1. It’s the first step
Blasting is the very first step of the mining process. Explosives are placed deep in the ground (surface mining) or in the rock-face (underground mining), and detonated to release large quantities of mineral-bearing ore. Explosives...
1. There has been mining there for thousands of years
Archaeologists believe that the Gokomere people (who are the ancestors of today’s Shona people, among others) were smelting iron in what is today Zimbabwe as long ago as the 1st...
Step 1
Ore is taken out of the ground
Holes are drilled in the ground (if it’s an open-pit mine) or in the rock-face (if it’s an underground mine), and explosives are placed in them to blast it open. The resulting...
Lights, camera, action! Hollywood movies cover characters who work in many different industries, and believe it or not, mining is also one of them. Mining movies don’t always feature a lot of explosions, car chases or dragons, but they...
There is a myth that many people believe with regard to copper mining – that the price of copper alone determines the strength and success of the industry, as evidenced by the amount of copper produced.
Whilst price is a...
Supply and demand: we all know how this works. If there’s too much of something (whether bricks, maize or tomatoes), there’s a glut and the price goes down – because the product is so easy to get that people...
1. Angola was colonised for nearly 500 years
Portuguese explorers first reached Angola in 1484. Luanda, which is today the capital of Angola, was established in 1575. Angola was a major source for slaves, destined for the Americas. About a...
1. It is the heaviest element in the universe
Uranium is heavy, and is nearly three times as dense as iron. This makes it atomically unstable, which contributes to it being radioactive. Uranium’s natural radioactivity – the emission of particles...
1. It is very rich in minerals
The DRC has the largest reserves of coltan and is the biggest producer of the metal, which is needed in almost all electronic devices. The DRC produces more than half of the world’s...
Modern life as we know it simply wouldn’t be possible without copper. We rely on copper for telecommunication, for heating, and for almost everything electrical that we use in our daily lives. By some measures, we each require as...