Central African Copperbelt Research Articles

Living for the City: Social Change and Knowledge Production in the Central African Copperbelt by Miles Larmer

Living for the City is a sweeping history of the Central African Copperbelt across the twentieth century, with a special focus on the late colonial and early independence eras. Although the book is primarily a social history, it also offers an intellectual history, emphasizing the process of knowledge production over time. Its scope is broad, covering the lived experiences of Copperbelt residents on either side of the Zambia–Democratic Republic of Congo border in everything from nationalism to music. Each chapter offers a distinct set of arguments related to a theme of social or political life. To make these arguments, Larmer draws richly from numerous archives, more than 100 oral interviews, and earlier scholarship that is alternately treated as primary (as it contributes to intellectual history) or secondary source material. Throughout the book, Larmer contrasts the experiences of residents on either side of the border, complicating the meta-narrative of the Copperbelt as modernized, organized urban space, and contextualizing the different politics of each region around independence. This book is part of an ambitious broader “Comparing the Copperbelt” project.The book is organized thematically into nine substantive chapters, with a throughline considering how “top down” knowledge production shaped social life, though social life often contradicted official narratives. Chapter 1 offers an intellectual history of the region, assessing how colonial social scientists and their African research assistants conceptualized the likely social impact of growing urbanism caused by the company towns springing up around the copper mines. Chapter 2 re-examines the period from the end of World War I to 1975—a period typically characterized as a boom on the Copperbelt—to show that most residents in fact had precarious livelihoods. Chapter 3 discusses the segregation of the mine towns by race and class, contrasting the authoritarian paternalism of the company-run towns to the relative freedom and chaos of the informal settlements around them.Chapter 4 compares political activism and unionism in the two countries, describing the process by which Zambian unions became powerful, while those in Zaire remained toothless. Chapter 5 addresses the issue of gender on the Copperbelt, showing how official preoccupation with marriage and women’s labor manifested differently on each side of the border. Chapter 6 contrasts the nationalist impulses that grew out of each region, alongside the government’s actions to nationalize the mines after independence in both countries. Chapter 7 considers art and culture, analyzing the official preoccupation with indigenous “authenticity” alongside art scenes marked by cultural syncretism. Chapter 8 evaluates the economic decline of the Copperbelt from 1975 to 2000, showing how it led to political reform in Zambia but repression in Zaire. Finally, Chapter 9 describes the effect of a century of pollution on the Copperbelt landscape, calling into question the prosperousness of the region.This book will appeal to social scientists of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, its breadth guaranteeing many things of interest to researchers across disciplines. As Larmer notes in his conclusion, the breadth of the book necessarily means that each chapter offers a broad overview of its topic. Despite this breadth, Larmer presents an extraordinary amount of historical detail, sometimes requiring the reader to place that detail into a theoretical framework. The book is at its strongest when showcasing the voices of the Africans who contributed interviews and oral histories and when providing explicit comparison between the Copperbelt politics on both sides of the border (most notably in Chapters 4, 6, and 8). For example, Larmer illustrates how the policies of the company towns exacerbated ethnic tensions in Congo while dampening them in Zambia, thus generating different political landscapes.An important contribution of the book is the thread of intellectual history that runs throughout the chapters, revealing that the historical understanding of the Copperbelt has depended on the biases of those who collected the information. Although Larmer acknowledges that his use of interview material does not solve this problem, it highlights how lived experiences diverged from official recordkeeping. This insight and its illustration throughout the book have important implications for historians of other societies with limited or lopsided written historical records.

New models to aid the discovery of critical raw material deposits for the Green Stone Age

Abstract Critical raw materials (CRMs) will be crucial for delivery of the technologies society requires to meet its decarbonization goals and successfully address the current climate crisis. Although there are a number of well-established ore deposit models, few have been developed for CRMs. History demonstrates that ore deposit models are commonly developed to explain new discoveries. However, it is also possible to develop new ore deposit models based solely on basic geochemical and geological principles. We review the development of several ore deposit models, suggest some deposits for which models have not yet been developed and utilize the specific example of hydrothermal nickel deposits in the Central African Copperbelt to illustrate how new ore deposit models for CRM deposits may be formulated. The current impetus to discover new resources of what have been up to the present elemental curiosities should spur significant research, including work to determine the geochemical behaviour of CRMs across a range of physio-chemical conditions. There is no reason to believe that economically significant concentrations of any of the newly critical elements do not exist in nature. Imagination should make the future of CRM discovery in the Green Stone age bright.

“Ain’t I a Bastard, Well I Received My Training in Aussie”: The Life of Frank Maybank, an Australian Trade Unionist in Central Africa

This article examines the working life of Frank Maybank (1901-94), a self-described Australian trade unionist on the Central African Copperbelt. Maybank was in many ways a worker of the world, he lived and worked in several countries and did all manner of jobs. The job he held the longest was General Secretary of the whites-only mineworkers’ union on the Copperbelt, where his militancy was closely informed by his experiences in, and contacts with, the Australian labour movement. This article uses Maybank’s biography both to show the transnational connections that existed and to argue that the relative weakness of those connections allowed information about different places to be misrepresented. What this article terms “strategic misunderstandings” allowed distant events and movements to be misrepresented to suit domestic audiences and concerns in Australia and on the Copperbelt. In addition, this paper reflects on how the practice of writing transnational history and how the uneven nature of digitised sources may shape the development of this sub-field.

Geometallurgy of Cobalt Black Ores in the Katanga Copperbelt (Ruashi Cu-Co Deposit): A New Proposal for Enhancing Cobalt Recovery

Copper-cobalt deposits in the Central African Copperbelt belong to the Sediment-Hosted Stratiform Copper (SHSC) type and are situated in the Neoproterozoic Katanga Supergroup. This paper describes in detail the geology, geochemistry and hydrometallurgy of cobalt, with a special focus on the Black Ore Mineralised Zone (BOMZ) unit from the Ruashi Cu-Co deposit as a case study. Based on results from fieldwork and laboratory testing, it was concluded that the BOMZ consists of a succession of massive and stratified dolostones, which are weathered into carbonaceous clay dolostones and clays. The Lower “Calcaire à Minéreaux Noirs Formation” (Lower CMN Formation) consists of stratified and finely laminated dolostones, which are weathered at the surface into clayey to siliceous dolostones. The cobalt concentration in the weathering zone is due to supergene enrichment, a process that is linked to the formation of a cobalt cap. The ore consists of heterogenite associated with minor amounts of chrysocolla and malachite. Minor carrollite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite and bornite are present in unweathered fragments. The cobalt grade in both the BOMZ and Lower CMN decreases within depth while the copper grade increases. These grade changes reflect the variation in mineralogy with depth from heterogenite with minor amounts of malachite and chrysocolla to malachite, chrysocolla with traces of heterogenite, spherocobaltite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, carrollite and bornite. Based on the Cu (100xAS Cu/TCu) and Co ratio (100 xAS Co/TCo), which is related to the ore mineralogy, oxide ores (Cu ratio ≥ 75%) and oxide dominant mixed ores (Cu ratio < 75%, containing the copper sulphide chalcocite) can be differentiated in both the BOMZ and Lower CMN. The absence of talc and the low concentration of Ni, Mn and Fe, on the one hand, and the high-grade Cu in the BOMZ, on the other hand, facilitate the hydrometallurgy of cobalt but require a specific processing. Consequently, the recovery of Co from the BOMZ requires the application of a processing method that is based on sulphuric acid (30 g/L) leaching under reducing conditions (300–350 mV) and the removal of impurities (Cu > 95% and Mn ≈ 99%) from the pregnant leach solution (PLS) by solvent extraction (SX) prior to the precipitation of cobalt as a high-grade hydroxide (40.5%). The sulphuric acid leaching of the BOMZ enabled achieving, after 8 h of magnetic stirring (500 rpm), a highest yield of 93% Co, with other major elements Mn (84%) and Cu (40%). The latter forms a main co-product of the Co exploitation. In contrast, the highest leaching yield for Fe remained smaller than 5%.

Race at Work: A Comparative History of Mining Labor and Empire on the Central African Copperbelt and the Fushun Coalfields, ca. 1907–1945

In many ways, the vast industrial complexes that developed on the Central African Copperbelt and the Fushun coalfields in the early twentieth century were very different places. One on a high plateau stretched out across the border between what is now Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia with a sub-tropical climate; the other on the rolling foothills of Changbai Mountains in what is now Liaoning Province, northeastern China, with a humid continental climate. Yet anyone who visited either of these places would immediately and unavoidably have become aware of a basic fact about both: that racial hierarchies governed life and work on the mines. This article is about that basic fact, and in it we aim to make a two-fold contribution: First, it is a comparative history of mining regions, which, although it might seem an area of study ripe for comparison, is seldom undertaken. Second, through this comparison to argue that the prevalence and significance of race as a way of organizing life and work in the mining industry has been underestimated. We support this claim with an overview of production and everyday life in two seemingly very different mining regions: the Fushun coalfields and the Central African Copperbelt (see figure 1).

Impacts of Trace Metals Pollution of Water, Food Crops, and Ambient Air on Population Health in Zambia and the DR Congo.

Zambia and the DR Congo are situated in the central African Copperbelt, which is part of the Lufilian geological structure arc stretching over from Kolwezi in Katanga Province in the DRC to Luanshya in Copperbelt Province in Zambia. The area has large copper-cobalt deposits of which the extraction causes severe ecosystem damage due to pollution of water, food crops, and the ambient air negatively impacting population health. Contamination of drinking water for domestic use and foods (cereals, roots and tubers, vegetables, and fruits) was determined by assessing the contents of trace metals including Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, Co, As, U, Cd, and Cu and through a questionnaire for environmental damage. Food samples were analyzed by inductively coupled argon plasma/optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), while water and urine samples were analyzed by inductively coupled argon plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Concentrations of Ni, Pb, and Cd were higher in almost all food crops, although Cu was more in samples of Cucurbita maxima and Amaranthus hybridus. Mean contents (μg/L) of Mn, Zn, Cd, Pb, and U were, respectively, 5,454.6, 2552.2, 138.7, 39.7, 2361.1, and 21.4 in the DRC and 108.9, 543.3, 0.3, 0.2, 1.5, and 0.5 in Zambia, being significantly higher and always far above World Health Organization maximum limits in the DRC. Urine samples taken only from the DRC contained trace metals with children's samples being more contaminated than adult ones. Our results conclusively echo the most critical challenges of toxic pollutants causing numerous health issues among the population. Given an outcry among households adjacent to mines about land degradation and food spoilage, and health problems over years, joint efforts are needed from public and private sectors for stringent mining exploitation monitoring for sustainable governance to protect the environment and ensure food and nutrition safety, and population well-being in Zambia and the DR Congo.

A critical comparison between the Fungurume 8 and 88 Cu-Co deposits, Central African Copperbelt

The Fungurume 88 deposit located in the Tenke-Fungurume Mining (TFM) district is situated in the northern extent of the Central African Copperbelt (CACB). It is an unusual sedimentary stratiform copper (SSC) deposit of this area, since it contains high-grade hypogene carrollite mineralization in the SD-1b subunit of the lower Shales Dolomitique (SD) Formation of the Mines Subgroup. These lithologies are normally regarded as being barren to poorly mineralized, here however, they boast cobalt concentrations as high as 3 wt% along with Cu concentrations in excess of 4 wt%. Detailed logging of drill core revealed that the sediments of the Fungurume 88 deposit which host the anomalous SD-1b mineralisation differ in both grainsize and mineralogy to the well-recognised Long Facies sediments exhibited by the majority of deposits in the TFM district - including the overlying Fungurume 8 deposit. Petrographic studies have revealed several distinct sulphide textures including the dominant disseminated style, stratiform style, bedding parallel jack veins and crosscutting veins. These sulphides also exhibit distinct trace element compositions suggesting several episodes of mineralization and support a multiphase hypogene Cu-Co model. The specific timings of the mineralisation events are constrained to an early phase (probably contemporaneous with diagenesis and early lithification) as well as a later phase associated with quartz-carbonate-sulphide veining and possibly linked to the regional brecciation event, and thus, in support of existing literature, indicate the presence of at least two mineralizing fluids. Host rock geochemistry obtained from SEM analyses together with LA-ICP-MS analyses on sulphide phases have helped to constrain the mineralizing process in the Fungurume 88 deposit by corroborating fluid-rock interaction, sulphide mineral paragenesis and trace element variation. Drill core assay data has also revealed prominent zonation and segregation between Cu and Co and the latter’s local enrichment observed in the SD-1b subunit. Metal zonation of this kind has also been described in some deposits of the Zambian copperbelt and are therefore used as a proxy here. The detailed petrographic analyses on the host rock shows that the sediments of the Fungurume 88 deposit potentially belong to the Kalumbwe, Menda or a geochemically similar deep marine sedimentary facies rather than the usual Long Facies. This lithological variation was likely the key ingredient, providing an optimal reducing environment or “trap site” for the precipitation of carrollite and other copper sulphides in the SD-1b subunit. These geological and geochemical observations provide insights into the genesis for the Fungurume 88 deposit, understood in a context of the regional geology and Cu-Co mineralisation throughout the greater Copperbelt. Moreover, it highlights that the northern apex of the Lufilian arc and the broader CACB hold vast exploration potential for similar deeper-water sub-basins which may host significant, and yet-undiscovered metal (notably Co) resources.

Artistic Movements: Visual Arts and Cross-Border Exchange on the Central African Copperbelt

The Central African Copperbelt has long provided fertile territory for new forms of creative endeavour. Its visual arts, however, developed along different timescales on the two sides of its border. Whereas the Congolese Copperbelt has been associated with a lively painting tradition since the 1940s, easel painting did not develop significantly in Zambian mining towns until the 1960s and 1970s. This article explains how the flourishing Congolese Copperbelt’s visual arts movement was rooted in colonial and post-colonial patronage of, market demand for and intellectual analysis of ‘authentic African art’. However, it also problematises the way in which an undue focus on notions of artistic ‘authenticity’ obscures the region’s underlying history of flexible and diverse artistic production and exchange, including the little-known migration of Congolese artists to Zambia. It finds that Copperbelt artists on both sides of the border sought to access a variety of markets, changing the form and content of their art to address or manipulate the expectations of their audiences. By focusing on artists, their motivations, their life stories and their outputs, the article seeks to understand the painting traditions of the Copperbelt region as a cross-border regional artistic phenomenon, which, in many cases, transcended notions of ‘popular’, ‘tourist’ or ‘academic’ painting.

Valorisation of mine waste - Part II: Resource evaluation for consolidated and mineralised mine waste using the Central African Copperbelt as an example

Mine waste can create long-term and occasionally catastrophic environmental degradation. Due diligence of mine waste in the form of monitoring and maintenance requires a constant supply of societal resources. Furthermore, mine waste is unlikely to disappear with current mining methods and instead, it is more likely to accumulate at a faster rate due to decreasing primary ore grades and increasing societal demands. However, mine waste can be a societal asset, as it can offer an alternative source of partly critical raw materials (CRMs) that can augment primary sources and provide an opportunity to mitigate supply-risk while ensuring sustainability and easing geopolitical tensions. Cobalt is a critical raw material that is largely a by-product of mining of copper, nickel and platinum-group element ores. It is an element that the renewable energy and high-tech sectors critically depend on and for which no reasonable substitutes currently exist. The majority of the global cobalt production stems from the Central African Copperbelt. Published cobalt production figures for the Central African Copperbelt were used to evaluate cobalt tailings from the Central African Copperbelt. As part of a waste valorisation framework that focuses on primarily on the technical aspects of mine waste valorisation, this study assesses the application of key geostatistical methods, such as kriging and conditional simulation, followed by uniform conditioning, to evaluate the resource potential in a hypothetical copper-cobalt tailing deposit from the Central African Copperbelt. The results indicate that methods such as traditional algorithmic kriging, sequential Gaussian simulation and uniform conditioning are highly effective tools in resource modelling of mine waste. The resource assessment framework component developed in this study makes it possible to systematically characterise, profile and model any mine waste storage facility and thus supplements other framework components discussed in an accompanying paper to maximise mine waste utilization.

Comparative geology and metamorphic evolution of the Luswishi Dome, Copperbelt, Zambia: Implications for exploration targeting

The Luswishi Dome forms part of the Neoproterozoic Lufilian Arc which hosts copper-cobalt ores of the Central African Copperbelt. We report new data from a study that combines observations from drill core logging, petrographic and chemical analyses, geothermobarometry and phase equilibria modelling. Drill core logging identifies lithostratigraphic units which are partially correlated with the Katanga Supergroup based on the occurrence of regional markers. The Nguba Group constrained by the presence of glacial tillite includes variably deformed, carbonaceous shales, and carbonates. An underlying sequence of quartzites, metapelites, calc-silicates, meta-sandstones, shales, dolomites and gabbros is partially correlated with the Roan Group. Overprinting relationships of structures in drill core provide evidence for possible polyphase deformation. Early deformation generated folds which were overprinted by faults and later by brecciation caused by hydrofracturing during later deformation, and subsequently metasomatism. Petrographic examinations reveal porphyroblast-inclusion-matrix relationships which indicate that the area experienced at least two penetrative ductile deformation events, D1 and D2, which are in turn overprinted by brittle structures at D3 and later phases. Thermobarometry calculations identify peak metamorphic conditions of 580–600 °C with maximum pressures of ~7 ± 1 kbar. Integrating thermobarometry with pseudosection modelling allows reconstruction of clockwise P-T-d paths consistent with consumption of epidote, chlorite, muscovite, quartz and low Ca-plagioclase to form biotite, garnet, high Ca-plagioclase and aluminosilicates. These observations suggest Barrovian intermediate P/T-type metamorphism which can be attributed to a tectonic scenario of burial under geothermal gradients of ~20–25 °C/km prior to uplift and erosion. These data complement previous models of regional metamorphism by crustal thickening during the Lufilian orogeny.

Using the flow regimes framework to de‐hierarchise the analysis of commercial movements: Case studies from the Central African Copperbelt

Observing trade flows at a Southern African border reveals that different commodities move differently, raising the question of why some commodities stop when others flow, and why some flows move faster when others experience speed reductions and stoppages. This paper is concerned with presenting a theoretical framework – the flow regime framework – to make sense of the uneven rhythms and manners of the flow of commodities. Building on a review of four economic geography trends (transport geography, logistics studies, thing‐following studies, and scalar analysis) and of the orderings and dichotomies they create, I argue that we need a non‐hierarchical way to understand the complexity and variability of trade flows and traders’ strategies along different paces and rhythms. The flow regimes, defined as lasting socio‐technical agencements of practices, actors, infrastructure uses, and ideologies, comprise the proposed theoretical solution to make sense of the variability of commodities’ paces. This theoretical framework is illustrated empirically through the examples of the three flow regimes identified in the Central African Copperbelt, based on 11 months of ethnographic fieldwork: the off‐road regime, characterised by modular and flexible rhythms; the spare‐wheel regime, whose flows are subjected to state‐induced accelerations and stoppages; and the power‐steering regime, based on costly public and private technologies allowing for fast and fluid commercial movements. Without attempting to describe a particular scale of action, the concept of regimes makes it possible to analyse head‐on activities that are usually studied separately (such as “small” border trade and flows driven by large logistics firms). I conclude by suggesting that the flow regimes framework allows to highlight how the globalisation of flows features irregularity and lumpiness.

Diagenetic and Epigenetic Mineralizing Events in the Kalahari Copperbelt, Botswana: Evidence from Re-Os Sulfide Dating and U-Th-Pb Xenotime Geochronology

Abstract The ages of sedimentation and copper-silver mineralization in the late Meso- to Neoproterozoic Kalahari Copperbelt in Botswana, an economically significant copper province, have previously been poorly constrained within an ~600 m.y. period that spans the Neoproterozoic from the assembly and breakup of Rodinia to the assembly of Gondwana. Rhenium-osmium geochronology of molybdenite and copper sulfide minerals and U-Th-Pb laser ablation split-stream inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LASS ICP-MS) analysis of xenotime grains are utilized to provide absolute and relative age data on the host rocks and mineralizing events within the Ghanzi Ridge region of the Kalahari Copperbelt. The data reveal a prolonged history of events, which is partially comparable with depositional and mineralizing events in the neighboring Central African Copperbelt. Abundant disseminated molybdenite is located within a shale layer near the base of the Proterozoic D’Kar Formation at the Northeast Mango Two deposit. Unusual molybdenite textures suggest organic matter may have been a precursor. Two molybdenite separates from a small calcite-molybdenite stringer in a wall-rock fragment that is enclosed within an epigenetic quartz-calcite-chalcopyrite vein with ill-defined and mismatched margins yielded Re-Os ages of 981 ± 3 and 981 ± 7 Ma. These ages indicate an early hydrothermal mineralizing event in the basin. A xenotime inclusion intergrown with molybdenite and chalcopyrite within the epigenetic vein yielded a younger U-Th-Pb age of 538 ± 8 Ma, suggesting two mineralizing events are preserved in a complex 6-cm-wide vein. Based on vein texture and alteration, the ages represent an ~981 Ma calcite-molybdenite mineralization event overprinted by an ~538 Ma quartz-chalcopyrite-molybdenite mineralization event, perhaps during reopening of the vein. Re-Os and U-Th-Pb geochronology were utilized at the Zone 6 deposit on minerals associated with a hydrothermal quartz-calcite-chalcocite-idaite-bornite vein. Several authigenic xenotime grains that occur along the margin of the vein yielded three concordant U-Th-Pb ages that indicate xenotime growth at ~950 to 925 Ma while other xenotime grains in a similar position yielded mostly discordant data, suggesting disturbance of the isotopic system in the xenotime grains. A coprecipitated chalcocite-idaite mixture within the hydrothermal vein produced an Re-Os age of 549.0 ± 11.2 Ma. Re-Os analysis obtained from a coprecipitated molybdenite-bornite mixture at the Northeast Fold deposit yielded an age of 515.9 ± 2 Ma. Together, the earliest Neoproterozoic Re-Os molybdenite and U-Th-Pb xenotime ages provide both a minimum depositional age constraint for the lowermost D’Kar Formation and clear evidence that diagenetic hydrothermal mineralizing events took place within the Ghanzi basin. The timing of this mineralizing event corresponds with a poorly documented regional thermal event that affected the northern margin of the Kalahari craton during the final stages of the assembly of Rodinia at ~980 Ma. The lower to middle Ghanzi Group of the Kalahari Copperbelt is at least 100 m.y. older than the host rocks within the neighboring Central African Copperbelt, which are associated with the breakup of Rodinia. The latest Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Re-Os and U-Th-Pb ages indicate that hydrothermal copper-silver mineralizing events occurred during the Pan-African (~600–480 Ma) fold-thrust evolution of the Ghanzi-Chobe zone and were broadly synchronous with widespread epigenetic hydrothermal copper-cobalt mineralizing events in the adjacent Central African Copperbelt.

The Mining and Technology Industries as Catalysts for Sustainable Energy Development

The potential for mining companies to contribute to sustainable energy development is characterized in terms of opportunities for energy efficiency and support of electricity access in mining-intensive developing countries. Through a case study of the Central African Copperbelt countries of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, energy efficiency opportunities in copper operations and environmental impact of metal extraction are evaluated qualitatively, characterized, and quantified using principles of industrial ecology, life cycle assessment, and engineering economics. In these countries the mining sector is the greatest consumer of electricity, accounting for about 53.6% in the region. Energy efficiency improvements in the refinery processes is shown to have a factor of two improvement potential. Further, four strategies are identified by which the mining and technology industries can enhance sustainable electricity generation capacity: energy efficiency; use of solar and other renewable resources; share expertise from the mining and technology industries within the region; and take advantage of the abundant cobalt and other raw materials to initiate value-added manufacturing.

Cobalt resources in Europe and the potential for new discoveries

Global demand for cobalt is increasing rapidly as we transition to a low-carbon economy. In order to ensure secure and sustainable supplies of this critical metal there is considerable interest in Europe in understanding the availability of cobalt from indigenous resources. This study reviews information on cobalt resources in Europe and evaluates the potential for additional discoveries.Based on published information and a survey of national mineral resource agencies, 509 cobalt-bearing deposits and occurrences have been identified in 25 countries in Europe. Harmonised cobalt resources, classified using the United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC), have been estimated for 151 deposits in 12 countries where data are available. The calculated total resource comprises 1342649 tonnes of contained cobalt metal. This includes: 114638 tonnes in commercial projects with current cobalt extraction; 370409 tonnes in potentially commercial projects; 111107 tonnes in historic estimates compliant with modern reporting; and 746495 tonnes in non-compliant historic estimates. Analysis of these data reveals that cobalt resources are widely distributed across Europe in deposits of several different types.Global mine production of cobalt is dominated by stratiform sediment-hosted copper deposits, magmatic nickel-copper deposits and nickel laterite deposits, but other deposit types may also be significantly enriched in cobalt. In Europe, current cobalt production is derived from three mines in Finland: the magmatic sulfide deposit at Kevitsa; the Kylylahti deposit of volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) affinity; and the black shale-hosted deposit at Sotkamo (Talvivaara).This study has identified 104 deposits in Europe that are currently being explored for cobalt, of which 79 are located in Finland, Norway and Sweden. The Fennoscandian Shield and the Caledonian Belt in these countries are high priority exploration terrains for a variety of cobalt-bearing deposits, notably magmatic Ni-Cu-Co deposits. The Svecofennian, Sveconorwegian and the Caledonian orogenies in Fennoscandia also resulted in the formation of several other cobalt-enriched deposit types. These include chiefly metasediment- and metavolcanic-hosted Co-Cu-Au, VMS, skarn and polymetallic vein deposits.The Kupferschiefer deposits in Poland and Germany are stratiform sediment-hosted Cu deposits with some similarities to the Central African Copperbelt, which is the predominant global producer. However, the cobalt grade in the Kupferschiefer deposits is relatively low (0.005–0.008% Co) and not currently economic to exploit without significant improvement in extraction technology.In the Balkans and Turkey cobalt grades and tonnages are known in 27 nickel laterite deposits, with several containing more than 10000 tonnes of cobalt metal. Only nickel is currently recovered from these deposits, but new processing technologies such as high-pressure acid leaching could enable cobalt recovery in the future.Small polymetallic cobalt-bearing vein deposits in several European countries have been historic producers of cobalt. Today most are uneconomic, but new technologies and the drive towards locally-sourced raw materials could make them viable future sources of cobalt.Our analysis suggests that geological availability in Europe is not a problem. However, many economic, technological, environmental and social challenges will have to be overcome for exploration projects to become commercial.

Copper- and cobalt-rich, ultrapotassic bittern brines responsible for the formation of the Nkana-Mindola deposits, Zambian Copperbelt

Abstract The Central African Copperbelt (CACB) is Earth’s largest repository of sediment-hosted copper and cobalt. The criticality of these elements in battery technology and electricity transmission establishes them as fundamental components of the carbon-free energy revolution, yet the nature and origin of the hydrothermal fluids responsible for ore formation in the CACB remain controversial. Here, we present microthermometric, scanning electron microscopy and laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry analyses of fluid inclusions from the Nkana-Mindola deposits in Zambia. We find that base metal concentrations vary by one to two orders of magnitude between “barren” and “ore” fluids, with concomitant distinctions in major salt chemistry. Primary fluid inclusions, hosted by pre- to synkinematic mineralized quartz veins, are characterized by high homogenization temperatures (∼200–300 °C) and salinities, with K/Na >0.8 and elevated metal concentrations (102 to 103 ppm Cu and Co). Conversely, barren, postkinematic vein quartz contains lower homogenization temperature (∼110–210 °C) and lower-salinity primary inclusions, characterized by K/Na <0.8 with low metal contents (<102 ppm Cu and Co). We propose a model in which high-temperature, sulfate-deficient, metalliferous, potassic residual brines, formed during advanced evaporation of CaCl2-rich, mid-Neoproterozoic seawater, were responsible for ore formation. During basin closure, lower-temperature, halite-undersaturated fluids interacted with evaporites and formed structurally controlled, sodic metasomatism. Reconciliation of these fluid chemistries and base metal concentrations with reported alteration assemblages from a majority of Zambian Copperbelt deposits suggests highly evolved, residual brines were critical to the formation of this unique metallogenic province.

Mining, Waste and Environmental Thought on the Central African Copperbelt, 1950-2000

Abstract Since the early twentieth century, the copper-mining industry on the Zambian and Congolese Copperbelt has moved millions of tonnes of earth and dramatically reshaped the landscape. Nonetheless, mining companies, governments and even residents largely overlooked the adverse environmental aspects of mining until the early 1990s. By scrutinising environmental knowledge production on the Central African Copperbelt from the 1950s until the late 1990s, particularly regarding notions of 'waste', this article problematises the silencing of the environmental impacts of mining. To make the environmental history of the Copperbelt visible, this article examines forestry policies, medical services and environmental protests. Moreover, by historically tracing the emergence of environmental consciousness, it contextualises the sudden 'discovery' of pollution in the 1990s as a local and (inter)national phenomenon. Drawing on rare archival and oral history sources, it provides one of the first cross-border environmental histories of the Central African Copperbelt.

Formation of the giant Aynak copper deposit, Afghanistan: evidence from mineralogy, lithogeochemistry and sulphur isotopes

ABSTRACT Aynak is the largest known copper deposit in Afghanistan, with indicated resources of 240 Mt grading 2.3% Cu placing it in the ‘giant’ category. Host rocks are Neoproterozoic metasediments comprising dolomitic marble, carbonaceous quartz schist and quartz-biotite-dolomite schist containing garnet, scapolite and apatite. Chalcopyrite and bornite dominate the hypogene ore with lesser pyrite, pyrrhotite, cobaltite and chalcocite, and rare sphalerite, molybdenite, uraninite and barite. Sulphides occur as bedding-parallel laminae, disseminations, metamorphic segregations and crosscutting veins. Sulphide δ34S ratios range –14.5 to +17.3‰ in bedded and disseminated sulphides (n = 34). This broad range favours biogenic reduction of seawater sulphate as a major source of sulphur, although thermochemical reduction processes are not precluded. The narrower δ34S range of –6 to +12.2‰ in vein and segregation sulphides (n = 21) suggests localized redistribution and partial homogenization during metamorphism. Geochemical associations suggest that Al, P, Ca, Ti and Fe were primary sedimentary constituents whereas Cu, Mg, S, Se, As, Co and Bi were introduced subsequently. We infer that Aynak originated as a shale- and carbonate-hosted stratabound replacement deposit, resembling orebodies of the Central African Copperbelt, although underlying red-beds are absent at Aynak and mafic volcanics were the probable copper source. These giant deposits formed worldwide in the Cryogenian probably due to marine enrichment in copper, magnesium and sulphate coincident with profuse basaltic volcanism and ocean oxidation.

Between waste and profit: Environmental values on the Central African Copperbelt

Industrial mining activity has transformed the environment of the Central African Copperbelt in the twentieth century. Copper extraction and processing altered the urban landscape, generated much waste, and caused severe long-term pollution. This article examines changing environmental values among diverse Copperbelt actors, including mine engineers, government officials, mineworkers, doctors, and farmers. Why were air and water pollution long accepted as ‘negative externalities’ of copper production? How have the environmental dynamics of mining on the Copperbelt been ‘naturalised’ over time? By focusing on topics such as air, water, health, cleanliness, and pollution, the tensions between the profit-oriented motives of mining companies, the technocratic solutions proposed by engineers, and popular concerns over human and environmental wellbeing are revealed. Although resignation towards industrial pollution on the Copperbelt prevailed for most of the twentieth century, views of environmental change were always contested and have changed recently. Relying on unique archival sources and interviews, this article shows changing attitudes towards copper mining in the Anthropocene.

Crops and Copper: Agriculture and Urbanism on the Central African Copperbelt, 1950–2000

Agricultural production has historically been integral to the central African Copperbelt’s urban growth. None the less, urban agriculture has rarely received attention in the otherwise rich Copperbelt historiography. Government and mine officials, as well as social scientists, have persistently framed urban agriculture as an informal, subsistence and feminised activity. Growing maize or vegetables has, in such views, been interpreted as a sign of rurality that is ‘out of place’ in urban areas, at best a response to poverty and crisis or a practice engaged in only by ‘thrifty housewives’. Such narratives have distorted a proper understanding of urban agriculture. Drawing on new archival sources and oral history, this article presents a different view. It compares the Zambian and the Congolese Copperbelt from 1950 until 2000 to re-evaluate urban agriculture as a normal part of everyday life, an activity central to urban livelihood, identity and belonging. Growing crops has evolved over time in response to socio-economic change, but it has always been vital to the urban life of the diverse Copperbelt population. Considering agricultural production thus contributes to debates on urbanism in central Africa and beyond.

Strain fringes and strain shadows at Kamoa (DRC), implications for copper mineralisation

The formation of strain shadows and strain fringes is described from diamictite and siltstone of the Grand Conglomérat unit (Nguba Group) at the Kamoa copper deposit located within the DRC at the western end of the Central African Copperbelt (CACB). Fringes reveal a straight orientation of fibres during a coaxial deformation; this supports the interpretation of a single phase of deformation during fringe growth within the deposit area. The non-deformed distal part of fringes and the straight orientation of fibres demonstrate the simple geometry of strain fringes. Quartz grains within strain fringes and strain shadows have generally straight or smoothly curved boundaries and lack undulose extinction. In strain fringes, muscovite and chlorite are generally observed on quartz grains where they define a foliation. These characteristics suggest a static recrystallisation that developed under relatively high temperature and wet conditions. A NW crustal shortening during the Kolwezian deformation event of the Lufilian orogeny is believed to be responsible for the coeval development of foliation, strain shadows and strain fringes. A syn-orogenic origin of the copper sulphides during the Lufilian orogeny is proposed.