Nil Desperandum mine, Zimbabwe

The Nil Desperandum was a chrysotile mine in the Shabani field of Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, advertised in Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, in 1930 as the source of "Rhodesian white asbestos."^4,9 A. G. Pryce-Williams, writing in Asbestos in 1923, said that when the Shabanie fields "sprung into prominence" around 1915, the first to produce were Oudeville and Moore on the Birthday, "followed by E. H. Machell on the Nil Desperandum."³

The sources name its owners differently. In 1920 Asbestos called it the "property of the African Asbestos Mining Co., Ltd.," at the south end of the productive area; an unsigned 1923 article in the same journal, by "an American who has recently visited," named it "the Nil Desperandum (Turner Brothers)."^2,3 A 1942 article in Asbestos said that the Nil Desperandum, with the Sphinx eventually included, "was taken over in 1919" by the Rhodesian and General Asbestos Corporation, Ltd., and that by the amalgamation of that corporation and the African Asbestos Mining Company the principal mines at Mashaba and Shabani "were brought under the control of the powerful Turner & Newall group."¹ The trade journal's production tables of 1929 to 1945 list the mine under the African Asbestos Mining Co.^4,6,10

Those tables give "651.92" tons for September 1929, "168.50" tons for October 1934 and "476.14" tons for June 1945, the last from the Rhodesia Chamber of Mines.^4,6,10 In 1937 Asbestos wrote that the mine "produces 8 per cent of the total output" of Southern Rhodesia.⁷ The 1942 article said that seven lodes had been worked, the largest, "B" lode, "nearly 500 feet" long and "nearly 100 feet" wide.¹ The mining engineer W. E. Sinclair wrote in 1953 that the bulk of the Rhodesian & General corporation's recovery came from its mines, "mainly the Nil Desperandum (49,000 tons)," and a 1956 table in Asbestos gave its average monthly production as "1,250" short tons.^11,12 In 1960 Sinclair counted the Shabanie and Nil Desperandum mines among the group's sources of output in 1958.⁹

The documents report this mine producing asbestos fiber for sale.¹¹

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.

1915

• Opened: “followed by E. H. Machell on the Nil Desperandum” (E. H. Machell), said by A. G. Pryce-Williams, B. Sc., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 14³

1919

• Ownership: “Nil Desperandum, with the Sphinx eventually included, taken over in 1919 by Rhodesian and General Asbestos Corporation” (Rhodesian and General Asbestos Corporation, Ltd.), p. 6¹

1920

• Ownership: “the Nil Desperandum (property of the African Asbestos Mining Co., Ltd.,)” (African Asbestos Mining Co., Ltd.), p. 46²

1923

• Worked: “the Nil Desperandum (Turner Brothers) on the southeast end” (Turner Brothers), p. 20³

1929

• Output: “651.92 tons (2000 lbs.) in September 1929” (Afr. Asb. Mng. Co. Ltd.), p. 45⁴

1930

• Worked: “Rhodesian white asbestos, the product of Nil Desperandum Mine, Shabani”, said by The Asbestos & Electrical Fittings Co. Ltd., p. 21⁴

1931

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

1934

• Output: “Nil Desperandum (Afr. Asb. Mng. Co. Ltd.): 168.50 tons (2000 lbs.), October 1934” (Afr. Asb. Mng. Co. Ltd.), p. 32⁶

1937

• Output: “The Nil Desperandum mine near Shabani produces 8 per cent of the total output”, p. 10⁷

1941

• Worked: “Its output of chrysotile is supplemented by that of the ... Nil Desperandum ... mines”, p. 10⁸

1942

• Reserves: “Seven lodes worked; "B" lode, the largest, nearly 500 feet long and nearly 100 feet wide; asbestos of extremely good quality”, p. 6¹
• Ownership: “By amalgamation of Rhodesian and General and the African Asbestos Mining Company, all the principal mines at Mashaba and Shabani brought under the Turner & Newall group” (Turner & Newall group), p. 6¹

1945

• Output: “Nil Desperandum (African Asb. Mining Co. Ltd.) 476.14 [tons, June 1945]” (African Asb. Mining Co. Ltd.), as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 44¹⁰

1952

• Output: “mainly the Nil Desperandum (49,000 tons)” (Rhodesian & General Asbestos Corporation), said by W. E. Sinclair, M.I.M.M. (Consulting Mining Engineer), as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 12¹¹

1955

• Output: “African Asbestos | Nil Desperandum | 1,250” (African Asbestos), p. 10¹²

1958

• Worked: “the balance from the Shabanie and Nil Desperandum Mines in the Shabani field” (Rhodesian General Asbestos Corporation Limited (Turner Newall Limited)), said by W. E. Sinclair, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 10⁹

Other names

Documents call this mine “Nil Desperandum”, “Nil”.

References

1. Asbestos Magazine, 1942, July 1942 (July 1, 1942), p. 6.
2. Asbestos Magazine, 1920, December 1920 (December 1, 1920), p. 46.
3. Asbestos Magazine, 1923, March 1923 (March 1, 1923), pp. 14, 20.
4. Asbestos Magazine, 1930, January 1930 (January 1, 1930), pp. 21, 45.
5. Asbestos Magazine, 1931, January 1931 (January 1, 1931), p. 35.
6. Asbestos Magazine, 1935, January 1935 (January 1, 1935), p. 32.
7. Asbestos Magazine, 1937, July 1937 (July 1, 1937), p. 10.
8. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1941 (January 1, 1942), p. 10.
9. Asbestos Magazine, 1960, April 1960 (April 1, 1960), p. 10.
10. Asbestos Magazine, 1945, October 1945 (October 1, 1945), p. 44.
11. Asbestos Magazine, 1953, September 1953 (September 1, 1953), p. 12.
12. Asbestos Magazine, 1956, June 1956 (June 1, 1956), p. 10.