Sterkspruit mine, eastern Transvaal, Transvaal

The Sterkspruit mine was a chrysotile mine in the eastern Transvaal, South Africa: in 1953 the mining engineer W. E. Sinclair wrote in Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, that southwest of the Havelock serpentine "towards Carolina several other mines including Stolzberg, Sterkspruit and Kalkkloof are producing chrysotile asbestos."¹ A 1959 article in the same journal named "Stolzburg, Sterksspruit and other smaller propositions" as the principal mines in that stretch of serpentine.² The U.S. Bureau of Mines' Minerals Yearbook for 1962 reported that Griqualand Exploration and Finance Co., Ltd., had "also acquired the Sterkspruit chrysotile mine in the eastern Transvaal."³

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

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: “Sterkspruit ... producing chrysotile asbestos”, said by W. E. Sinclair, M.I.M.M. (Consulting Mining Engineer), as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 12¹

1959

• Worked: “several mines are located, principally ... Sterksspruit”, p. 8²

1962

• Ownership: “also acquired the Sterkspruit chrysotile mine in the eastern Transvaal” (Griqualand Exploration and Finance Co., Ltd.), p. 11³
• Fiber: “chrysotile mine” (Griqualand Exploration and Finance Co., Ltd.), p. 11³

Other names

Documents call this mine “Sterkspruit chrysotile mine”, “Sterksspruit”.

References

1. Asbestos Magazine, 1953, December 1953 (December 1, 1953), p. 12.
2. Asbestos Magazine, 1959, August 1959 (August 1, 1959), p. 8.
3. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1962 (January 1, 1963), p. 11.