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Kalengwa

Producer in North-Western, Zambia with commodities Copper, Silver
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Ore body information
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Ownership information
  13. Reserves and resources
  14. Workings at the site
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10182917
MAS/MILS ID 7940300005
Record type Site
Current site name Kalengwa
Alternate or previous names Kalengara

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Ore Body
Geographic coordinates: 24.9989, -13.4592 (WGS84)
Elevation 1200
Location accuracy 1000(meters)
Relative position Location reported in Central African Copperbelt SIR

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

North-Western(province)

Zambia(country)

Africa(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Zambia North-Western

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Silver Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bornite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Chrysocolla Ore
Malachite Ore
Pyrite Unknown

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock
    Rock type qualifier Conglomerate (low grade metasedimentary rocks), siltstone, sandstone
    Rock unit name Katangan succession

Nearby scientific data

Ore Body (1) 24.9989, -13.4592
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Strike N45E
    Dip 60W
    Thickness 24M
    Length 152M
    Width 75M
    Depth to top 63M
    Field Value
    MAS Matrix # 1
    MAS Column # 3
    Type of Orebody #1 SEDIMENTARY
    Shape of Orebody #1 TABULAR
    Primary mode of Origin SEDIMENTATION
    Degree of Wallrock Alter. UNKNOWN
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #1 UNKNOWN
    Strike And Dip N45E:60W
    Minimum Depth to Top 4
    Avg. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 10
    Min. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 1
    Date of Last Modification 791017
  • Area 335HA
    Field Value
    Total Surface Area (HA) 335
    Date of Last Modification 910418

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1963
Year of first production 1969

Mining district

District name Kalengwa

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Government,Rep. Of Zambia-Zimco
    Interest 51
    Home office Zambia
    Year 1976
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Roan Consolidated Copper Mines,Ltd.
    Interest 49
    Home office Zambia
    Year 1976

Comments on the production information

  • Jon Woodhead, personal communication (email to Anna Wilson) 1/24/2010. Production 1968-1978 1.876,081 mt @ 9.44% Cu = 177,102 mt Cu.

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1976
    Measured 918000mt ore
    Demonstrated 918000mt ore
    Total resources 918000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper Cu 6.92 wt-pct Copper Major 1976
  • Type In-situ
    Name Total Endowment
    Estimate year 2004
    Total endowment 4000000mt
    Remarks 4Mt @ 5.2% Cu (Broughton and others, 2004)
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper 5.2 wt-pct Copper Primary 2004

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • 1972 RESERVE WAS 1,700,000 MT AT 9.3% CU, MINE LIFE 8 YRS. 1976 RESERVE 918,000 MT AT 6.92% CU IN 1971 THE RESERVES OF THE 3 TYPES OF ORE AT KALENGWA WERE AS FOLLOWS: HIGH GRADE 362,000 MT AT 27.24%CU INTERMEDIATE 733,000 MT AT 6.31%CU LOW GRADE 593,000 MT AT 2.10%CU TOTAL 1,688,000 MT AT 9.32%CU NO SUCH BREAKDOWN IS AVAILABLE FOR THE 1976 RESERVE FIGURES.
  • See Broughton and others, 2004, GSA abstract. Reported 4 Mt @ 5.2% Cu and 80 g/t Ag. This is the endowment (per email from David Broughton, 1/22/10, to Anna B. Wilson, USGS). The deposit was mined from 1967-1878. No mention if this is mined out. No mention of the amount of production.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Area 17.5HA
    Field Value
    MAS Development Schedule # 1
    Mining Record # 1
    Status of Mining Method ESTIMATE
    Mining Method BENCH (BERM)
    Avg. Overburden Thickness 10
    Primary Material Cover SAND, SILT
    Percentage 99
    Hardness of Ore M-HARD ROCKS
    Avg. Bench Height (meters) 10
    Max. Pit Slope (degrees) 40
    Capacity 3600
    Capacity Units CU-M ORE/DAY
    Operating Days per Year 250
    Operating Shifts per Day 3
    Year of Information 1979

Comments on the workings information

  • WATER IS PUMPED FROM MUSONDWEDJI RIVER, 11KM TO EAST POWER SUPPLIED BY 2 MW W.H.ALLEN/BROWN BOVERI DIESEL GENERATOR. POWER COST EST.TO BE 10 TIMES AVERAGE FOR COPPER- BELT.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE ORE IS RICH IN SILVER,APPROXIMATELY 70 MILLION GRAMS AG IN THE TOTAL ORE BODY IN 1971. NOT POSITIVE OF OWNERSHIP. BELIEVE MWINILUNGA MINES LTD. PLAYS SOME ROLE. MWINILUNGA MINES IS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN RST INTL. AND THE ANGLO-AMERICAN CORP. ABOUT 51 OPERATING PERSONNEL FOR MILL. TOTAL OF 250 FOR OPER
Deposit From Tim Hayes, USGS, email to Anna Wilson Jan. 22, 2010:
"an oversized prospect (open down the dip) with a bulb of supergene chalcocite on top of whatever its peneconformable part is."
Deposit From Jon Woodhead, email to anna Wilson, USGS, 1/24/10:
The Kalengwa mine recorded total production of 1,876,081 Mt grading 9.44% Cu between 1968 and 1978. No Ag by-product was ever recorded, but from our re-sampling of old drill core in the 1990's we estimated the average grade was roughly 30 to 60 g/t Ag (probably around 40g/t).
The remaining resource includes approximately 1.8 Mt @ 1.9% Cu, but from an economic standpoint the mine is considered depleted.
We re-calculated the total pre-mining resource as 4Mt @ 5.2% Cu, using a 1% cut-off. The surface strike extent was 600m and the maximum orebody width was 30m. The chalcocite-malachite orebody (in breccia/conglomerate) pinched off at a depth of 150-200 m, but minor bn-cpy-(py) occurs in the footwall, mainly within a thin silty dolomitic limestone.
Deposit Structurally controlled, unclassified copper deposit type.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 27-FEB-84 Boyle, Ed U.S. Bureau of Mines
Editor 04-JUN-10 Wilson, Anna B. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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