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Introduction
By Dr. Georg Gebhard
Tsumeb is a small village founded by Germans,
situated in northeast Namibia, formerly South West Africa. It is also
the name of an important ore body that is perhaps the most famous
mineral locality in the world.
Everybody who gets in contact with the name
TSUMEB realizes how amazing Tsumeb really is, and how fortunate
collectors are to have been presented with an an almost inexhaustible
abundance of minerals and mineral combinations. The fascinating thing
about Tsumeb is not just its minerals. It is also its discovery and
the mining history. For hundreds of years an outcrop of copper ore
was the hidden treasure of the inhabitants, the Bushmen. All
foreigners who tried to see this treasure were attacked by Bushmen
with poisoned arrows. The legendary copper was a 12 meter high
outcrop of pure, oxidized ore, stretching across an area 180 meters
long and 40 meters wide - that was later to be found as the Green
Hill of Tsumeb.
This famous deposit came into recognition of
the US$pean hemisphere in 1890. The leader of the first expedition,
which was sent 1893 by a British-German company for evaluating the
ore's richness, gave an enthusiastic description of Tsumeb:
"I have been holding places of trust for
the past 24 years; have visited various countries of the world,
inspecting mines mineral outcrops, and prospecting for minerals; have
been associated with the minerals gold, silver, tin, copper and lead;
but in the whole of my experience, I have never seen such a sight as
was presented before my view at Soomep, and I very much doubt if I
shall ever see such another in any other locality."
In the light of what we know today, Rogers
words seem to have been prophetic. For Tsumeb indeed developed from a
deeply colored "Green Hill" into one of the richest mines
in the world which produced about 90 million tons of ore in 91 years.
It was a unique experience to establish the
first mining complex of shafts, ore treatment and mills in the middle
of Nowhere in Africa, which was designed according to US$pean
standards. This great pioneer work by German miners and engineers is
for example expressed by the longest narrow-railroad in history that
had to be constructed crossing 500 kilometers of bush and desert. The
difference of culture and habit between the original inhabitants and
the miners could not be larger, thus creating problems and funny
stories as well.
Since the beginning of mining minerals from
Tsumeb were collected by miners no matter which position they had.
General Managers dug for mineral specimens themselves underground.
Famous mineral finds created their own stories in which miners,
collectors, museums and dealers played a part. Since the discovery of
the first mineral samples some of the highest prices in mineral
collecting history were and are paid for minerals from Tsumeb.
What is it about Tsumeb minerals that
captures one's imagination?
It is partly the captivating description of
the discovery and development of the mine. But it is also, perhaps
primarily, the uniqueness of its rich mineral diversity. This is due
to several geological factors, one of, which was the existence of
three oxidation zones discovered during mining.
Tsumeb offers one of the greatest varieties of
mineral assemblages known. It produced 247 known species, plus 24
species still under investigation. Of the minerals discovered in
Tsumeb, 45 are known to occur solely there. But not only the rare
finds boast of superlatives. The crystallization of most minerals is
so perfect and aesthetic that 68 species from Tsumeb display the
finest crystals known from any deposit. Of these, 36 species have
been found as spectacular, macroscopic crystals, unrivaled by any
other locality. Tsumeb pseudomorphs are also outstanding. 61
different types represent them, which is far ahead of all other known
mineral localities. Adding the "best of species" to the
minerals unique to Tsumeb would produce a total of 113 minerals
qualifying for the world's best for the species. But this is a figure
that probably does not last for a long time. Even after closing down
the mine, at least one new mineral is published which has been
discovered on a mineral specimen from the mining period.
Many localities have produced specimens
generally considered to be the finest of the species ever found.
However, most of the localities are known only for one or two species
of this quality. In comparison, Tsumeb exhibits more outstanding
mineral specimens than most localities even contain minerals. These
minerals provide the quality benchmark for every collector.
These impressive statistics may partly explain
Tsumeb's mineralogical fascination. But Tsumeb has more to offer than
statistics. There are the constantly recurring, surprising
discoveries, which transfigure previously uninspiring minerals,
Cinderella-like, into desirable objects, of which smithsonite is a
good example.
Tsumeb does not keep to set prescripts, as the
wide variety of minerals shows. The presence of chemical components
necessary for the formation of minerals was so plentiful and varied,
that there are deviations in the composition of even simply
structured minerals.
Over a period of more than 90 years
collectors, scientists and museum curators have almost become
accustomed to have new minerals coming from Tsumeb. Only after mining
activities ceased, have we fully realized what Tsumeb actually meant
to us.
During the entire mining production Tsumeb was
often called dead for different reasons: insufficient ore or low
metal prices or wars. But the mine kept going on down to one mile
deep. In 1996 the mining activities were closed down in realty, not
because of lack of ore, but caused by a strike.
Georg Gebhard
If you want more information on Tsumeb please
look for the standard books of TSUMEB 1 and TSUMEB 2 (website
CG Publishing)
If you want to read more about Tsumeb - We
have an article on the History
of Tsumeb
and The
geology of Tsumeb |
