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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Eldorado Mine: a faded 'premier producer' |
Author: | Burrett, Robert S. |
Year: | 1997 |
Periodical: | Heritage of Zimbabwe (ISSN 0556-9605) |
Issue: | 16 |
Pages: | 37-46 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs., ills. |
Geographic terms: | Zimbabwe Southern Africa |
Subjects: | colonial history gold mining History, Archaeology history Gold mines and mining |
Abstract: | This paper sketches the history of Eldorado Mine. This gold mine, just outside of Chinhoyi on the Harare side of the Manyame River, is another of Zimbabwe's major mines which flourished and fell in the early colonial era. At one time it was the country's 'premier producer', returning as much as 250 percent on its shareholders' investments. The mine was worked extensively in the precolonial era by local Shona peoples, but abandoned just before the onset of the colonial era. In 1893/1894 the first registered claims were filed. What followed this initial pegging was a heated period of speculative consolidation, sale and resale. In 1904 Eldorado was again sold, this time to the Eldorado Banket Company, a subsidiary of the Rhodesian Exploration and Development Company. The mine was at its zenith until 1915. By then it was clear that the mine was on the decline and by 1919 it had become unviable. Various small workers took over the Eldorado claims. In 1957 the mine was finally abandoned. Ref. |