Ethel mine, near Salisbury, Zimbabwe

The Ethel mine was an asbestos mine on the Great Dyke in what was then Southern Rhodesia, and the sources place it in different ways: in the Lomagundi district, "in the Umvukwes," "near Salisbury," "about 72 miles north of Salisbury," and at Mtoroshanga.^1,8,9,10,11 Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, wrote in 1957 that it was "one of the oldest mines in this series" and "well known."¹⁰

The early mine

A production table in Asbestos in January 1930 listed the Ethel, under the Rhodesia Chrome & Asbestos Company, at 15.35 tons, of 2000 pounds each, for September 1929.⁴ The company's report for 1930, as quoted from the S. A. Mining & Engineering Journal, said that "owing to the continued slump in the asbestos market, the Ethel mine was closed down at the end of March 1930."⁷ A 1942 article in the trade journal, looking back, named "the Ethel mine in the Lomagundi district" among the areas producing asbestos in 1930.¹ In 1950, drawing on the London Mining Journal, Asbestos said the Ethel was the only producer on the Great Dyke so far, that its lode "is associated with a fault cutting across the Dyke in an east and west direction," and that "the mine proper is not in operation, but some asbestos is being recovered from the old waste dumps."⁸

Expansion and output

In 1953 the consulting mining engineer W. E. Sinclair wrote in Asbestos that "the main mine in the Lomagundi area is the Ethel Mine which has been in existence for some time."² The U.S. Bureau of Mines' Minerals Yearbook for 1955 reported that "expansion plans were announced" at the Ethel mine, "with expectations of increased mechanization as a means of meeting rising costs."⁹ A table of producing mines printed in Asbestos in June 1956 gave the Ethel an average monthly production of 90 short tons.⁵ In 1960 Sinclair wrote that of the deposits in the area "only one of any substance (the Ethel Mine at Lomagundi) is producing today."³ The yearbook, citing Mineral Trade Notes, reported that "the expanded plant at the Ethel mine in the northern Umvukwes area produced 2,500 tons of grades 3 and 4 fibers in 1960, all exported to Sweden."⁶ For 1962, citing Rhodesian Mining and Engineering, it noted "the sinking of an 1,100-foot inclined shaft" at the mine.¹² In December 1966 Asbestos reported that Ethel Asbestos Mines, of Mtoroshanga, was "suspending mining operations."¹¹

The documents report this mine producing asbestos fiber for sale.⁶

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.

1929

• Output: “15.35 tons (2000 lbs.) in September 1929” (Rho. Chrome & Asb. Co. Ltd.), p. 45⁴

1930

• Worked: “In 1930 the Ethel mine in the Lomagundi district was a producing area”, p. 6¹
• Closed: “Ethel mine closed down at the end of March 1930 owing to the continued slump” (Rhodesia Chrome & Asbestos Company), said by Rhodesia Chrome & Asbestos Company, as reported by S. A. Mining & Engrg. Journal, p. 52⁷

1950

• Description: “The asbestos lode of the Ethel is associated with a fault cutting across the Dyke”, as reported by The Mining Journal (London), April 28, 1950, p. 16⁸
• Idle: “The mine proper is not in operation, but some asbestos is being recovered from the old waste dumps”, as reported by The Mining Journal (London), April 28, 1950, p. 16⁸

1953

• Worked: “The main mine in the Lomagundi area is the Ethel Mine”, said by W. E. Sinclair, M.I.M.M. (Consulting Mining Engineer), as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 12²

1955

• Description: “Expansion plans were announced at ... the Ethel mine near Salisbury”, p. 13⁹
• Output: “Ethel Asbest. | Ethel | 90” (Ethel Asbest.), p. 10⁵

1956

• Description: “The asbestos occurrence at the Ethel mine ... was described in some detail”, as reported by Bulletin of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, p. 12¹³

1957

• Description: “One of the oldest mines in this series is the well known Ethel Mine situated about 72 miles north of Salisbury”, p. 10¹⁰

1960

• Worked: “only one of any substance (the Ethel Mine at Lomagundi) is producing today”, said by W. E. Sinclair, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 6³
• Buyers: “all exported to Sweden”, as reported by Mineral Trade Notes, p. 11⁶
• Output: “produced 2,500 tons of grades 3 and 4 fibers in 1960”, as reported by Mineral Trade Notes, p. 11⁶
• Mill: “The expanded plant at the Ethel mine”, p. 11⁶

1961

• Description: “Descriptions of operations and flowsheets were published”, as reported by Bulletin of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (London), p. 11⁶

1962

• Exploration: “The sinking of an 1,100-foot inclined shaft at the Ethel mine ... was described”, as reported by Rhodesian Mining and Engineering (Salisbury), p. 11¹²

1966

• Idle: “are suspending mining operations” (Ethel Asbestos Mines), p. 6¹¹

1978

• Description: “one of unusual interest and about which surprisingly little is known, is the Ethel Mine, near Mtoroshanga”, as reported by Chamber of Mines Journal, p. 52¹⁴

Other names

Documents call this mine “Ethel mine”, “Ethel Mine in the Umvukwes”, “Ethel Mine at Lomagundi”.

References

1. Asbestos Magazine, 1942, July 1942 (July 1, 1942), p. 6.
2. Asbestos Magazine, 1953, September 1953 (September 1, 1953), p. 12.
3. Asbestos Magazine, 1960, April 1960 (April 1, 1960), p. 6.
4. Asbestos Magazine, 1930, January 1930 (January 1, 1930), p. 45.
5. Asbestos Magazine, 1956, June 1956 (June 1, 1956), p. 10.
6. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1961 (January 1, 1962), p. 11.
7. Asbestos Magazine, 1931, September 1931 (September 1, 1931), p. 52.
8. Asbestos Magazine, 1950, August 1950 (August 1, 1950), p. 16.
9. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1955 (January 1, 1956), p. 13.
10. Asbestos Magazine, 1957, April 1957 (April 1, 1957), p. 10.
11. Asbestos Magazine, 1966, December 1966 (December 1, 1966), p. 6.
12. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1962 (January 1, 1963), p. 11.
13. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1956 (January 1, 1957), p. 12.
14. Asbestos Magazine, 1978, August 1978 (August 1, 1978), p. 52.