O'okiep
|
Okiep O'okiep |
|
|---|---|
Ventilation shaft built by the Cape Copper Company in 1880
|
|
 Okiep
Okiep
Okiep
Okiep shown within Northern Cape
|
|
| Coordinates: 29°35′45″S 17°52′51″E / 29.59583°S 17.88083°ECoordinates: 29°35′45″S 17°52′51″E / 29.59583°S 17.88083°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Northern Cape |
| District | Namakwa |
| Municipality | Nama Khoi |
| Established | 1862 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 38.63 km2 (14.92 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 6,304 |
| • Density | 160/km2 (420/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 3.8% |
| • Coloured | 93.8% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.3% |
| • White | 1.1% |
| • Other | 1.0% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Afrikaans | 96.2% |
| • Xhosa | 1.0% |
| • Other | 2.7% |
| Postal code (street) | 8270 |
| PO box | 8270 |
| Area code | 027 |
Okiep is a small town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, and was in the 1870s ranked as having the richest copper mine in the world. The town is on the site of a spring that was known in the Khoekhoe language of the Nama people as U-gieb (large brackish place) and was originally spelled as O'okiep.
Early settlers in the Cape Colony heard rumours of mountains in the north-west that were fabulously rich in copper. Governor Simon van der Stel was inclined to believe these tales when, in 1681, a group of Namas visited the Castle in Cape Town and brought along some pure copper. Van der Stel himself led a major expedition in 1685 and reached the fabled mountains on 21 October. Three shafts were sunk and revealed a rich lode of copper ore - the shafts exist to this day. For almost 200 years nothing was done about the discovery, largely because of its remote location. The explorer James Alexander was the first to follow up on van der Stel's discovery. In 1852 he examined the old shafts, discovered some other copper outcrops and started mining operations. Prospectors, miners and speculators rushed to the area, but many companies collapsed when the logistical difficulties became apparent.
The first miners were Cornish, and brought with them the expertise of centuries of tin-mining in Cornwall. The ruins of the buildings they constructed as well as the stonework of the bridges and culverts of the railway built to transport the ore to Port Nolloth, can still be seen. The Namaqualand Railway started operating in 1876 and lasted for 68 years, carrying ore to Port Nolloth and returning with equipment and provisions. The carriages were initially pulled by mules and horses, which were later replaced by steam locomotives - the last of these, the Clara, stands at Nababeep. Nowadays road transport is used to convey the ore to the railhead at Bitterfontein. The other principal mines of the area are at Carolusberg and Nababeep.
...
Wikipedia