How Zambia’s Copperbelt was born

How Zambia’s Copperbelt was born

The tale of the Roan Antelope, mining and how the Copperbelt in Zambia was born.

By Leon Louw founder of WhyAfrica and editor of the WhyAfrica magazine

From around the world there are stories of chance mineral discoveries that lead to great mines and mining regions.

Zambia’s stories are dramatic and the best of them are captured in Dick Hobson’s book Tales of Zambia, which I used to research this article.

Bill Collier and the roan

In 1902 two gold prospectors, Bill Collier and J.J. O’Donoghue were summoned by Tom Davey, a director at Northern Copper Company in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe), to go and look for signs of old copper workings in what is today Ndola and Luanshya in Northern Rhodesia (today Zambia).

They soon realised that the local people used powdered malachite as a dressing for tropical ulcers which was a promising sign.

While hunting for meat Collier followed the spoor of a roan antelope bull. When the roan presented him with a clear shot and Collier took aim, his practised eye quickly picked out the green malachite in knife-blade seams close to where the antelope was standing.

After he shot the roan Collier explored the area and found many signs of ancient workings. The next day Collier traced a long, narrow U-shaped clearing about one kilometre in length, its arms a few hundred metres apart.

The lack of vegetation was a clear indication of the presence of minerals. Collier pegged 50 claims on one arm and called it Roan Antelope, and 20 on the other arm calling it Reedbuck. However, they did no further work on the discoveries.

Trenching by Parker

In 1925 Russell J. Parker, an American engineer further examined the Roan and Reedbuck arms. After trenching and digging a shaft, Parker concluded that these arms were the top of a syncline – a huge U of mineralised rock plunging deep into the ground, where the thin oxide copper minerals at the surface changed to rich sulphides.

Selkirk develops

In 1926, William Selkirk, director of the mining company Selection Trust, came to see the evidence for himself. He decided the deposit was likely to be large and uniform.

Selkirk started a drilling programme at 300m intervals. Clean sulphide ore in an 11m thick belt, assaying at 3,87% copper was intersected at 150m – and the Copperbelt was born.

The orebody proved to be in the shape an enormous ship’s hull, with a keel 11km long and in places one kilometre deep.

Roan Antelope Copper Mines was incorporated on 3 June 1927 and the first copper was cast in the smelter on 23 October 1931. The mine kept the name until 1964, when it took the name of the Luanshya stream. By then it had produced more than two million tonnes of copper.

Source: Tales from Zambia by Dick Hobson 1996

Specialist mining tours with Endorphin Expeditions

Remember that WhyAfrica’s sister company Endorphin Expeditions, undertakes specialist mining and geology overland tours through Southern Africa, so if you’re interested in learning more about the mining, history and geology of the area and visiting working mining operations, give them a call. All contact details on the website: https://www.endorphinexpeditions.co.za/contact/

Don’t forget that you get a 10% on all tours booked through Endorphin Expeditions if you are a registered WhyAfrica member. To register as a WhyAfrica member click here:  https://www.whyafrica.co.za/membership/

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