Gurumba Tumba mine, Belingwe area, Zimbabwe

Writing in Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, in September 1953, the consulting mining engineer W. E. Sinclair named the Vanguard and the Gurumba Tumba Mines as "the main producers" in the Belingwe area of Southern Rhodesia.¹ In June 1954 he listed "Gurumba Tumba at Belingwe" among the Rhodesian mines that "have stopped production."⁴ A Reuters report printed in Asbestos in December 1956 said the mine "is owned by the Southern Rhodesian Chrysotile Corporation," and that R. M. P. Minerals was "tributing the asbestos dumps on the Gurumba Tumba property."² Citing the Rhodesian Chamber of Mines, the report said R. M. P. Minerals "produced 11 tons of asbestos in May, 36.75 tons in June and 33 tons in July from dumps on the property."² In 1960 Sinclair wrote that Ross McIntyre & Co. "produced a total of 6,240 tons" in 1958 from a group of mines that included Gurumba-Tumba.³

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 by year

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

1953

• Worked: “the main producers consist of the Vanguard and the Gurumba Tumba Mines”, said by W. E. Sinclair, M.I.M.M. (Consulting Mining Engineer), as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 12¹

1954

• Idle: “Gurumba Tumba at Belingwe have stopped production”, said by W. E. Sinclair, M.I.M.M. (Consulting Mining Engineer), as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 4⁴

1956

• Worked: “R. M. P. Minerals are tributing the asbestos dumps on the Gurumba Tumba property” (R. M. P. Minerals (Pvt) Ltd.), as reported by Reuters, p. 56²
• Ownership: “The Gurumba Tumba mine, in the district of Belingwe, Southern Rhodesia, is owned by the Southern Rhodesian Chrysotile Corporation” (Southern Rhodesian Chrysotile Corporation), as reported by Reuters, p. 56²
• Output: “produced 11 tons of asbestos in May, 36.75 tons in June and 33 tons in July from dumps on the property” (R. M. P. Minerals Company), as reported by Reuters, p. 56²

1958

• Worked: “Ross McIntyre &Co., produced a total of 6,240 tons in the same period from the ... Gurumba-Tumba” (Ross McIntyre & Co.), said by W. E. Sinclair, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 10³

Other names

Documents call this mine “Gurumba Tumba Mines”, “Gurumba Tumba”, “Gurumba Tumba mine”, “Gurumba-Tumba”.

References

1. Asbestos Magazine, 1953, September 1953 (September 1, 1953), p. 12.
2. Asbestos Magazine, 1956, December 1956 (December 1, 1956), p. 56.
3. Asbestos Magazine, 1960, April 1960 (April 1, 1960), p. 10.
4. Asbestos Magazine, 1954, June 1954 (June 1, 1954), p. 4.