|
Mining Industry Of Lesotho
The mining industry of Lesotho is mostly concentrated on diamond mining and as such the mining sector in the country has not played any significant role in furthering its economy. Apart from diamonds, the country's main mineral resources have been identified as base metals, clays, dimension stone, sand, gravel and uranium. The lack of initiative to extract other minerals commercially is mainly attributed to the inadequacy of infrastructure and finances. Between 2000 and 2011, the percentage of GDP contributed by diamond mining to Lesothos economy rose from "virtually zero" to about 4%. History The mining of diamonds started in the country only in the later part of the 1950s. Mining licenses for diamonds from Kao and Liqhobong pipes were operated for a short period from 1959 till Lesotho's independence. Following the independence of the country, the mines were closed due to poor production. In Lesotho's mining history, skilled artisans (known as Basotho diggers) have been extracting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of carbon at Standard conditions for temperature and pressure, room temperature and pressure, but diamond is metastable and converts to it at a negligible rate under those conditions. Diamond has the highest Scratch hardness, hardness and thermal conductivity of any natural material, properties that are used in major industrial applications such as cutting and polishing tools. They are also the reason that diamond anvil cells can subject materials to pressures found deep in the Earth. Because the arrangement of atoms in diamond is extremely rigid, few types of impurity can contaminate it (two exceptions are boron and nitrogen). Small numbers of lattice defect, defects or impurities (about one per million of lattice atoms) color diamond blue (bor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mining In Lesotho
The mining industry of Lesotho is mostly concentrated on diamond mining and as such the mining sector in the country has not played any significant role in furthering its economy. Apart from diamonds, the country's main mineral resources have been identified as base metals, clays, dimension stone, sand, gravel and uranium. The lack of initiative to extract other minerals commercially is mainly attributed to the inadequacy of infrastructure and finances. Between 2000 and 2011, the percentage of GDP contributed by diamond mining to Lesothos economy rose from "virtually zero" to about 4%. History The mining of diamonds started in the country only in the later part of the 1950s. Mining licenses for diamonds from Kao and Liqhobong pipes were operated for a short period from 1959 till Lesotho's independence. Following the independence of the country, the mines were closed due to poor production. In Lesotho's mining history, skilled artisans (known as Basotho diggers) have been extracting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bituminous
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term asphaltum was also used. Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org) The word is derived from the Ancient Greek ἄσφαλτος ''ásphaltos''. The largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world, estimated to contain 10 million tons, is the Pitch Lake located in La Brea in southwest Trinidad (Antilles island located on the northeastern coast of Venezuela), within the Siparia Regional Corporation. The primary use (70%) of asphalt is in road construction, where it is used as the glue or binder mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete. Its other main uses are for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of roofing felt and for sealing flat roofs. In material sciences and engineering, the terms "asphalt" an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artisanal Mining
An artisanal miner or small-scale miner (ASM) is a subsistence miner who is not officially employed by a mining company, but works independently, mining minerals using their own resources, usually by hand. Small-scale mining includes enterprises or individuals that employ workers for mining, but generally still using manually-intensive methods, working with hand tools. Artisanal miners often undertake the activity of mining seasonally – for example crops are planted in the rainy season, and mining is pursued in the dry season. However, they also frequently travel to mining areas and work year-round. There are four broad types of ASM: permanent artisanal mining, seasonal (annually migrating during idle agriculture periods), rush-type (massive migration, pulled often by commodity price jumps), and shock-push (poverty-drive, following conflict or natural disasters). ASM is an important socio-economic sector for the rural poor in many developing nations, many of whom have few ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is the process established in 2003 to prevent "conflict diamonds" from entering the mainstream rough diamond market by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 55/56 following recommendations in the Fowler Report. The process was set up "to ensure that diamond purchases were not financing violence by rebel movements and their allies seeking to undermine legitimate governments." The effectiveness of the process has been brought into question by organizations such as Global Witness (pulled out of the scheme on 5 December 2011) and IMPACT (pulled out on 14 December 2017), claiming it has failed in its purpose and does not provide markets with assurance that the diamonds are not conflict diamonds. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch have also argued that the Kimberley Process is too narrow in scope and does not adequately serve to eliminate other human rights concerns from the diamond production chain. History The United Nati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dike (geology)
A dike or dyke, in Geology, geological usage, is a sheet of rock that is formed in a Fracture (geology), fracture of a pre-existing rock body. Dikes can be either Intrusive rock, magmatic or Sedimentary rock, sedimentary in origin. Magmatic dikes form when magma flows into a crack then solidifies as a sheet intrusion, either cutting across layers of rock or through a contiguous mass of rock. Clastic dikes are formed when sediment fills a pre-existing crack.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Ed, Stephen Marshak Magmatic dikes A magmatic dike is a sheet of igneous rock that cuts across older rock beds. It is formed when magma fills a fracture in the older beds and then cools and solidifies. The dike rock is usually more resistant to weathering than the surrounding rock, so that erosion exposes the dike as a natural wall or ridge. It is from these natural walls that dikes get their name. Dikes preserve a record of the fissures through which most mafic magma (fluid magma low in silica) reac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volcanic Pipe
Volcanic pipes or volcanic conduits are subterranean geological structures formed by the violent, supersonic eruption of deep-origin volcanoes. They are considered to be a type of ''diatreme''. Volcanic pipes are composed of a deep, narrow cone of solidified magma (described as "carrot-shaped"), and are usually largely composed of one of two characteristic rock types — kimberlite or lamproite. These rocks reflect the composition of the volcanoes' deep magma sources, where the Earth is rich in magnesium. Volcanic pipes are relatively rare. They are well known as the primary source of diamonds, and are mined for this purpose. Formation Volcanic pipes form as the result of violent eruptions of deep-origin volcanoes. These volcanoes originate at least three times as deep as most other volcanoes, and the resulting magma that is pushed toward the surface is high in magnesium and volatile compounds such as water and carbon dioxide. As the body of magma rises toward the surface, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kimberlite
Kimberlite is an igneous rock and a rare variant of peridotite. It is most commonly known to be the main host matrix for diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an diamond called the Star of South Africa in 1869 spawned a diamond rush and the digging of the open-pit mine called the Big Hole. Previously, the term kimberlite has been applied to olivine lamproites as Kimberlite II, however this has been in error. Kimberlite occurs in the Earth's crust in vertical structures known as kimberlite pipes, as well as igneous dykes. Kimberlite also occurs as horizontal sills. Kimberlite pipes are the most important source of mined diamonds today. The consensus on kimberlites is that they are formed deep within the mantle. Formation occurs at depths between , potentially from anomalously enriched exotic mantle compositions, and they are erupted rapidly and violently, often with considerable carbon dioxide and other volatile componen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kao Mine
Kao may refer to: Mythology * Kao (bull), a supernatural divine bull in Meitei mythology, captured by Khuman Khamba Places * Käo, Saare County, Estonia, a village * Käo, Tartu County, Estonia, a village * Kao, Indonesia, a town * Kao, Lesotho, a community council * Kao, Niger, a village and rural commune * Kao, Togo, a village * Kao (island), Tonga * Kao (crater), a lunar crater People * Gao (surname), sometimes romanized as Kao * Kaō (painter) ), Japanese painter * R. N. Kao (1918–2002), Indian spymaster, first chief of India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing Acronym * Kuiper Airborne Observatory * Keith-Albee-Orpheum, abbreviated KAO or K-A-O, owners of an American chain of vaudeville and motion picture theatres * Communist Workers Organisation (Netherlands) (''Kommunistische Arbeidersorganisatie'') Other uses * Kao language, of Indonesia * Kaō, a stylized signature or a mark used in place of a signature in East Asia * Kao Corporation, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucara Diamond
Lucara Diamond Corp. is a diamond exploration and mining company, founded in 2009 by two Canadian mining executives, Eira Thomas, Catherine McLeod-Seltzer and Swedish-Canadian mining billionaire Lukas Lundin, operating in Southern Africa but established in Canada. In November 2015, Lesedi La Rona, the world's second largest gem-quality diamond ever found, was found at the Karowe mine in Botswana. Operations Lucara owned a 40% share of the AK6 kimberlite project (now the Karowe mine) in Botswana. In October 2010, Lucara bought African Diamonds, giving it a 100% share in the mine. The mine has an estimated $US2.2 billion of diamonds. AK6 is in the Orapa/Letlhakane district. Other operations include the Mothae diamond project in Lesotho, where kimberlite processing began in June 2010, and where a 53.5 carat diamond has already been discovered; the Kavango project in Namibia; and planned mines and applications for mining licenses in Zimbabwe, Cameroon, and Botswana. Noted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kao, Lesotho
Kao, Lesotho is a community council located in the Butha-Buthe District of Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou .... Its population in 2006 was 5,304. Villages The community of Kao includes the villages ofLesotho Bureau of StatisticsVillage List 2006. Ha KhokongHa LeketlaneHa LephatsoanaHa LesaoanaHa MahlekefaneHa MaphaleHa Matsoete (Boritsa)Ha RakotoaneHa Ralinko Ha SelloHa Sepetla (Boritsa)Ha TlholoHa TomoKaoKhatlengKhohlong (Boritsa)Khohlong (Ha Rampai)Khutlo-Seaja (Ha Molema) LehlakanengLihloahloeng (Kao)Mafiseng (Ha Rampai)MasuoanengMatebeleng (Khokong)Perekising (Boritsa)Pimville (Boritsa)Tiping References External links Google map of community villages Populated places in Butha-Buthe District {{Lesotho-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
