The Rosh Pinah mine is a mine near

Rosh Pinah Rosh Pinah is a mining town located in southern Namibia, close to the border with South Africa. It is situated south of Keetmanshoop in Namibia's ǁKaras Region. West of the town lies Sperrgebiet, Diamond Area 1, the main diamond mining area of ...

in the

ǁKaras Region The ǁKaras Region (pronounced , with a lateral click) is the southernmost and least densely populated of the 14 regions of Namibia; its capital is Keetmanshoop. The name assigned to the region reflects the prominence of the Karas mountain ra ...

of southern

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. It is one of the largest and most important

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

mines in

. The mine is located in the extreme southwest, about north of the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...

and 50 kilometers east of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. The mine is owned by Trevali Mining Corporation since 2017.

History

German-born Jew Mose Kohan discovered zinc in the nearby Hunz Mountains in 1963. He also coined the name "Rosh Pinah" which is a Hebrew term for "cornerstone".Tonchi, Victor L., William A. Lindeke, and John J. Grotpeter
"Rosh Pinah Mine"
Historical Dictionary of Namibia. 2nd edition. (2012) Toronto: The Scarecrow Press, Inc, p. 373. The mine has been in continuous operation since 1969. Glencore acquired 50.04% ownership of the mine in 2011 and increased its stake shortly thereafter to 80.08%. The remainder of the shares were owned by

Black Economic Empowerment Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a policy of the South African government which aims to facilitate broader participation in the economy by black people. A form of affirmative action, it is intended especially to redress the inequalities creat ...

(BEE) actors ''PE Minerals'', owned by

Aaron Mushimba Aaron Twapewa Johannes Mushimba (29 November 1946 – 31 August 2014) was a Namibian businessperson. Described as a business mogul, Mushimba was involved with the trading of diamonds. He was linked to Belgian American diamond merchant Maurice Tempe ...

, ''Jaguar Investments Four'', and a trust representing mine employees. In June 2014, Glencore announced laying off 124 employees from the Rosh Pinah mine. In 2017 Glencore sold its majority stake along with other zinc assets to Trevali Mining Corporation for $400 million. In May 2018, Trevali increased its ownership to 90%. In 2020, Trevali Mining Corporation launched a drilling study to consider the expansion of the mining reserve, a project forecasted to cost $93 million.

Minerals

The mine has reserves amounting to 14 million tonnes of ore grading 2%

and 8%

thus resulting 280,000 tonnes of

and 1.12 million tonnes of

. The mine also produces copper, silver and gold as byproducts.

References

Lead and zinc mines in Namibia Buildings and structures in ǁKaras Region 1969 establishments in South West Africa {{Namibia-stub

History

Minerals

See also

References