The copper production of Africa comes from south of the Equator and from six general districts, as follows:
Table 45.—Copper Production of Africa
(Production, pounds of fine copper)
| District | Province and chief mines | 1917 output | 1918-1919, estimated output | Control | Reserves, years of life at this rate of output | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Congo: Katanga[121] | 60,000,000 | 80,000,000 | English-Belgian | 100 | ||
| Bwan M’Kubwa | 4,000,000 | ? | 3,000,000 | English | large | ||
| 2. | Transvaal: Messina | 14,000,000 | 12,000,000 | English | 1¹⁄₂ | ||
| 3. | Rhodesia: Falcon | 7,000,000 | 7,000,000 | English | 4 | ||
| 4. | Cape Colony: Cape Copper-Namaqua | 7,000,000 | 6,000,000 | English | 2 | ||
| 5. | Former German Southwest-Africa: Tsumeb (Otavi) | 10,000,000 | ?[122] | 15,000,000 | ? | (English since conquest of German Southwest Africa) | 4 |
| Khan, etc. | 2,000,000 | 4,000,000 | ? | 4 | |||
| 6. | Miscellaneous northern Africa not specified | 1,000,000 | ? | 1,000,000 | ? | French | ? |
| Total | 105,000,000 | 128,000,000 | Almost entirely English | ||||
[121] Kanshanshi included in Katanga.
[122] Basis 1914. Present political conditions govern extent of work. Shipped 1,000,000 pounds copper in ore to United States in 1917.
In District 1, the Katanga district, which includes the Belgian Congo and adjacent territory, the Union Minière du Haut Katanga has acquired from the Belgian Special Committee the ownership of all of the Katanga copper belt but not the Kanshanshi deposit in Rhodesia. Equal, but not the entire, share interests of this company are owned by the Tanganyika Concessions, Ltd., and the Katanga (Belgian) Special Committee. The Lubumbashi smelter of U. M. du Haut Katanga, at Elisabethville, close to the Rhodesian boundary, has seven blast furnaces with a daily capacity of 2,000 tons. The ore treated runs 15 per cent. copper, and yields 96 per cent. blister copper. The past production is as follows: 1911, 996 tons blister copper; 1912, 2,492 tons; 1913, 7,407 tons; 1914, 10,722 tons; 1915, 14,190 tons; 1916, 22,165 tons; 1917, 30,000 tons. This copper is shipped to England, and is consumed there and in France after further refining. There is very little gold and silver in the copper, so it goes to market largely as refined, best selected and tough copper.
Tanganyika Concessions, Ltd., owns concessions in northern Rhodesia containing the Kanshanshi mine (a deposit similar to those in Katanga) owned by a subsidiary railroad company, 70 per cent. of which is owned by Tanganyika Concessions, Ltd. A small blast furnace there is producing. The actual railroad connection with Katanga is north from Rhodesia and thence to the eastern coast of Africa. An uncompleted line from the West Coast is planned to connect these mineral deposits with Lobito Bay (Benguella By. Co.). The Portuguese government has a small interest in certain railway lines in its territory. It seems that the English group, (R. Williams, who was an associate of Cecil Rhodes, T. White and others) with the Belgian Special Committee, control the entire group; but a considerable interest has been sold to the public, mainly British and Belgian investors.
The Bwan M’Kubwa mine farther south on the Rhodesia railroad is a deposit of the same general character. This is owned by British capital, two of the Rhodesian development companies holding a large block of the stock.
Ore bodies are found in Katanga over a district extending 250 miles east-west and 50 miles north-south, and also at scattered localities in Rhodesia. Malachite chiefly and other oxidized ores impregnate certain sediments and constitute the ore bodies, which are very rich (10 to 15 per cent. copper). At Luushia sulphides (3 per cent. copper as chalcopyrite) occur beneath the oxidized ore. Cobalt is common; there is some nickel but not much gold and silver. The developed reserves of the mines of Katanga are estimated at 40,000,000 tons of 8 per cent. copper ore above water level, equal to 100 years’ production at the present rate of output; of the Bwan M’Kubwa mine in Rhodesia at 3,000,000 tons of 4 per cent. ore, besides ore of lesser grade. The reserves of the Kanshanshi mine, in Rhodesia, are not included in the estimates.
In District 2, near the Rhodesian boundary, is the Messina mine, the only copper producer of the Transvaal. Along veins in very old gneissic rocks occur shoots and lenses of chalcocite and enargite with some oxide. A little matte is made at the mine but the chief product is concentrates (45 to 50 per cent. copper), all of which were shipped to England. Lately they have been in part sent to the United States. The production was about 14,000,000 pounds in 1915 and the same in 1916. Reserves of 208,000 tons of 5 per cent. ore are reported developed, or not much over one year’s supply. The company is strictly English.