Bwana Mkubwa
Encyclopedia
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.
n Copperbelt, near the Kafue River
, east of the T3 Highway. The city centre of Ndola
is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the northwest. It is in the Bwana Mkubwa Protected Forest Area at an elevation of 1373 metres (4,504.6 ft).
Bwana Mkumbwa was one of the main camps used to receive thousands of Polish refugees that arrived in Northern Rhodesia during World War II
. The Rhokana Corporation leased land to the Northern Rhodesia
n government for a camp under the command of the British army. At the end of the war in 1945, the refugees were able to remain or immigrate elsewhere. The Polish World War II Memorial was erected at Bwana Mkubwa in their honor.
From administration and electoral considerations, as a result of the reported population of 118,464 in Bwana Mkubwa, the City Council of Ndola has proposed delimitation of the Bwana Mkubwa and also Ndola Central into two separate constituencies each. According to the guidelines for determining whether or not a constituency could be divided, a constituency should have on average at least a population of 57,700. The proposal was mooted during the meeting of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) on delimitation public discussion held in March 2011. Still, the Bwana Mkubwa community participates in projects such as malaria prevention, school facility upgrades, sewage and potable water system improvements, as well as wildlife conservation.
The copper ore workings at Bwana Mkubwa are ancient. There is historical evidence of the mining operations conducted as early as the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries and also in subsequent centuries in Bwana Mkubwa and other Copperbelt areas such as Kansanshi and Kipushi, which aroused the interest of mining explorers from Europe
.
Opened in 1902, Bwana Mkubwa is the oldest mine in the Copperbelt region of Zambia. It was discovered by the Rhodesia Copper company. The Bwana Mkubwa Copper Mining Company, registered in London, formed in 1910. In 1916, the Susman brothers
offered their Nkana
copper claims to Bwana Mkubwa but the offer was rejected.
Following the end of World War I
, in 1918 the Bwana Mkubwa Copper Mining Company embarked on a massive programme of investigating the possibility of extracting copper from low grade ores using a flotation process. For this purpose, they engaged Mineral Separation Agency, a London based firm, a specialized agency in this field with many patents to their credit on the subject. What ensued was installation of a new processing technique known as "Perkins Process" for handling low grade copper (4.25% copper) with capacity to handle 1000 tons of ore per day; the estimated copper reserve was 3.7 million tons. The work started from 1922. However, the extraction process, other techniques adopted for assessment of copper percentage from the ore using substituted samples of malachite
(which did not exist in investigated locations) proved disastrous to the company which suffered losses in the initial years of processing. Eventually this resulted in closure of the mines in April 1931. The company was sold to "The Rhodesian Congo Border Concession Ltd.", and which came under the control of Rhokhana Corporation. It investigated better sites in the Copperbelt from 1952 onwards which resulted in the Bwana Mkubwa getting into prominence as a copper mining area.
20th century
Bwana Mkubwa was recapitalized in 1922 on the strength of a series of experiments made on the ore by Minerals Separation Ltd, In the late 1920s Ernest Oppenheimer
prevented the Americans from dominating the Northern Rhodesian mining industry.
In the 1950s people casualties were taken to Bwana Mkubwa for medical treatment.
The copper processing plant was built in 1998, at a cost of approximately $30 million. It was originally constructed as a five year life short-term plant with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes/year of finished copper.
2000s
In 2002, the mining facility was expanded and the mine produced of 11,878 tonnes of copper cathode as well as 88,198 tonnes of sulphuric acid. The Bwana Mkubwa SX-EW plant reportedly posted a 77% decrease in output to 5851 tonnes of copper cathode in 2008 from 25402 tonnes in 2007.
In October 2008, operations were suspended and the plant was placed on care and maintenance. The closure of the mine had a negative social and economic impact socially on 400 employees. In January 2010, First Quantum Minerals
(FQM) restarted the Bwana Mkubwa's copper SX/EW (solvent extraction and electrowinning) plant to process stockpiled ore from the depleted Lonshi mine
in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was as a result of reopening of the border between Zambia and Congo. FQM has also initiated action to finding additional sites to feed its processing plants. In 2010, they anticipated that their new operations would result in a production of about 800 tons of copper cathodes per month. The original tailings
facility of the plant was founded to process is long since exhausted. However, by August 2010, FQM announced it had run out of raw materials and would be closing the mine.
While pursuing suitable additional sites for feeding its copper processing plants, FQM's operations at the Bwana Mkubwa plant using solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX/EW) processing plant began with a positive note of anticipated production of about 800 tonnes of copper cathode per month, till end of 2010. This was as a result of recent re-opening of the border between the Zambia and Congo, which enabled the company to process the stockpiled ores from the Lonshi open pit mine in Congo.
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
in Copperbelt Province
Copperbelt Province
Copperbelt Province in Zambia covers the mineral-rich Copperbelt, and farming and bush areas to the south. It was the backbone of the Northern Rhodesian economy during British colonial rule and fuelled the hopes of the immediate post-independence period, but its economic importance was severely...
, Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
. 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.
Etymology
Several versions of the origin of the name have been given. Mostly likely, William Collier and Jack Donohoe, who were led to the ancient workings, named the mining area "Bwana Mkubwa" after Francis Enilius Fletcher Jones, Native Commissioner, who was known to the locals as the 'Bwana Mkubwa'.Geography
Bwana Mkubwa is located at the southern extension of the ZambiaZambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
n Copperbelt, near the Kafue River
Kafue River
The Kafue River sustains one of the world's great wildlife environments. It is a major tributary of the Zambezi, and of Zambia's principal rivers, it is the most central and the most urban, and the longest and largest lying wholly within Zambia....
, east of the T3 Highway. The city centre of Ndola
Ndola
Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia, with a population of 495,000 . It is the industrial, commercial, on the Copperbelt, Zambia's copper-mining region, and capital of Copperbelt Province. It is also the commercial capital city of Zambia and has one of the three international airports, others...
is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the northwest. It is in the Bwana Mkubwa Protected Forest Area at an elevation of 1373 metres (4,504.6 ft).
Demographics
During the post World War I years, in 1928, Bwana Mkubwa contained the Baluba, Chambishi, Chibuluma, Mindola, Mufulira, Nkana, and Roan Antelope mining properties. In 1929, Bwana Mkubwa Copper Mining Company had proposed layouts for a public township. However, by 1931, there was limited progress on it and a final proposal was rejected chiefly due to worries of lesser profits if there were local government taxation.Bwana Mkumbwa was one of the main camps used to receive thousands of Polish refugees that arrived in Northern Rhodesia during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The Rhokana Corporation leased land to the Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...
n government for a camp under the command of the British army. At the end of the war in 1945, the refugees were able to remain or immigrate elsewhere. The Polish World War II Memorial was erected at Bwana Mkubwa in their honor.
From administration and electoral considerations, as a result of the reported population of 118,464 in Bwana Mkubwa, the City Council of Ndola has proposed delimitation of the Bwana Mkubwa and also Ndola Central into two separate constituencies each. According to the guidelines for determining whether or not a constituency could be divided, a constituency should have on average at least a population of 57,700. The proposal was mooted during the meeting of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) on delimitation public discussion held in March 2011. Still, the Bwana Mkubwa community participates in projects such as malaria prevention, school facility upgrades, sewage and potable water system improvements, as well as wildlife conservation.
History
Early yearsThe copper ore workings at Bwana Mkubwa are ancient. There is historical evidence of the mining operations conducted as early as the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries and also in subsequent centuries in Bwana Mkubwa and other Copperbelt areas such as Kansanshi and Kipushi, which aroused the interest of mining explorers from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Opened in 1902, Bwana Mkubwa is the oldest mine in the Copperbelt region of Zambia. It was discovered by the Rhodesia Copper company. The Bwana Mkubwa Copper Mining Company, registered in London, formed in 1910. In 1916, the Susman brothers
Susman Brothers
Susman Brothers was a business partnership that united brothers Elie Susman and Harry Susman after they crossed the Zambezi river in 1901. The brothers were Jewish businessmen from Riteve, western Russia, now Lithuania. They founded, owned, and operated several large businesses in Africa. Elie...
offered their Nkana
Nkana
Nkana is a section of the city of Kitwe, Copperbelt Province, Zambia which started off in the early part of the 20th century as a railway station to support the growing complex of copper mining operations. It was named after Chief Nkana, the local traditional ruler...
copper claims to Bwana Mkubwa but the offer was rejected.
Following the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, in 1918 the Bwana Mkubwa Copper Mining Company embarked on a massive programme of investigating the possibility of extracting copper from low grade ores using a flotation process. For this purpose, they engaged Mineral Separation Agency, a London based firm, a specialized agency in this field with many patents to their credit on the subject. What ensued was installation of a new processing technique known as "Perkins Process" for handling low grade copper (4.25% copper) with capacity to handle 1000 tons of ore per day; the estimated copper reserve was 3.7 million tons. The work started from 1922. However, the extraction process, other techniques adopted for assessment of copper percentage from the ore using substituted samples of malachite
Malachite
Malachite is a copper carbonate mineral, with the formula Cu2CO32. This green-colored mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses. Individual crystals are rare but do occur as slender to acicular prisms...
(which did not exist in investigated locations) proved disastrous to the company which suffered losses in the initial years of processing. Eventually this resulted in closure of the mines in April 1931. The company was sold to "The Rhodesian Congo Border Concession Ltd.", and which came under the control of Rhokhana Corporation. It investigated better sites in the Copperbelt from 1952 onwards which resulted in the Bwana Mkubwa getting into prominence as a copper mining area.
20th century
Bwana Mkubwa was recapitalized in 1922 on the strength of a series of experiments made on the ore by Minerals Separation Ltd, In the late 1920s Ernest Oppenheimer
Ernest Oppenheimer
Sir Ernest Oppenheimer was a diamond and gold mining entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist, who controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa.-Career:...
prevented the Americans from dominating the Northern Rhodesian mining industry.
In the 1950s people casualties were taken to Bwana Mkubwa for medical treatment.
The copper processing plant was built in 1998, at a cost of approximately $30 million. It was originally constructed as a five year life short-term plant with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes/year of finished copper.
2000s
In 2002, the mining facility was expanded and the mine produced of 11,878 tonnes of copper cathode as well as 88,198 tonnes of sulphuric acid. The Bwana Mkubwa SX-EW plant reportedly posted a 77% decrease in output to 5851 tonnes of copper cathode in 2008 from 25402 tonnes in 2007.
In October 2008, operations were suspended and the plant was placed on care and maintenance. The closure of the mine had a negative social and economic impact socially on 400 employees. In January 2010, First Quantum Minerals
First Quantum Minerals
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. is a Vancouver, British Columbia based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining....
(FQM) restarted the Bwana Mkubwa's copper SX/EW (solvent extraction and electrowinning) plant to process stockpiled ore from the depleted Lonshi mine
Lonshi Mine
Lonshi Mine is a copper mine in Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the southeast of Ndola, Zambia.-Operations:The mine produces high-grade oxide ore that was transported to Zambia for processing at the SX/EW facility in Bwana....
in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was as a result of reopening of the border between Zambia and Congo. FQM has also initiated action to finding additional sites to feed its processing plants. In 2010, they anticipated that their new operations would result in a production of about 800 tons of copper cathodes per month. The original tailings
Tailings
Tailings, also called mine dumps, slimes, tails, leach residue, or slickens, are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction of an ore...
facility of the plant was founded to process is long since exhausted. However, by August 2010, FQM announced it had run out of raw materials and would be closing the mine.
While pursuing suitable additional sites for feeding its copper processing plants, FQM's operations at the Bwana Mkubwa plant using solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX/EW) processing plant began with a positive note of anticipated production of about 800 tonnes of copper cathode per month, till end of 2010. This was as a result of recent re-opening of the border between the Zambia and Congo, which enabled the company to process the stockpiled ores from the Lonshi open pit mine in Congo.