zambia's Copperbelt regions have been called "Ilamba" or "Lambaland", after the Lamba people. Both provinces are rich in mineral wealth.

Prehistory

The Copperbelt was not inhabited before the arrival of the Lamba people from the Luba and Lunda kingdoms.[ dubious – discuss ] The Lamba settled at Lake Kashiba, and from there the Lamba kingdom spread eastward, northward, southward and westward.

History

Rwandan migrant workers in a Congolese copper mine, c.1920, during the Belgian colonial period Kisanga-mijn Ruandese arbeiders einde-jaren 1920.JPG
Rwandan migrant workers in a Congolese copper mine, c.1920, during the Belgian colonial period
Copperbelt mining centers Copperbelt mining centers.png
Copperbelt mining centers
Pre-colonial copper coin from the Katanga Province. These coins forming the Katanga Cross are no longer produced, but those remaining are used symbolically among traditional families for the payment of dowry (along with money and other goods). Ancienne unite de monnaie en cuivre.jpg
Pre-colonial copper coin from the Katanga Province. These coins forming the Katanga Cross are no longer produced, but those remaining are used symbolically among traditional families for the payment of dowry (along with money and other goods).

The Western discovery of copper in Zambia is partly due to American scout Frederick Russell Burnham. In 1895 he led the Northern Territories (BSA) Exploration Co. expedition, which determined that major copper deposits existed in Central Africa. [1] Along the Kafue River in then-Northern Rhodesia, Burnham saw many similarities to copper deposits he had worked in the United States, and he encountered natives wearing copper bracelets. [2] In his report to the British South Africa Company Burnham said about the region: [3]

About 200 miles north of the Falls on the Incalla river, and twelve miles from the Kafukwe [now known as the Kafue River] and still on the high plateau is probably one of the greatest copper fields on the continent. The natives have worked this ore for ages, as can be seen by their old dumps, and they work it to-day. The field is very extensive, and reaches away to Katanga... The natives inhabiting this part of the country are skilled workmen, and have traded their handiwork with all comers, even as far afield as the Portuguese of the West Coast and the Arabs of the East. These natives, being miners and workers of copper and iron, and being permanently located in the ground, would give the very element needed in developing these fields.

The increasing use of copper bids fair to make it one of the most valuable products a country can have.... The copper mines of Montana and Arizona have proven of more value than the gold mines, regardless of the fact that the copper had to be hauled two thousand miles by rail to the seaboard, and the coal and coke to smelt it hauled hundreds of miles to the mines. So far as natural difficulties are concerned, this northern field can be fed from the coal deposits of the valley of the Zambezi [Burnham had previously discovered massive coal fields at Hwange], and the product shipped to the East Coast at a less expense than the product of Montana and Arizona can be laid on the dock at New York.

Many years later, the British South Africa Company built towns along the river and a railroad to transport the copper through Mozambique. [4]

Geology

During the 1950s, the Copperbelt was the largest copper-producing area in the world, including the Roan Antelope Mine, Nkana Mine, Nchanga Mines, Mufulira Mine, and Rokana Mine. Chalcopyrite, bornite, and chalcocite are found in the metamorphosed calcareous shales and arkoses of the Lower Roan Formation in the Katanga System. [5]

See also

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Luanshya Place in Copperbelt Province, Zambia

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Roan United is a Zambian football club based in Luanshya, in the Zambian Premier League and mostly successful during the early years of Zambian football. Indeed, they were the inaugural winners of the ZPL, clinching what was then called the Northern Rhodesia National Football League in 1962. They play their home matches at Kafubu Stadium.

History of rail transport in Zambia

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Bwana Mkubwa is a settlement and a mine in Copperbelt Province, Zambia. It is the oldest mine in Zambia's Copperbelt region. As a settlement with no municipal status, it became a locale due to the abundant copper deposits found in the area. Today, it is part of Ndola.

Copper mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo mainly takes place in the Copper Belt of the southern Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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The Musonoi mine is a set of open-cut pits near Kolwezi from which copper and other metals have been extracted since the 1940s. The mining complex is located in the Lualaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kolwezi is about 320 kilometres (200 mi) northwest from Lubumbashi, the provincial capital.

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Katanga Supergroup

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Lamba people are a Bantu ethnolinguistic group mainly located in the Central, Copperbelt, and North-Western provinces of Zambia. Lamba people speak the Lamba language, with Lamba and Lima the major dialects recognized.

Chambishi is a town in Kalulushi District in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. According to the 2021 Census its population stands at slightly above 11,000. It is located in the approximate centre of the province, and on the T3 Road between the cities of Kitwe and Chingola.

Geology of Zambia

The geological history of Zambia begins in the Proterozoic eon of the Precambrian. The igneous and metamorphic basement rocks tend to be highly metamorphosed and may have formed earlier in the Archean, but heat and pressure has destroyed evidence of earlier conditions. Major sedimentary and metamorphic groups formed in the mid-Proterozoic, followed by a series of glaciations in the Neoproterozoic and much of the Paleozoic which deposited glacial conglomerate as well as other sediments to form the Katanga Supergroup and rift-related Karoo Supergroup. Basalt eruptions blanketed the Karoo Supergroup in the Mesozoic and Zambia shifted to coal and sandstone formation. Geologically recent windblown sands from the Kalahari Desert and alluvial deposits near rivers play an important role in the modern surficial geology of Zambia. The country has extensive natural resources, particularly copper, but also cobalt, emeralds, other gemstones, uranium and coal.

T3 road (Zambia) Road in Zambia

The T3 is a Trunk Road in Zambia. The road runs from Kapiri Mposhi via Ndola, Kitwe and Chingola to Kasumbalesa on the border with DR Congo. The entire route is a toll road.

Roan Antelope copper mine

Roan Antelope is a copper mine in Zambia. The deposits were discovered in 1902, but their full extent was not understood until 1926. The mine site was developed between 1927 and 1931, at first experiencing many deaths from malaria due to poor drainage. Production since then has experienced various slumps and booms. The mine was nationalized in 1970 and returned to private ownership in 1997. The new owners struggled to make it profitable, and it changed hands twice.

References

  1. ↑ Baxter, T.W.; E.E. Burke (1970). Guide to the Historical Manuscripts in the National Archives of Rhodesia. p. 67.
  2. ↑ Burnham, Frederick Russell (1926). Scouting on Two Continents. Doubleday, Page & company. pp. 2, Chapters 3 & 4. OCLC   407686.
  3. ↑ Burnham, Frederick Russell (1899). "Northern Rhodesia". In Wills, Walter H. (ed.). Bulawayo Up-to-date; Being a General Sketch of Rhodesia  . Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. pp. 177–180.
  4. ↑ Juang, Richard M. (2008). Africa and the Americas: culture, politics, and history : a multidisciplinary encyclopedia, Volume 2 Transatlantic relations series. ABC-CLIO. p. 1157. ISBN   1-85109-441-5.
  5. ↑ Heinrich, E. Wm. (1958). Mineralogy and Geology of Radioactive Raw Materials. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. p. 298.

Coordinates: 12°S28°E / 12°S 28°E / -12; 28

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