D. S. O. mine, Mashaba, Zimbabwe

The D. S. O. was a chrysotile mine in the Mashaba district of what the sources call Southern Rhodesia, which the Mashaba Rhodesian Asbestos Co. named among its mines in its report for 1949.¹ A production table in Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, credited it with 10.00 tons (2000 lbs.) for October 1934.⁵ In 1946 the journal understood the D. S. O. and Rosey Cross properties to be "merely maintained."⁸ The mining engineer W. E. Sinclair called it one of the district's "other well-known producers" in 1953, and in 1960 named it among the mines from which the Ross McIntyre & Co. group produced 6,240 tons in 1958.^2,4 A 1956 table lists it under Mashaba Rhodesian Asbestos.³ In 1977 the journal said that D.S.O. Asbestos (Pvt) Ltd., of Mashaba, "runs the D.S.O. Mine at Crown Land, Victoria," and in 1981 that the mine, "wholly-owned by the Industrial Development Corporation, produces about 6000 tonnes a year of Grades 4 and 5."^6,7

The documents report this mine producing asbestos fiber for sale.⁷

Location

Output the documents report

Figures as printed, in the units each document uses (short tons before about 1990, metric tons after, in most U.S. chapters). Some are a year's output, some a daily rate or a capacity, some a company's total rather than this mine's alone; the statement for that year below says which.

Year by year

Every statement about this mine in the documents, in each document's own words, by the year it is about.

1934

• Output: “D. S. O. (Mashaba Rho. Asb. Co. Ltd.): 10.00 tons (2000 lbs.), October 1934” (Mashaba Rho. Asb. Co. Ltd.), p. 32⁵

1946

• Idle: “being merely maintained” (Mashaba Rhodesian Asbestos Co., Ltd.), as reported by The South African Mining and Engineering Journal, p. 45⁸

1949

• Ownership: “This firm owns mines in Southern Rhodesia producing Chrysotile Asbestos” (Mashaba Rhodesian Asbestos Co., Ltd.), said by Mashaba Rhodesian Asbestos Co., Ltd., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 44¹

1952

• Worked: “D.S.O. ... (Mashaba Rhodesian Asbestos Ltd.)” (Mashaba Rhodesian Asbestos Ltd.), said by W. E. Sinclair, M.I.M.M. (Consulting Mining Engineer), as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 12²

1955

• Worked: “Mashaba Rhod. Asbestos | D. S. O.” (Mashaba Rhod. Asbestos), p. 10³

1958

• Worked: “Ross McIntyre &Co., produced a total of 6,240 tons in the same period from the ... D.S.O.” (Ross McIntyre & Co.), said by W. E. Sinclair, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 10⁴

1977

• Worked: “runs the D.S.O. Mine at Crown Land, Victoria” (D.S.O. Asbestos (Pvt) Ltd.), p. 36⁶

1980

• Output: “The DSO Mine, wholly-owned by the Industrial Development Corporation, produces about 6000 tonnes a year of Grades 4 and 5” (Industrial Development Corporation), p. 33⁷

Other names

Documents call this mine “D. S. O.”, “D.S.O.”, “D.S.O. Mine”, “DSO Mine”.

References

1. Asbestos Magazine, 1950, May 1950 (May 1, 1950), p. 44.
2. Asbestos Magazine, 1953, September 1953 (September 1, 1953), p. 12.
3. Asbestos Magazine, 1956, June 1956 (June 1, 1956), p. 10.
4. Asbestos Magazine, 1960, April 1960 (April 1, 1960), p. 10.
5. Asbestos Magazine, 1935, January 1935 (January 1, 1935), p. 32.
6. Asbestos Magazine, 1977, December 1977 (December 1, 1977), p. 36.
7. Asbestos Magazine, 1981, January 1981 (January 1, 1981), p. 33.
8. Asbestos Magazine, 1946, April 1946 (April 1, 1946), p. 45.