Temeraire mine, Mashaba, Zimbabwe

The Temeraire mine lay at Mashaba in Southern Rhodesia: in 1953 W. E. Sinclair, a consulting mining engineer writing in Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, counted "the Temeraire Mines" among the "well-known producers" of the Mashaba district.¹ Asbestos reported in December 1954 that the Temeraire and the Shamala mine, "four miles away," were "highly mechanized," and that "each has sunk a mine shaft about 550 feet."² Mining and milling were carried on, the journal said, "by Rhodesian Asbestos Limited under the direction of Canadian Johns-Manville Co., Limited," and the U.S. Bureau of Mines' Minerals Yearbook said Canadian Johns-Manville "has the controlling interest in this operation."^2,3

On November 25, 1954, according to Asbestos, Johns-Manville put the two mines into commercial production "with the official opening of a new central mill that has initial capacity of 20,000 tons of fibre annually," built "adjacent to the Temeraire Mine."² The Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia, Garfield Todd, started the mill by "the pushing of a button," and the yearbook called it "the second largest asbestos mill in Southern Rhodesia."^3,5 Todd said the company "would use only about a quarter of the labor which other concerns of the same size would normally require, because of the high degree of mechanization."⁵ Asbestos wrote in 1955 that the sale of the mine's output "to the parent concern seemed assured," and in 1957 that the Johns-Manville group, "including Temeraire and Shamva Mines," was "likely to increase output to over 2000 tons monthly."^5,7

On November 28, 1958, Johns-Manville announced that the Southern Rhodesian mines of Rhodesian Asbestos Limited had been sold to Rhodesian & General Asbestos Corporation, "a Southern Rhodesian subsidiary of Turner & Newall."⁸ Sinclair wrote that this group "purchased the Temeraire and Shamala Mines" in 1958, adding "whose output was 14,385 tons."⁴ He also reported that "such exceptional success was obtained at the Temeraire Mine" that Johns-Manville "decided to ship two similar pilot plants to Canada."⁴ The 1959 yearbook said Rhodesian and General "mined asbestos at the Temeraire mine."⁹ Asbestos listed the Temeraire among that company's mines in 1972 and 1975.^10,11 In 1980 the yearbook described Temeraire as "another mine and mill" of African Associated Mines, and Asbestos reported that "a further 40,000 tonnes per month of old dump and reclamation ore is treated at the Temeraire Mill."^12,13

The documents report this mine producing asbestos fiber for sale.⁴

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.

1952

• Worked: “the Temeraire Mines”, said by W. E. Sinclair, M.I.M.M. (Consulting Mining Engineer), as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 12¹

1954

• Description: “Both are highly mechanized. Each has sunk a mine shaft about 550 feet” (Rhodesian Asbestos Limited), p. 50²
• Ownership: “Mining and milling ... carried on by Rhodesian Asbestos Limited under the direction of Canadian Johns-Manville Co., Limited” (Rhodesian Asbestos Limited), p. 50²
• Mill: “It is the second largest asbestos mill in Southern Rhodesia” (Canadian Johns-Manville Corp.), as reported by Mining World, p. 11³
• Ownership: “The Canadian Johns-Manville Corp. has the controlling interest in this operation” (Canadian Johns-Manville Corp.), as reported by Mining World, p. 11³
• Mill: “A new asbestos mill at the Temeraire mine, Mashaba, was formally opened in November 1954” (Canadian Johns-Manville Corp.), as reported by Mining World, p. 11³
• Opened: “Johns-Manville formally put two more asbestos mines into commercial production on November 25th” (Rhodesian Asbestos Limited), p. 50²
• Mill: “a new central mill that has initial capacity of 20,000 tons of fibre annually ... located adjacent to the Temeraire Mine” (Rhodesian Asbestos Limited), p. 50²
• Opened: “The Temeraire mill of Temeraire and Shamala asbestos mines, Mashaba, was put into commercial production” (Rhodesia Asbestos Ltd.), p. 30⁵

1955

• Workforce: “would use only about a quarter of the labor which other concerns of the same size would normally require” (Johns-Manville Corporation), as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 30⁵
• Buyers: “the sale of its output to the parent concern seemed assured” (Rhodesia Asbestos Ltd.), p. 30⁵

1956

• Exploration: “developing mines in several areas, two of the most important being the Temaraire and Shamala in the Mashaba district” (Rhodesian Asbestos Ltd. (Johns-Manville)), p. 8⁶
• Mill: “These mines are planned to produce 300 tons an hour for treatment. The construction of the mill and sorting plant will be the most up-to-date in Rhodesia” (Rhodesian Asbestos Ltd. (Johns-Manville)), p. 8⁶

1957

• Output: “The Johns-Manville group (including Temeraire and Shamva Mines) is likely to increase output to over 2000 tons monthly in the near future” (Johns-Manville group), p. 6⁷

1958

• Output: “whose output was 14,385 tons” (Rhodesian Asbestos (Johns-Manville Group)), said by W. E. Sinclair, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 10⁴
• Ownership: “this Group purchased the Temeraire and Shamala Mines from Rhodesian Asbestos (Johns-Manville Group)” (Rhodesian General Asbestos Corporation Limited (Turner Newall Limited)), said by W. E. Sinclair, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 10⁴
• Ownership: “the Southern Rhodesian Asbestos mines of Rhodesian Asbestos Limited ... were sold to Rhodesian & General Asbestos Corporation (PVT) Limited” (Rhodesian & General Asbestos Corporation (PVT) Limited), said by Johns-Manville Corporation, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 10⁸

1959

• Ownership: “acquired Rhodesian Asbestos Co., Ltd. (Johns-Manville)” (Rhodesian and General Asbestos Corp., Ltd.), as reported by Mining Journal (London), p. 9⁹
• Worked: “mined asbestos at the Temeraire mine, Meshaba area” (Rhodesian and General Asbestos Corp., Ltd.), as reported by Mining Journal (London), p. 9⁹

1960

• Mill: “such exceptional success was obtained at the Temeraire Mine in Mashaba, that Johns-Manville decided to ship two similar pilot plants to Canada” (Johns-Manville), said by W. E. Sinclair, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 8⁴

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

• Mill: “another mine and mill (Temeraire)” (African Associated Mines (Pvt.) Ltd. (AAM)), p. 9¹²
• Mill: “A further 40,000 tonnes per month of old dump and reclamation ore is treated at the Temeraire Mill” (African Associates Mines), p. 33¹³
• Worked: “another mine and mill (Temeraire)” (African Associated Mines (Pvt.) Ltd. (AAM)), p. 9¹²

Other names

Documents call this mine “Temeraire mine”, “Temeraire Mine at Mashaba”, “Temaraire”, “Temeraire”, “Temeraine”.

See also

• Canadian Johns-Manville Corp.: the company's documents, people, products and plants
• All asbestos mines

References

1. Asbestos Magazine, 1953, September 1953 (September 1, 1953), p. 12.
2. Asbestos Magazine, 1954, December 1954 (December 1, 1954), p. 50.
3. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1954 (January 1, 1955), p. 11.
4. Asbestos Magazine, 1960, April 1960 (April 1, 1960), pp. 8, 10.
5. Asbestos Magazine, 1955, April 1955 (April 1, 1955), p. 30.
6. Asbestos Magazine, 1956, June 1956 (June 1, 1956), p. 8.
7. Asbestos Magazine, 1957, April 1957 (April 1, 1957), p. 6.
8. Asbestos Magazine, 1959, January 1959 (January 1, 1959), p. 10.
9. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1959 (January 1, 1960), p. 9.
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, 1981, January 1981 (January 1, 1981), p. 33.