Loolekop - The Story of Palabora Mining Company - Brian Pottinger

Loolekop The Story of Palabora Mining Company - Brian Pottinger - Jonathan Ball - 1990, first edition - 154pp, index, illustrations - Hardcover and dustcover show slight shelf wear. Internally: dedication in front, clean and tightly bound.

Close to the confluence of the Selati and Olifants River in the Eastern Transvaal bushveld of South Africa lies Phalaborwa - home yo one of the world's great copper mines.

For hundreds of years local tribesmen had used simple techniques to wrest small quantities of iron and copper from the slopes of the hillock known as Loolekop. Only in the early part of this century did another brood of tough and visionary prospectors come to vaguely comprehend the emormous mineral wealth locked in the subterranean volcanic pipes beneath the koppie.

This book traces the establishment, growth and triumph of the Palabora Mining Company at Loolekop. It is an account of hardship, roller-coasting fortunes and unshakeable faith. It tells of the characters and events which transformed a remote rural village into a bustling town. It is also the tale of two very different mining giants. Rio Tinto of Britian and Newmont of the US and their sometimes acrimonious collaboration in one of the most testing and yet successful mining ventures in South African history.

Loolekop is no more: replaced by a vast crater in the ground, From its shadow, however, has grown over the last quarter of a century a thriving multi-racial community bound by the challenge and promise of this unique and world-renowned operation. This is their story.