Zambian Copperbelt Research Articles

Remobilisation features and structural control on ore grade distribution at the Konkola stratiform Cu–Co ore deposit, Zambia

The Konkola deposit is a high grade stratiform Cu–Co ore deposit in the Central African Copperbelt in Zambia. Economic mineralisation is confined to the Ore Shale formation, part of the Neoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Katanga Supergroup. Petrographic study reveals that the copper–cobalt ore minerals are disseminated within the host rock, sometimes concentrated along bedding planes, often associated with dolomitic bands or clustered in cemented lenses and in layer-parallel and irregular veins. The hypogene sulphide mineralogy consists predominantly of chalcopyrite, bornite and chalcocite. Based upon relationships with metamorphic biotite, vein sulphides and most of the sulphides in cemented lenses were precipitated during or after biotite zone greenschist facies metamorphism. New δ34S values of sulphides from the Konkola deposit are presented. The sulphur isotope values range from −8.7‰ to +1.4‰ V-CDT for chalcopyrite from all mineralising phases and from −4.4‰ to +2.0‰ V-CDT for secondary chalcocite. Similarities in δ34S for sulphides from different vein generations, earlier sulphides and secondary chalcocite can be explained by (re)mobilisation of S from earlier formed sulphide phases, an interpretation strongly supported by the petrographic evidence. Deep supergene enrichment and leaching occurs up to a km in depth, predominantly in the form of secondary chalcocite, goethite and malachite and is often associated with zones of high permeability. Detailed distribution maps of total copper and total cobalt contents of the Ore Shale formation show a close relationship between structural features and higher copper and lower cobalt contents, relative to other areas of the mine. Structural features include the Kirilabombwe anticline and fault zones along the axial plane and two fault zones in the southern limb of the anticline. Cobalt and copper behave differently in relation to these structural features. These structures are interpreted to have played a significant role in (re)mobilisation and concentration of the metals, in agreement with observations made elsewhere in the Zambian Copperbelt.

Governance and sustainability challenges in landscapes shaped by mining: Mining-forestry linkages and impacts in the Copper Belt of Zambia and the DR Congo

The recent increase in global demand for copper raw materials has contributed to rising of commodity prices and a scramble for natural resources, modifying forests and assuming a defining role in forest management and governance. However, the influence of mining industries on forests has not well been understood in the copper belt of Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This study was undertaken, in Chingola District in Zambia, operation centre for Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), and Lubumbashi in DRC, where Gécamines and other mining companies operate, to ascertain the relationship between copper mining, forest management and forest-based livelihoods. A multi-site approach was utilized for consultations with diverse actors at local, district and national levels, and with forest dependent communities from fringes of towns and in remote areas where mines have been obtaining timber. Interviews and field observations revealed that mining affects forests in a number of direct and indirect ways; from deforestation during green site development and sourcing of high quality timber to the sharp but indirect pressures over forests through the population pull effect of mining towns. Impacts on forest communities were in large part negative and huge investment in mining were in sharp contrast with levels of poverty and environmental degradation. Findings illustrate the need for concerted efforts to mitigate negative impacts from mining on the copper belt.

Mining, welfare and urbanisation: the wavering urban character of Zambia's Copperbelt

This article focuses on the character of life and social welfare services in the mining towns of what was once the most urbanised country in central Africa. The services provided by mining companies varied over the years: from minimal at the time of the industry's establishment in the 1920s; to a period of largesse between the 1950s and the late 1970s; and then a slow decline following the slide in world copper prices. The withdrawal of the mines from welfare provision from the mid-1990s to the present has radically altered not only people's well-being, but also the character of the urban areas, leading to the observation that towns have become like ‘villages’.

Mining, housing and welfare in South Africa and Zambia: an historical perspective

This contribution seeks to place the relationship between mining, housing and welfare in historical perspective in two Southern African countries with long histories of mining activity that continue to have large mining sectors, namely South Africa and Zambia. Mining capitalists and colonial, as well as apartheid, governments tended to resist urban permanence, but they were usually unable to stop it. Economists and social anthropologists, being less conscious than historians of the cyclical nature of mining, have been prone to discount the remarkable tenacity of the Zambian Copperbelt's urban residents in the face of mining downturns. By contrast, very little attention in the literature has been paid to the decline of gold mining in South Africa. In view of the Zambian precedent for urban resilience, it would be unwise to overlook the continuing influence of South African mining on urban settlement in spite of the industry's gradual decline over the last four decades. The patterns of development of new platinum mines in South Africa and new copper mines in Zambia show certain similarities and historical continuities, including a reluctance on the part of mining companies to accept responsibility for the housing and welfare of all their workers and their families.

Topping Up: Life Amidst Hardship and Death on the Copperbelt

Residents of the Zambian Copperbelt town Luanshya have experienced great hardship since the widespread implementation of structural adjustment policies in the mid-1990s, which saw the privatisation of the state mining conglomerate the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) that was the mainstay of the region's economy. Life, as portrayed in contemporary Zambian popular music, has become a precarious and continuous practice of trying to live and make a living. The past is a nostalgic experience that underlies the present and the future is too frightening to contemplate. Implicated in the uncertainty of the future, that is, the possibility of living a long and full life is the body. The body is perceived through the sensorial aspects of living within a difficult environment as letting one down and at the same time offering an inalienable corporeal tool through which one can continue the activity of living. Some make it, others do not, what is valorised is the ability to pick up and go on trying.

Use of a short span field test to evaluate termite resistance of Eucalyptus grandis and Bobgunnia madagascariensis in a tropical environment

Despite being treated with preservatives, the service life of transmission poles and fence posts in the Zambian Copperbelt province is close to fifteen years. However, the service life is only two years for untreated timber, mainly due to termite damage. This short service life is exerting more pressure on an already over-burdened timber resource base. This study used an accelerated field test investigation to facilitate initial assessment of several lesser known indigenous timbers for their termite resistance properties. To determine the service life and natural durability of Eucalyptus grandis and Bobgunnia madagascariensis to termite attack, samples of each wood species were field exposed to an aggressive species of subterranean termites for 32 days. Morphological and genetic analyses confirmed that the aggressive species of termites in this study was Coptotermes formosanus, commonly referred to as Formosan subterranean termites. Results indicated that E. grandis can be labeled as susceptible (S) following the standard natural durability rating procedure on the basis of service life projected from short term field exposure weight loss determination. Using short duration exposure weight loss and visual designation, similar to the Gulfport scale, B. madagascariensis was designated as very durable (D). These results showed that natural durability of timber against termites can be estimated after a short duration field exposure to Formosan subterranean termites. This method offers a fast field test for screening of promising lesser known tropical timbers.

World Development Report 2012: Radical redistribution or just tinkering within the template?

The World Development Report 2012, rather radically, responds to employment segregation by advocating affirmative action. This move could prove momentous – mainstreaming a hitherto peripheral feminist cause. Drawing on research about changing gender roles in Zambia's Copperbelt, this paper demonstrates the importance of creating role models through active labour market interventions. However, apart from the World Bank's commendably radical push for redistribution, its macroeconomic template remains remarkably intact – neither perturbed by the global economic crisis nor by much feminist economics.

Pentecostalism and the morality of money: prosperity, inequality, and religious sociality on the Zambian Copperbelt

As part of a growing body of work focused on the social implications of Pentecostal Christianity, this article explores one of the ways that this religion is shaping relational life on the Zambian Copperbelt. Through a discussion of the changing nature of the prosperity gospel, I show how Pentecostalism embeds believers in social relationships that often extend beyond their religious cohort. In the absence of the lavish wealth promised by prosperity gospel preachers, Pentecostals have had to alter their understanding of divinely authored economic success. Specifically, local definitions of prosperity are characterized not by uniform, individualized wealth, but rather by progress along a gradient of material achievement through relationships that span differences in economic status. This retooled version of the prosperity gospel serves to integrate believers into the wider social world by emphasizing material inequality and promoting displays of wealth. Each of these aspects of Copperbelt Pentecostalism embeds its adherents in networks of exchange that are a central component of urban Zambian sociality. This analysis of Pentecostalism expands on studies of this religion that focus only on formal ritual life, while at the same time challenging interpretations of Pentecostalism that have given its social potential short shrift.RésuméLe présent article s’inscrit dans un corpus de plus en plus important de travaux consacrés aux implications sociales du christianisme pentecôtiste. Il explore l’une des manières dont cette religion façonne la vie relationnelle dans la province du Copperbelt, en Zambie. Par la discussion de la nature changeante de la théologie de la prospérité, l’auteure montre comment le pentecôtisme intègre ses fidèles dans des relations sociales qui s’étendent souvent au‐delà des limites de leur communauté religieuse. Ne voyant pas venir l’abondance promise par les prédicateurs de la doctrine de la prospérité, les pentecôtistes ont dû revoir leur interprétation d’une réussite économique sanctionnée par Dieu. Plus précisément, les définitions locales de la prospérité sont caractérisées non pas par une possession de biens uniforme et individualisée mais plutôt par une progression suivant un gradient de réussite matérielle, par le biais de relations franchissant les différences de situation économique. Cette version remaniée de la théologie de la prospérité sert à intégrer les croyants dans le monde social qui les entoure, en mettant l’accent sur les inégalités matérielles et en encourageant les signes extérieurs de richesse. Chacun de ces aspects du pentecôtisme dans le Copperbelt intègre les fidèles dans des réseaux d’échange qui sont une composante essentielle de la société zambienne urbaine. L’analyse du pentecôtisme réalisée ici commente les études de cette religion axées uniquement sur le rituel, tout en remettant en question les interprétations faisant peu de cas du potentiel social du pentecôtisme.

Effect of sample preparation on contaminant leaching from copper smelting slag

Currently standardised leaching tests require grain size reduction, which for large fragments of slags could overestimate the leaching results. To assess the effect of the fine-grained fraction generated by sample crushing, a set of leaching experiments was performed on copper smelting slag from the Zambian Copperbelt: (i) EN 12457-2 batch tests (standardised grain size <4mm; modified procedure with grain size of 4–0.5mm simulating exposure of larger fragments on the dumps) and (ii) CEN/TS 14997 pH-static tests (standardised grain size <1mm simulating the possible wind dispersion scenario near the slag crushing facilities or disposal of fine-grained granulated slag; additional grain sizes <5mm, 5–0.5mm and 5–0.5mm after ultrasonic cleaning). A higher proportion of the fine-grained fraction generally led to greater leaching of Cu, Co and Zn. The metal levels in the leachates under circum-neutral conditions were all below the EU limits for non-hazardous waste. However, at pH 4, the presence of fine dust particles dramatically increased the concentrations of metals in the slag leachates. The greater leachability of Cu and Co from slag particles under acidic conditions suggests a risk of their mobilisation in acidic soils in the Copperbelt area.

Sequence and carbon isotopic stratigraphy of the Neoproterozoic Roan Group strata of the Zambian copperbelt

The Neoproterozoic Roan Group in northern Zambia is host to numerous world class stratiform sediment-hosted Cu ores that occur around the transition from basal continental clastics to an overlying shallow marine succession. The latter can be considered in terms of six sedimentary facies deposited within a mixed clastic and carbonate barred basin margin environment. Sequence stratigraphic analysis, based on palaeo-bathymetric cycles defined by vertical facies changes in sections constructed from detailed logging of diamond drill cores, allows the definition of seven sedimentary sequences. Accommodation for the lowermost two sequences, which host the bulk of the copper ores, was generated by half-graben development during active extension. The subsequent two sequences record denudation of tectonically generated relief and evolution to a laterally extensive, low-relief, basin margin carbonate platform during a period of tectonic quiescence. The uppermost sequences that coincide with the Mwashia Subgroup, record the resumption of tectonically generated accommodation that may reflect the onset of the breakup of Rodinia. Carbon isotopic profiles through the Roan succession in Zambia show two secular δ 13C excursions of more than 10‰ to values of <−5‰ that can be correlated to the global curve for the Cryogenian. The upper excursion occurs below the Sturtian Grand Conglomérat and is therefore interpreted to record the Islay anomaly. The lower excursion is interpreted to record the Bitter Springs stage, which occurs prior to the Sturtian glacials in a number of other Cryogenian sections where, as is the case in the Roan Group section in Zambia, it is not associated with glacial strata.

Differences in the bioaccessibility of metals/metalloids in soils from mining and smelting areas (Copperbelt, Zambia)

Differences in the total and bioaccessible concentrations of As and metals (Co, Cu, Pb, Zn) in topsoils (n=107) from the mining and smelting areas in the Zambian Copperbelt were evaluated. The mean total concentrations of metals and As in topsoils were generally 2 to 7× higher in the smelting area, indicating significantly higher effect of smelter dust fallout on the degree of topsoil contamination. The contaminant bioaccessibility was tested by an US EPA-adopted in vitro method using a simulating gastric fluid containing a 0.4M solution of glycine adjusted to pH 1.5 by HCl. Higher bioaccessibilities in the smelter area were observed for As and Pb, attaining 100% of the total metal/metalloid concentration. The maximum bioaccessibilities of As and Pb in the mining area were 84% and 81%, respectively. The ranges, mean and median bioaccessibilities of Co, Cu and Zn were similar for the two areas. The maximum bioaccessibilities of Co, Cu and Zn were 58–65%, 80–83% and 79–83%, respectively. The obtained data indicate that a severe health risk related to topsoil ingestion should be taken into account, especially in smelting areas.

Local problems; local solutions: an innovative approach to investigating and addressing causes of maternal deaths in Zambia's Copperbelt

BackgroundMaternal mortality in developing countries is high and international targets for reduction are unlikely to be met. Zambia's maternal mortality ratio was 591 per 100,000 live births according to survey data (2007) while routinely collected data captured only about 10% of these deaths. In one district in Zambia medical staff reviewed deaths occurring in the labour ward but no related recommendations were documented nor was there evidence of actions taken to avert further deaths. The Investigate Maternal Deaths and Act (IMDA) approach was designed to address these deficiencies and is comprised of four components; identification of maternal deaths; investigation of factors contributing to the deaths; recommendations for action drawn up by multiple stakeholders and monitoring of progress through existing systems.MethodsA pilot was conducted in one district of Zambia. Maternal deaths occurring over a period of twelve months were identified and investigated. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with family, focus group discussions and hospital records. The information was summarized and presented at eleven data sharing meetings to key decision makers, during which recommendations for action were drawn up. An output indicator to monitor progress was included in the routine performance assessment tool. High impact interventions were identified using frequency analysis.ResultsA total of 56 maternal deaths were investigated. Poor communication, existing risk factors, a lack of resources and case management issues were the broad categories under which contributing factors were assigned. Sixty three recommendations were drawn up by key decision-makers of which two thirds were implemented by the end of the pilot period. Potential high impact actions were related to management of AIDS and pregnancy, human resources, referral mechanisms, birth planning at household level and availability of safe blood.ConclusionIn resource constrained settings the IMDA approach promotes the use of existing systems to reduce maternal mortality. In turn the capacity of local health officers to use data to determine, plan and implement relevant interventions that address the local factors contributing to maternal deaths is strengthened. Monitoring actions taken against the defined recommendations within the routine performance assessment ensures sustainability. Suggestions for further research are provided.

Neoliberalism and the polarizing water geographies of the Zambian Copperbelt

An investigation has been made of the impacts of neoliberal reforms on water and sanitation development in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Drawing inspiration from the sub-discipline of post-colonial geography, the paper begins by locating the foundations of water inequalities in the early urban planning policies of British colonialism. The paper goes on to make a critical analysis of the recently adopted water commercialization policy in relation to the historically embedded water inequality. Whilst prompting greater water conservation, commercialization is shown to lead to continued water and sanitation poverty and a widening gulf in the quality of water services between the minority water-rich and majority water-poor populations. It is concluded that in order to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation, policy makers require a more sophisticated consideration of the spatially inscribed material inequalities that characterize many former European colonies in Africa.

Leaching of metals from copper smelter flue dust (Mufulira, Zambian Copperbelt)

The leaching behaviour of electrostatic precipitator dust from the Mufulira Cu smelter (Copperbelt, Zambia) was studied using a 48-h pH-static leaching experiment (CEN/TS 14997). The release of metals (Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) and changes in mineralogical composition using X-ray diffraction and PHREEQC-2 modelling were investigated in the pH range of 3–7. The highest concentrations of metals were released at pH 3–4.5, which encompasses the natural pH of the dust suspension (4.3). About 40% of the total Cu was leached at pH 3, yielding 107 g/kg. Chalcanthite (CuSO45H2O), magnetite (Fe3O4) and delafossite (CuFeO2) represented the principal phases of the studied dust. In contact with water, chalcanthite was dissolved and hydrated Cu sulphates precipitated at pH 4–7. Gypsum (CaSO42H2O) and secondary Fe or Al phases were observed in the leached residues. Serious environmental impact due to leaching may occur in dust-contaminated soil systems in the vicinity of the smelting plants.

The Killing of Lilian Margaret Burton and Black and White Nationalisms in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) in the 1960s

The symbolic significance of politically-motivated killings of Europeans during the nationalist struggle against colonial power in Africa in the 1950s and 1960 has long eluded the scrutiny of most historians. For although many historians have demonstrated the ways in which such killings shaped the pace of the decolonisation process in the continent, they have seldom shown how the killings themselves became an important terrain on which competing black and white nationalisms were played out. This article draws on recent academic discourse that places a premium on the political significance of death to explore the ways in which the murder of Lilian Margaret Burton by African activists of the United National Independence Party on the Zambian Copperbelt in 1960 informed rival nationalisms prior to the country's independence in 1964.

The Extent of Arsenic and of Metal Uptake by Aboveground Tissues of Pteris vittata and Cyperus involucratus Growing in Copper- and Cobalt-Rich Tailings of the Zambian Copperbelt

The extent of arsenic (As) and metal accumulation in fronds of the As hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata (Chinese brake fern) and in leaves of Cyperus involucratus, which grow on the surface of an old flotation tailings pond in the Zambian Copperbelt province, was studied. The tailings consist of two types of material with distinct chemical composition: (1) reddish-brown tailings rich in As, iron (Fe), and other metals, and (2) grey-green tailings with a lower content of As, Fe, and other metals, apart from manganese (Mn). P. vittata accumulates from 2350 to 5018μgg(-1) As (total dry weight [dw]) in its fronds regardless of different total and plant-available As concentrations in both types of tailings. Concentrations of As in C. involucratus leaves are much lower (0.24-30.3μgg(-1) dw). Contents of copper (Cu) and cobalt (Co) in fronds of P. vittata (151-237 and 18-38μgg(-1) dw, respectively) and in leaves of C. involucratus (96-151 and 9-14μgg(-1) dw, respectively) are high, whereas concentrations of other metals (Fe, Mn, and zinc [Zn]) are low and comparable with contents of the given metals in common plants. Despite great differences in metal concentrations in the two types of deposited materials, concentrations of most metals in plant tissues are very similar. This indicates an exclusion or avoidance mechanism operating when concentrations of the metals in substrate are particularly high. The results of the investigation show that Chinese brake fern is not only a hyperaccumulator of As but has adapted itself to high concentrations of Cu and Co in flotation tailings of the Zambian Copperbelt.

Cobalt Uptake and Resistance to Trace Metals in Comamonas testosteroni Isolated From a Heavy-Metal Contaminated Site in the Zambian Copperbelt

A biogeochemical study of a polluted wetland site in Kitwe, Zambia shows high concentration of trace metals (e.g., > 25 and ≈ 2 fold higher than the Eco-toxic threshold values of copper and cobalt, respectively) with many sequestered with the sediment organic phase. Depth profiles in surface sediments suggest trace metal cycling between porewater and solid phases, including that of cobalt. This study documents a bacterium displaying resistance to, and accumulation of cobalt, and that cobalt has a positive effect on growth. The isolate was enriched from the microbial community and identified using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis as a strain of Comamonas testosteroni (designated C. testosteroni TDKW). Improved growth of C. testosteroni TDKW was seen with the addition of up to 200 μM cobalt (optimal growth ca. 100 μM), while concentrations above 4 mM completely inhibited growth. C. testosteroni TDKW also exhibited resistance to high concentrations of iron and manganese, but showed limited resistance to copper or nickel. Further analysis revealed cellular cobalt accumulation and the presence of heavy-metal resistance genes, tentatively suggesting that this organism could contribute to in situ biological cycling of cobalt in mineral contaminated aquatic systems.

Early years in the Geochemical Prospecting Research Centre, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London: exploration geochemistry in Zambia in the late 1950s; a personal recollection

ABSTRACT Professor John S. Webb of the Department of Mining Geology at the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London, took his first PhD student (Tony Millman) to Africa in 1949 to try some of the just-emerging geochemical prospecting techniques. In 1955 I joined the newly-formed Geochemical Prospecting Research Centre in the Department as a PhD student. I too was despatched to Africa to do geochemical prospecting research in the Zambian Copperbelt. This paper is a much-abbreviated account of a detailed exploration geochemical drainage and soil investigation of the dispersion of Cu from the copper-cobalt ore bodies using the relatively primitive analytical techniques of the period. In addition to some science, an attempt is made to give a flavour of the time and place through anecdotes and a description of the way of life. The paper ends with a short account from a current PhD student at Adelaide University of some contemporary exploration geochemical work in Africa and northern Australia.

Economic Restructuring in the Zambian Copperbelt: Local Responses in Ndola

Since 2002, Zambia has experienced a decentralisation of powers from central government to local level. Accompanying this shift towards decentralisation, local economic development (LED) planning emerged in several urban centres. The aim in this article is to examine one facet of emerging LED planning in Zambia, analysing local responses towards economic restructuring of Copperbelt Province. The specific focus is the city of Ndola, which experienced economic decline from the early 1990s. The paper highlights the weaknesses and limitations of municipal-led interventions for LED and documents the expansion of community-led local responses to economic decline as expressed in the growth of urban cultivation.

The use of species–stem curves in sampling the development of the Zambian miombo woodland species in charcoal production and slash-and-burn regrowth stands

The use of fixed-area plot methods was considered unsuitable to compare the responses and recovery over time of different miombo woodland species to different land-use practices (i.e. charcoal production and slash-and-burn agriculture). Young regrowth stages have many stems and the older more advanced stages have fewer stems. Different land-use practices in miombo woodland impact on the recovery potential of the woodlands. Timber harvesting does not result in significant change in stocking of the woodland compared to changes in regrowth after vegetation clearing for either charcoal production or slash-and-burn agriculture. After such clearing the woodland regrowth changes from an initial high stocking to a much lower stocking over time. This study in Zambian Copperbelt miombo woodland assessed the feasibility to use species–stem curves to determine the optimum number of stems or plants to record at a sampling point in order to compare species recovery over time in regrowth stands 2–15 years after ending the slash-and-burn and charcoal production activities. The results show that 34 and 31 stems or plants for slash-and-burn and charcoal production regrowth stands, respectively, would adequately capture the representative number of species to describe the plant community of these regrowth stands. The research has also revealed that the use of fixed-area methods would result in the measuring of too many plants in one category (younger stands) with too few in the other category (advanced stands). Therefore, the study explains why, and concludes that, variable plot size is an appropriate method for sampling species recovery in regrowth stands.