Shinkolobwe
Location | |
---|---|
Location | Shinkolobwe |
Province | Katanga |
Country | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Coordinates | 11°03′17.9″S 26°32′50.2″E / 11.054972°S 26.547278°E |
Production | |
Products | Uranium ore |
History | |
Closed | 2004 |
Shinkolobwe, or Kasolo, or Chinkolobew, or Shainkolobwe, was a
The mine produced the most economical
The Shinkolobwe mine was officially closed in 2004.
Toponym
The mine's name was taken from the long-gone nearby village of Shinkolobwe, which is the indigenous thorny fruit in the Lingala language. It is also slang for "a man who is easygoing on the surface but who becomes angry when provoked".[3]
Geology
The
The
Uraninite crystals from 1 to 4 centimeter cubes were common. New minerals identified here include ianthinite, becquerelite, schoepite, curite, fourmarierite, masuyite, vandendriesscheite, richetite, billietite, vandenbrandeite, kasolite, soddyite, sklodowskite, cuprosklodowskite, dewindtite, dumontite, renardite, parsonsite, saleite, sharpite, studtite, and diderichite. Similar uraninite deposits occur 36 km (22.4 mi) west at Swampo, and 120 km (74.6 mi) west at Kalongwe.[7][8]
Surface ores consist of oxidized minerals from supergene alteration above the water table and the formation of uranyl minerals. Below the water table, hypogene ores include uraninite (pitchblende), cobalt-nickel sulfides and selenides.[2]
History
The first mine was opened in the
Both Britain and France expressed interest in the Belgium inventory of uranium ore in 1939. Nothing further happened though after the Nazis occupied Belgium in 1940, gaining control of the ore still "on the docks".[3]: 45 [1]: 186–187 However, of the 1200 tons confiscated, the Alsos Mission was able to recover most of this uranium in 1945.[11]
Open-cut operations restarted in 1944, and underground in 1945. This required pumping the mine dry since the water table was at about 45 m. The 255 m level was reached in 1955.[2][12]
Manhattan Project
The United States used Shinkolobwe's
Our best source, the Shinkolobwe mine, represented a freak occurrence in nature. It contained a tremendously rich lode of uranium
pitchblende. Nothing like it has ever again been found. The ore already in the United States contained 65 percent U3O8, while the pitchblende aboveground in the Congo amounted to a thousand tons of 65 percent ore, and the waste piles of ore contained two thousand tons of 20 percent U3O8. To illustrate the uniqueness of Sengier's stockpile, after the war the MED and the AEC considered ore containing three-tenths of 1 percent as a good find. Without Sengier's foresight in stockpiling ore in the United States and aboveground in Africa, we simply would not have had the amounts of uranium needed to justify building the large separation plants and the plutonium reactors.
In 1940, 1,200 tons of stockpiled
American interest in the Shinkolobwe mine for the purpose of developing of nuclear weapons led to the implementation of extensive security measures. Shinkolobwe's location was removed from maps and journalists were denied access to the mine and official information.
Cold War era
Just as a lack of uranium ore impeded the German and Japanese attempts to make an atomic bomb, the Americans wanted to maintain their monopoly against the Soviets.
Security measures were slightly more relaxed in the wake of World War II,[10] but in the 1950s, most journalists were able to gather only scraps of information on the mine's operation, from unofficial sources.[14][15] In 1950, a uranium processing plant was said to be under construction near the mine.[10] At the time, Shinkolobwe was believed to contain roughly half of the world's known reserves of uranium.[16]
In 1947, the U.S. received 1,440 tons of uranium concentrates from the Belgian Congo, 2,792 in 1951, and 1,600 in 1953. A processing plant was added nearby, and for increased security, a garrison was also established, with a supporting NATO military base in
Despite the American presence in the 1940s and 1950s, in 1960, due to increase opening of uranium mines in the US, and Congolese independence, the United States left the mine. Hence, the sealing of the mine by Union Minière.[17][18]
Israeli yellowcake
Israel in 1968 obtained
Closure
The mine was officially closed on January 28, 2004, by presidential decree. However eight people died and a further thirteen people were injured in July 2004 when part of the old mine
Shinkolobwe is representative of similar situations in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world. A strong link exists between rural poverty, environmental protection and this type of livelihood activity. Alternative income opportunities must be developed and integrated in parallel to artisanal exploitation if new livelihood options are to be found for these rural poor. A holistic, multidisciplinary approach within the context of poverty alleviation is essential to address this problem and avoid further human and environmental catastrophes.[22]
Artisanal mining and smuggling
On July 18, 2006, the DRC Sanctions Committee (United Nations Security Council Committee Established Pursuant to Resolution 1533 (2004), to give it its full name) released a report dated June 15, 2006, which stated that artisanal mining for various minerals continues at the Shinkolobwe mine:
149. During an investigation into alleged smuggling of radioactive materials, the Group of Experts has learned that such incidents are far more frequent than assumed. According to Congolese experts on radioactive materials, organs of State security have, during the past six years, confiscated over 50 cases containing uranium or
cesium in and around Kinshasa. The last significant incident occurred in March 2004 when two containers with over 100 kilograms of stable uranium-238 and uranium-235were secured. 150. In response to a request for information by the Group of Experts the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania has provided limited data on four shipments that were seized over the past 10 years. Unfortunately the Government chose not to provide information about the quantities of the seized consignments nor the specific method of smuggling. At least in reference to the last shipment from October 2005, the Tanzanian Government left no doubt that the uranium was transported from Lubumbashi by road through Zambia to the United Republic of Tanzania. Attempts via Interpol to learn the precise origin within the Democratic Republic of the Congo have remained inconclusive.[23]
On August 9, 2006, the British
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 9781610396547.
- ^ a b c d Heinrich, E. Wm. (1958). Mineralogy and Geology of Radioactive Raw Materials. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. pp. 289–297.
- ^ ISBN 9780143116721.
- ^ (in French) Robert Rich Sharp, En prospection au Katanga il y a cinquante ans, Elisabethville, 1956.
- ^ Hogarth, Donald, Robert Rich Sharp (1881–1958): prospector, engineer, and discoverer of the Shinkolobwe, Katanga, (Congo) radium-uranium ore-body, Society for the History of Discoveries [1] Archived 2013-01-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ISBN 9780670020645.
- ^ a b Byers, V.P. (1978). Principal Uranium Deposits of the World, USGS Open-File Report 78-1008. Washington: U.S. pp. 187–188.
- ^ a b c Derriks, J.J.; Vaes, J.F. (1956). The Shinkolobwe Uranium Deposit: Current Status of Our Geological and Metallogenic Knowledge, in Proceedings of the International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. New York: United Nations. pp. 94–128.
- ISBN 9783642080951.
- ^ a b c "Uranium ore, copper pacing Congo's output. American capital to have part soon in Katanga projects". The News-Herald. Franklin, Pennsylvania. 1950-05-18. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
- ISBN 9781451677614.
- ISBN 9780691610399.
- ISBN 0-688-06910-X
- ^ "Find world's richest uranium mines well guarded, output still a secret". Mansfield (Ohio) News-Journal. 1950-08-20. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
- ^ Cassidy, Morley (1953-08-02). "The word that is never said". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
- ^ "Roughly half of the earth's uranium ore lies in the Belgian Congo". Daily Independent Journal. San Rafael, California. 1954-02-24. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
- ^ https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/history/uranium-mining/
- ^ http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/7/23/in-congo-silence-surrounds-forgotten-mine-that-fueled-first-atomic-bombs.html
- ^ "High Seas: Uranium: The Israeli Connection". Time Magazine. 1977. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ Leventhal, Paul (1978). "The Plumbat Affair". New York Times. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ Men, mines and masculinities: the lives and practices of artisanal miners in Lwambo (Katanga province, DR Congo) (PDF) (Report). Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. 2011. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
- ^ The DRC and Uranium for Iran accessed August 19, 2006
- ^ DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO RESOLUTION 1533 (2004) CONCERNING THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
- Sunday Times, August 9, 2006
- ^ The DRC and Uranium for Iran. Retrieved August 19, 2006.