he lure of gold brought people to Central Africa in recent times as it did in past centuries. Mining in Rhodesia had commenced in the distant past. While the legend that the northern part of the country contains the mines of King Solomon may not be true it is a fact that millions of ounces of gold were mined by the “Ancients”. Old workings of iron and copper have also been found in various parts of Rhodesia.

old was rediscovered by Henry Hartley in 1865, and this was one of the main causes for the subsequent British Occupation of the country. Work to open up Rhodesia’s gold resources began immediately after the Occupation, and by 1894 some 68,000 claims had been recorded and nearly 200 companies and syndicates were registered for mining purposes. Crushing by then was taking place in the Fort Victoria area and a number of mills was being erected in other parts of the territory.

he emphasis was almost entirely on gold during the early days of the Occupation although a number of other minerals was discovered. Gold-mining remained the major mining industry of the Colony until 1929 when base mineral production temporarily exceeded that of gold.

s happened in the opening up of North America and Australia, the itinerant miner became a familiar figure on the early Rhodesian scene. With his meagre possessions loaded on a donkey, he travelled the country long before there were any roads, living in lonely shacks and camps, collecting his precious gold dust in a leather bag and carrying it to the Assay Office in the nearest settlement to be weighed. He has vanished today but something of his spirit lingers on.

old-mining is now primarily carried on by large mining companies; other mineral production includes asbestos, coal, chromite, copper, nickel, tin, iron ore and some fifty other minerals and gemstones including the now well-known Sandawana Emeralds. Mineral production in 1970 was valued at almost $100,000,000.

relic of the early mining days is still to be seen in the gold scales at the older banks, while present-day Rhodesians often spend a camping holiday armed with a prospector’s hammer and a little bag, just in case they should strike it lucky.