#Bwana makuba series#

The copper processing plant was built in 1998, at a cost of approximately $30 million. In the 1950s people casualties were taken to Bwana Mkubwa for medical treatment.

#Bwana makuba series#

20th centuryīwana 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. It investigated better sites in the Copperbelt from 1952 onwards which resulted in the Bwana Mkubwa getting into prominence as a copper mining area. The company was sold to 'The Rhodesian Congo Border Concession Ltd.', and which came under the control of Rhokhana Corporation. Eventually this resulted in closure of the mines in April 1931. 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. 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. 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. įollowing 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. In 1916, the Susman brothers offered their Nkana copper claims to Bwana Mkubwa but the offer was rejected. The Bwana Mkubwa Copper Mining Company, registered in London, formed in 1910. It was discovered by the Rhodesia Copper company. Opened in 1902, Bwana Mkubwa is the oldest mine in the Copperbelt region of Zambia. 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. The copper ore workings at Bwana Mkubwa are ancient. 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.Ĭitation of location of the sample of Malachite found in open cast mine in Bwana Mkubwa Early years The proposal was mooted during the meeting of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) on delimitation public discussion held in March 2011. 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. įrom 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. The Polish World War II Memorial was erected at Bwana Mkubwa in their honor. At the end of the war in 1945, the refugees were able to remain or immigrate elsewhere. The Rhokana Corporation leased land to the Northern Rhodesian government for a camp under the command of the British army. īwana Mkumbwa was one of the main camps used to receive thousands of Polish refugees that arrived in Northern Rhodesia during World War II. 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. In 1929, Bwana Mkubwa Copper Mining Company had proposed layouts for a public township. The town is represented in the National Assembly by the Bwana Mkubwa constituency.ĭuring the post World War I years, in 1928, Bwana Mkubwa contained the Baluba, Chambishi, Chibuluma, Mindola, Mufulira, Nkana, and Roan Antelope mining properties. It is located in the Constituency of the same Name. It is in the Bwana Mkubwa Protected Forest Area at an elevation of 1,373 metres (4,505 ft). The city centre of Ndola is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the northwest.

Geography īwana Mkubwa is located at the southern extension of the Zambian Copperbelt, near the Kafue River, east of the T3 Highway. Mostly likely, William Collier and Jack Donohoe, who were led to the ancient workings, named the mining area 'Bwana Mkubwa' after Francis Emilius Fletcher Jones, Native Commissioner, who was known to the locals as the 'Bwana Mkubwa'. Several versions of the origin of the name have been given.