Gath's mine, near Mashaba, Zimbabwe

Gath's mine was a chrysotile mine at Mashaba, in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and the sources count it among the first asbestos mines of the country.^1,3,5 A 1948 history in Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, says that "a prospector by the name of John William Gath was authorized to peg some ground at Mashaba on June 28th 1907 and this is the site of the well-known Gath's mine."¹ W. E. Sinclair, a mining engineer writing in the same journal in 1960, said that "the earliest mining accounted for the first officially recorded asbestos output in 1908" there.³

The first shipments

The sources agree on a first lot of 55 tons in 1908 but not on what it fetched.^1,2,3 A. G. Pryce-Williams wrote in Asbestos in 1923 that "the old Gaths claim" began producing in 1908 and that a trial shipment of 55 tons to England "realized £18. 10s a ton (about $90)."² The 1948 history gives the story "from one source" that the first shipment of 55 tons "brought £18 (about $90.) or 10 shillings a ton."¹ Sinclair wrote that it was "55 tons of crude hand-cobbed chrysotile which was valued at the modest sum of £550, or £10. per ton."³ They differ on what came next too: the 1948 history says that "the following year 272 tons were produced," while Sinclair wrote of "the cessation of all further production till 1914."^1,3

Owners

According to the 1948 history, "the Mine has changed hands a number of times": Gath "sold the claims to the Forbes Rhodesian Syndicate for £600 in December 1907," the syndicate changed its name to the Rhodesian Asbestos Co. in June 1908, and the property "kept changing hands at an increasing figure until 1917 when it was acquired by the Rhodesian & General Asbestos Corporation."¹ The same article says that "in 1929 Turner & Newall bought the mine."¹ Other sources name other owners: an unsigned 1923 article in Asbestos says "the Gath Mine is also owned by the Davis Group," and a 1944 article names it "Gath's Mine, in Mashaba, of African Associated Mines Ltd."^2,6 In 1948 the trade journal wrote that Turner & Newall operated "the Shabanie and Gath's Mines in Southern Rhodesia," with fiber from Gath's sold under the mark "VRA (Gath's)."⁷ Sources from 1953 to 1975 tie the mine to the Rhodesian & General Asbestos Corporation.^3,8,9,10,11 The U.S. Bureau of Mines' Minerals Yearbook for 1980 says that near Mashaba "the company operates another mine (Gaths Mine)," naming the company as African Associated Mines.¹²

The pit, the shaft and the mill

The 1923 visitor described a pit "about 3500 feet long by 600 feet across, rather cut up in appearance," where "about 50,000 tons of rock is moved monthly, the fibre content being low, possibly less than 1%."² In 1928 the trade journal noted that a tourist booklet named "the Mashaba Asbestos Mines (King and Gath)" as "one of the show places for tourists."¹³ The 1944 article on mining methods gave Gath's as an example of bench, or open pit, mining.⁶ The Minerals Yearbook for 1964, citing the Mining Journal of London, reported that the Cementation Co. (Rhodesia) "would sink the new King Section shaft at Gath's mine," a "concrete-lined shaft" to be "20 feet in diameter and 1,458 feet deep"; Asbestos put the contract at "£300,000."^9,14 In 1981 the trade journal reported that "Gaths and King, where a new mill was opened in 1973, are crushing 180,000 tonnes a month from underground and old dumps."¹⁵

Output

The trade journal's production tables gave Gath's "354.79" tons in September 1929, and Gath's and King together "280.35" tons in October 1934 and "800.00" tons in June 1945, the last from the Rhodesia Chamber of Mines.^4,16,17 Sinclair wrote in 1953 that Gaths and Kings were the most important of "some twenty different mines" in the Mashaba district, and in 1960 that "one-third" of the Rhodesian & General group's 1958 total "came from the original Mashaba Mines, Gaths and King."^3,8

The documents report this mine producing asbestos fiber for sale.¹

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	Figure	Source
1908	55 tons	1
1908	55 tons of crude hand-cobbed chrysotile	3
1909	272 tons	1
1923	50,000 tons of rock per month	2
1929	354.8 tons (2000 lbs.)	4
1934	280.4 tons (2000 lbs.)	16
1945	800 tons (2000 lbs.)	17

Year by year

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

1907

• Opened: “John William Gath was authorized to peg some ground at Mashaba on June 28th 1907” (John William Gath), p. 6¹
• Ownership: “Gath sold the claims to the Forbes Rhodesian Syndicate for £600 in December 1907” (Forbes Rhodesian Syndicate), p. 6¹

1908

• Opened: “the old Gaths claim, which began producing in 1908”, said by A. G. Pryce-Williams, B. Sc., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 14²
• Output: “The first shipment of 55 tons, made in 1908”, p. 6¹
• Output: “This amounted to 55 tons of crude hand-cobbed chrysotile which was valued at the modest sum of £550”, said by W. E. Sinclair, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 4³
• Opened: “the pegging of claims, where the asbestos had been disclosed in serpentine rocks on ground that was ultimately the site of Gaths Mine. It was here that the earliest mining accounted for the first officially recorded asbestos output in 1908”, said by W. E. Sinclair, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 4³
• Idle: “the cessation of all further production till 1914”, said by W. E. Sinclair, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 4³
• Ownership: “This Syndicate changed its name to the Rhodesian Asbestos Co. in June 1908” (Rhodesian Asbestos Co.), p. 6¹

1909

• Output: “The following year 272 tons were produced”, p. 6¹

1917

• Ownership: “1917 when it was acquired by the Rhodesian & General Asbestos Corporation” (Rhodesian & General Asbestos Corporation), p. 6¹

1923

• Description: “the pit is tremendous, about 3500 feet long by 600 feet across”, p. 31²
• Ownership: “The Gath Mine is also owned by the Davis Group” (Davis Group), p. 31²
• Output: “About 50,000 tons of rock is moved monthly”, p. 31²

1927

• Description: “The Mashaba Asbestos Mines (King and Gath) ... one of the show places for tourists”, p. 45¹³

1929

• Ownership: “In 1929 Turner & Newall bought the mine” (Turner & Newall), p. 6¹
• Output: “354.79 tons (2000 lbs.) in September 1929” (Rho. & Gen. Asb. Corp. Ltd.), p. 45⁴

1931

• Worked: “Rhodesian white asbestos, product of the "GATHS" mine”, said by Raw Asbestos Distributors Ltd., p. 35⁵

1934

• Output: “Gath's & King (Rho. & Gen. Asb. Corp. Ltd.): 280.35 tons (2000 lbs.), October 1934” (Rho. & Gen. Asb. Corp. Ltd.), p. 32¹⁶

1942

• Worked: “GATH'S MINE - MASHABA”, said by Raw Asbestos Distributors Ltd., p. 24¹⁸

1944

• Ownership: “Gath's Mine, in Mashaba, of African Associated Mines Ltd.” (African Associated Mines Ltd.), p. 12⁶
• Description: “Bench (open pit) mining example: Gath's Mine, in Mashaba, of African Associated Mines Ltd.” (African Associated Mines Ltd.), p. 12⁶

1945

• Output: “Gath's & King (Rho. & Gen. Asb. Corp Ltd.) 800.00 [tons, June 1945]” (Rho. & Gen. Asb. Corp Ltd.), as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 44¹⁷

1948

• Worked: “The Turner & Newall Limited organization operates” (Turner & Newall Limited), p. 42⁷
• Description: “fibre distributed under the mark VRA (Gath's)” (Turner & Newall Limited), p. 42⁷

1952

• Worked: “Gaths ... controlled by the Rhodesia & General Asbestos Corp.” (Rhodesia & General Asbestos Corp.), said by W. E. Sinclair, M.I.M.M. (Consulting Mining Engineer), as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 12⁸

1958

• Worked: “One-third of this total came from the original Mashaba Mines, Gaths and King” (Rhodesian General Asbestos Corporation Limited (Turner Newall Limited)), said by W. E. Sinclair, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 10³

1964

• Description: “The concrete-lined shaft will be 20 feet in diameter and 1,458 feet deep” (Rhodesian & General Asbestos Corp. (Pvt.), Ltd.), as reported by Mining Journal (London), p. 10⁹
• Worked: “Rhodesian & General Asbestos Corp. (Pvt.), Ltd., of Bulawayo ... Gath's mine” (Rhodesian & General Asbestos Corp. (Pvt.), Ltd.), p. 10⁹
• Exploration: “would sink the new King Section shaft at Gath's mine” (Rhodesian & General Asbestos Corp. (Pvt.), Ltd.), as reported by Mining Journal (London), p. 10⁹

1965

• Exploration: “A £300,000 contract for sinking the new King section shaft at Gath's Mine in Southern Rhodesia is being carried out for the Rhodesian and General Asbestos Corporation” (Rhodesian and General Asbestos Corporation), p. 23¹⁴

1972

• Worked: “R&G mines include the Shabani, King, Gaths and Temeraire operations” (Rhodesian and General Asbestos Corporation), p. 30¹⁰

1975

• Worked: “operates the Shabanie, Gaths, Temeraire and King Mines in the Shabanie region” (Rhodesian and General Asbestos Corporation), p. 42¹¹

1980

• Worked: “the company operates another mine (Gaths Mine)” (African Associated Mines (Pvt.) Ltd. (AAM)), p. 9¹²
• Mill: “Gaths and King, where a new mill was opened in 1973, are crushing 180,000 tonnes a month from underground and old dumps” (African Associates Mines), p. 33¹⁵

Other names

Documents call this mine “Gath's mine”, “King Section shaft”, “Gaths Mine”, “Gaths claim”, “Gath Mine”, “Gath's & King”, “Gaths”, “Gath”.

See also

• Mashaba Mine in the Lexicon
• All asbestos mines

References

1. Asbestos Magazine, 1948, August 1948 (August 1, 1948), p. 6.
2. Asbestos Magazine, 1923, March 1923 (March 1, 1923), pp. 14, 31.
3. Asbestos Magazine, 1960, April 1960 (April 1, 1960), pp. 4, 10.
4. Asbestos Magazine, 1930, January 1930 (January 1, 1930), p. 45.
5. Asbestos Magazine, 1931, January 1931 (January 1, 1931), p. 35.
6. Asbestos Magazine, 1944, October 1944 (October 1, 1944), p. 12.
7. Asbestos Magazine, 1948, April 1948 (April 1, 1948), p. 42.
8. Asbestos Magazine, 1953, September 1953 (September 1, 1953), p. 12.
9. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1964 (January 1, 1965), p. 10.
10. Asbestos Magazine, 1972, March 1972 (March 1, 1972), p. 30.
11. Asbestos Magazine, 1975, December 1975 (December 1, 1975), p. 42.
12. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1980 (January 1, 1981), p. 9.
13. Asbestos Magazine, 1928, January 1928 (January 1, 1928), p. 45.
14. Asbestos Magazine, 1965, February 1965 (February 1, 1965), p. 23.
15. Asbestos Magazine, 1981, January 1981 (January 1, 1981), p. 33.
16. Asbestos Magazine, 1935, January 1935 (January 1, 1935), p. 32.
17. Asbestos Magazine, 1945, October 1945 (October 1, 1945), p. 44.
18. Asbestos Magazine, 1942, January 1942 (January 1, 1942), p. 24.