The Bikita tin and tantalum field is centred about 43 miles east-north-east of Fort Victoria, in the south-eastern part of Southern Rhodesia. It forms the end of a tongue of basic and sedimentary schists surrounded on three sides by granite. Tin and tantalum minerals have been known in the area for over thirty years, and at various times attempts to work them have been made, but with indifferent success. During recent years the demand for tantalum has led to the re-opening of the field and several tons of tantalite and simpsonite concentrates have been exported to America. The area was mapped geologically by Mr. R. Tyndale-Biseoe in 1942, but the publication of the map and report have been held up during the war. The principal workings are the Mdara mine and the Al Hayat claims situated about three-quarters of a mile apart.