Ngwenya Mine
specularite ) | |
History | |
---|---|
Opened | 41,000 to 43,000 years ago (oldest mine known in History) |
Closed | 2014 |
The Ngwenya Mine is located on Bomvu Ridge, northwest of
Etymology
Ngwenya means "crocodile" in siSwati.[1] This name comes from the fact that the mountains containing the mine was crocodile-shaped, before heavy-mining began in the 1960s and defaced this ancestral shape.[2]
Background
Phase 1
Several stone age artefacts have been found in the mine during
Phase 2
Phase 3
The
There was a plan to revive extraction activities in the mine, but the price of iron ore fell, making the project hardly profitable. The land was eventually donated to the Swaziland National Trust Commission for management.[10]
The mine's visitor center opened in 2005.[1] The building was donated by the Republic of China in Taiwan, and some ancient tools displayed in the center were recovered with the help of the European Union.[11]
In 2008, as the Swazi government was considering reopening the mine to extraction activities, the Swaziland National Trust Commission submitted the site to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites to protect it, but the submission was not accepted.[12][9] The inactive ancient mine is called the Lion Cavern. The modern-operations mine nearby is now flooded.[1]
Phase 4
The Indian group Salgaocar operated the modern-day mine from 2011 to 2014 through the Salgaocar Swaziland Limited Company.[9] Before allocating the mine to Salgaocar, the king Mswati III dismissed the National Trust Commission's request to protect the area from new mining activities, and replaced the entire board of the Commission to permanently stop those demands.[13]
Those operations led to a heavy pollution of the water sources that feed the city of Mbabane. Among many environmental issues, the mining operations are a threat to Disa intermedia, a protected orchid growing exclusively in the region. Cases of corruption to get the mining license were reported, including a $28 million donation to the king by Salgaocar. The deal established a 25% ownership of the mine for the king, 25% for the government, and 50% to Salgaocar. Reports also claimed that Salgaocar was using Mozambican and South African trucks to avoid paying import taxes. 2,500 jobs were announced after the Salgaocar-Swazi deals, but the positions were never created.[9][13] Salgaocar ceased its mining activities in Ngwenya in 2014.[14]
In January 2018, the Mineral Management Board announced it was ready to relaunch prospecting activities at the Ngwenya mine.[14]
In September 2018, the visitor center burnt to ashes. The National Trust Commission declared that all the ancient artifacts in the center were lost in the fire. The officers on site did not react when the fire started to spread.[11]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Ngwenya Mine & Lion Cavern, Thekingdomofeswatini.com (accessed 13 May 2019)
- ^ The 43,000 Year Old Iron Ore Mine in Ngwenya, Bigbeaverdiaries.com, 15 April 2016 (accessed 13 May 2019)
- ^ Coakley, George J. "The Mineral Industry of Swaziland" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2010-01-22.
- ^ a b "Ngwenya Mines". UNESCO. 2008-12-31.
- ISBN 978-0-582-03167-8.
- JSTOR 2740688.
- ^ JSTOR 3866292.
- ^ Baird, Bill (2004). "Ancient mining in Swaziland". The Edinburgh Geologist. 42.
- ^ a b c d Bowles, Nellie (31 August 2012). "Swaziland's Ngwenya mine extracts its ore and exacts its price". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
- ^ This mine in Swaziland that produced iron 43,000 years ago is the world’s oldest, Face2faceafrica.com, 27 May 2018 (accessed 13 May 2019)
- ^ a b Samkelisiwe Khosa, Ngwenya mine history burns To Ashes, Swazi Observer, 25 September 2018 (accessed 13 May 2019) (accessed on pressreader.com)
- ^ Ngwenya Mines, Unesco.org, 31 December 2008 (accessed 13 May 2019)
- ^ a b Andrea Durbach, Lucas Lixinski, Heritage, Culture and Rights: Challenging Legal Discourses, Bloomsbury Publishing, 18 May 2017 (accessed 13 May 2019)
- ^ a b Moahloli, Zwelakhe (20 January 2018). "Ngwenya Iron Ore Mine to Reopen". Times of Swaziland. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
26°11′52″S 31°01′53″E / 26.19778°S 31.03139°E
Further reading
- Watling, Sarah (2013). What does the mine have to tell us? Art as a reclamation strategy in the post-mined landscape of the oldest known mine in the world, Ngwenya Mine, Swaziland (Masters thesis). University of Maryland. hdl:1903/14237.