Alaska is a small town in central northern
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
in
Makonde District Makonde District is a district in Zimbabwe.
Location
The district is located in Mashonaland West Province, in north central Zimbabwe. Its main town, Chinhoyi, with an estimated population of 61,739 people in 2004, is located about , by road, northw ...
,
Mashonaland West Province
Mashonaland West is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 57,441 km² and a population of approximately 1.5 million (2012). Chinhoyi is the capital of the province.
Districts
Mashonaland West is divided into 7 districts:
* Chegutu
* ...
.
Location
The town is located approximately west of the city of
Chinhoyi
Chinhoyi, known until 1982 as Sinoia, is a city in central northern Zimbabwe in the Makonde District. It has a population of 90,800 and is primarily a college town, although it was originally founded as an Italian group settlement scheme. The ...
, the location of the district and provincial headquarters.
Approximately to the northeast of Alaska are the Chinhoyi Caves in the
Chinhoyi Caves National Park, a local tourist attraction. The town sits at an elevation of , above sea level.
History
Alaska grew up around the eponymous Alaska Mine, where pre-colonial miners are believed to have mined about a million tonnes of ore. Messina Transvaal Development Company (MTD) started producing
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
in 1959 and the Mine closed in 1977. MTD built a smelter nearby in 1966 and a Refinery in 1980. Other mines in the district also produced copper flotation concentrate which was brought to Alaska for
smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a ch ...
and
refining
{{Unreferenced, date=December 2009
Refining (also perhaps called by the mathematical term affining) is the process of purification of a (1) substance or a (2) form. The term is usually used of a natural resource that is almost in a usable form, b ...
.
These Mines included MTD's Mhangura copper mine in Mhangura and Shackleton mine near Lions Den. The smelter and refinery closed in late 2000 by which time most of the mines feeding it had to close, devastating the local economy and plunging the town's inhabitants into poverty. Periodic reports of Chinese investment reopening the mine and smelter have not come to fruition.
Population
According to the 1982 Population Census, the town had a population of 3,854.
By 2002 its population stood at 3,846 people.
See also
*
Districts of Zimbabwe
The Republic of Zimbabwe is broken down into 10 administrative provinces, which are divided into 59 districts and 1,200 wards.
Bulawayo Province
* Bulawayo
Harare Province
* Harare
Manicaland Province
* Buhera
* Chi ...
*
Provinces of Zimbabwe
Provinces are constituent Polity, political entities of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe currently has ten provinces, two of which are City, cities with provincial status. Zimbabwe is a unitary state, and its provinces exercise only the powers that the centra ...
*
Economy of Zimbabwe
The economy of Zimbabwe mainly relies on the tertiary sector of the economy, also known as the service sector of the economy, which makes up to 60% of total GDP as of 2017. Zimbabwe has the second biggest Informal economy in the world as a perc ...
References
{{coord, 17, 22, 30, S, 30, 03, 54, E, display=title
Populated places in Mashonaland West Province
Makonde District
1959 establishments in Southern Rhodesia
Populated places established in 1959