Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0423/04231.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 28KB | 419 lines

$Unique_ID{COW04231}
$Pretitle{371}
$Title{Zimbabwe
Chapter 3C.   Mining}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Donald P. Whitaker}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{tons
power
production
percent
mines
mining
total
zimbabwe
electricity
million}
$Date{1982}
$Log{Prospecting Map*0423101.scf
Kariba Dam*0423105.scf
}
Country:     Zimbabwe
Book:        Zimbabwe, A Country Study
Author:      Donald P. Whitaker
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1982

Chapter 3C.   Mining

[See Prospecting Map: Courtesy Embassy of Zimbabwe, Washington DC.]

     Relative to its size and population, Zimbabwe is one of the world's
richer countries in minerals. Its mining industry is diversified and generally
efficient. More than forty different minerals are produced, of which the most
important in the early 1980s were gold, asbestos, nickel, copper, coal, and
chromite (see table 11, Appendix). These six minerals accounted for over 85
percent of the value of total mineral production. Overall, mining has
regularly contributed about 6.5 percent or more of GDP, and the industry
employs an average of about 60,000 persons. Almost all mineral production is
exported and accounts for about 40 percent of total earnings from merchandise
exports (the share varies somewhat depending on the production and world
prices for minerals). Most exports have been to the Western industrialized
countries, for which chromium in particular is of strategic importance.

     The greater part of the country's known mineral deposits, except coal,
are found in the metamorphosed greenstone areas that stretch across Zimbabwe
from southwest to northeast, mainly on the highveld. These areas contain large
deposits of the major minerals except chromite, which is found in the Great
Dyke, a highly mineralized zone of magmatic origin that extends in a line
through the greenstone area for a distance of over 500 kilometers (see
Geographic Regions, ch. 2). Other areas of metamorphosed rock found in the
middleveld and lowveld of the north and northwest also contain a variety of
minerals, but little detailed exploration had been carried out by 1982. In
various parts of the country, dikes and veins of pegmatite also occur that
contain other minerals, among which the most important economically is
lithium. Coal is found in extensive deposits in both the northern and the
southern lowvelds. There were no known resources of petroleum as of mid-1982.

     Gold appears to have been mined as early as the seventh century. By the
first part of the second millennium, mines were worked in many places by
ancestors of the Shona. Most of the numerous early workings by the indigenous
populations had been exhausted (within the limits of then-existing
technology) by the 1700s, and mines that continued were abandoned during the
Ngoni invasions of the 1830s. In the late 1860s reports in Europe of these
mines culminated eventually in the gold rush of the 1890s and the territorial
takeover by the British South Africa Company (see Rhodes and the British South
Africa Company, ch. 1). From the 1890s on, gold mining became the territory's
most important economic activity; output increased annually until a high of
over 23,500 kilograms was reached in 1940, and gold accounted for almost
three-fifths of export earnings. In the 1940s, however, production declined,
and in 1952 asbestos became the most valuable mineral. During the UDI period
gold output again dropped significantly as many mines closed because of
security problems. The increase in the price of gold in the late 1970s again
stimulated output, and propelled gold to the forefront as the most valuable
mineral, a position it retained at the beginning of 1982.

     Total gold reserves have been estimated at about 778,000 kilograms. Since
the end of the fighting the government has made information available on
inactive mines and claims and has provided technical assistance as a means of
stimulating new development; during 1979 some 200 new claims were reported
staked out. Most mines have been small-scale operations, and over time around
4,000 deposits have been worked. After World War II larger firms able to
furnish the necessary capital for deep mining gradually took over many smaller
operations, and by 1958 only 256 mines were reported active. At the end of the
1970s some 260 mines were in operation, of which less than 10 percent
accounted for over three-quarters of output. The larger mines were mostly
foreign owned, the largest holdings being those of the Lonrho Investment
Group, based in Britain, and Falcon Mines of South Africa.

     Asbestos deposits are found in a number of places, but the main reserves
are located in an area extending from Masvingo (formerly Fort Victoria) to
Zvishavane (formerly Shabani). The largest asbestos mining operation (British
owned) is located near Zvishavane and reportedly produces an estimated 90
percent of total Zimbabwean output. In 1965 about 160,000 tons of asbestos
were produced. Sanctions had little impact on the industry, which was expanded
to over 260,000 tons in the mid-1970s, reaching a peak of more than 281,000
tons in 1976. The expansion was carried out mainly with funds secured within
the country. After 1976 production declined somewhat to an average of about
250,000 tons a year. The asbestos produced is of the chrysolite variety,
having characteristics considered valuable for certain defence uses. Some of
the output is used domestically and in adjacent countries in the fabrication
of asbestos cement pipes and for construction, but most is exported,
principally to the United States and Britain and other West European
countries. The size of the country's reserves in 1982 had not been disclosed,
but it was believed to be very large.

     Copper is found in several parts of the country, but the main exploited
deposits are near Chinhoyi (formerly Sinoia) northwest of Harare. Copper was
mined by indigenous peoples from at least the early part of the first
millennium. The main present-day mines are located at the ancient workings.
Modern production of copper began in 1906, but output did not exceed a few
hundred tons until the 1950s when South African interests acquired major
holdings in the industry. Production rose steadily thereafter and reached a
high of 47,600 tons (copper-content) in 1975. Fluctuating world copper prices
since 1973, declining ore grade, and increasing operating costs have been
accompanied by a drop in output, which totaled only 24,600 tons in 1981. A
number of the principal mines have ceased operations and in mid-1982 were only
being maintained. A new copper refinery began operations in 1981, turning out
high-quality cathodes that were expected to secure better export prices.

     In 1979 nickel production accounted for about 14 percent by value of
total mineral output. Nickel had emerged as major contributor to mineral
production only in 1969. Small deposits were worked from 1928, but the nickel
content of the ore was never more than a few hundred tons a year. During the
1950s several major new deposits were discovered that were developed after UDI
by transnational companies based in Britain; South African investment was also
involved. In 1969 production was 5,747 tons (nickel content), compared with
441 tons the year before. In the late 1970s and through 1981 production
averaged about 15,000 tons annually. Nickel deposits are located mainly in
greenstone areas along the Great Dyke. Those being mined in the early 1980s
contained about 60 million tons of ore. In addition about 2 billion tons of
lower grade ore have also been found. The nickel ores usually contain varying
quantities of copper, cobalt, silver, platinum, and palladium. These are
produced as by-products by the country's two smelters located at Bindura
(annual capacity about 16,000 tons of nickel metal) and near Kadoma (formerly
Gatooma; 9,000 tons); about 3,000 tons of copper have also been recovered
annually. Cobalt production was ordinarily small (under thirty tons); but a
dramatic rise in worl