Jade Davenport

https://staging1.creamermedia.com/

Jade Davenport

DAVENPORT, MA (UCT), is a freelance journalist and historian – jade@engineeringnews.co.za

Merensky’s discovery of platinum

26th September 2014 In the grand scheme of things, a ninetieth anniversary of a mineral discovery should not be worth much fanfare. However, given the fact that South Africa’s commercial mining sector is relatively young, dating back only 162 years, and taking into account the somewhat negative light in which the... →

Merensky – the prisoner of war

12th September 2014 Ninety years ago, almost to the day, South Africa’s pre-eminent geologist, Dr Hans Merensky, made one of the most important and phenomenal mineral discoveries anywhere in the world when he identified a section of the platinum-group-metal-rich Bushveld Igneous Complex near the town of Lydenburg,... →

South Africa’s WWI golden bullets

5th September 2014 The centennial commemoration of the outbreak of the First World War on August, 4, the date that Great Britain officially declared war on a belligerent Germany, was a significant occasion that was largely sidelined and, dare I say, somewhat ignored by the South African government, the press and... →

AngloGold and Africa’s goldsmithing heritage

1st August 2014 Many kudos must be given to Johannesburg-based gold miner AngloGold Ashanti for its concerted efforts to preserve and promote the cultural and artistic heritage of African goldsmithing design and techniques. This is particularly noteworthy, given the strain and challenges South African mining... →

Rhodes memorial debate

25th July 2014 From time to time, a debate flares up among the University of Cape Town’s student body about whether or not the statue of pioneering mining magnate and British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes should be removed from the university’s Groote Schuur estate. The statue in question is a rather prominent... →

Constrained SA mining sector forcing contractors to seek African opps

13th June 2014 South Africa’s phenomenal minerals revolution, which has its roots in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, facilitated not only the establishment and growth of the largest and most diversified mining sector in Africa, but also the emergence of a mining-related support and supply industry,... →

Constrained SA mining sector forcing contractors to seek opportunities in other parts of Africa

13th June 2014 South Africa’s phenomenal mineral revolution, which has its roots in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, facilitated not only the establishment and growth of the largest and most diversified mining sector in Africa, but also the emergence of a mining-related support and supply industry,... →

Mining capital that infiltrated the Cape wine industry

6th June 2014 It is inevitable that in an economy that has been so completely dominated by the extraction of mineral resources that mining capital would have, at some stage or another, infiltrated other sectors. Perhaps one of the most interesting sectors where it has permeated, albeit in a rather subtle... →

Wine estate celebrates Cape’s tin mining heritage

23rd May 2014 The vineyard-dominated landscape between Cape Town’s northern suburbs and the wine-producing town of Stellenbosch, particularly along the R102 and M12 routes, is both beautiful and tranquil and it is difficult to imagine that this land was ever used for any industry other than agriculture.... →

Wining and mining in the early Cape Colony

2nd May 2014 One thing you would not associate with mining is the craft of winemaking. However, in a country that has been so completely dominated by that extractive industry, it is not entirely surprising that even certain South African wine-producing regions and a few wine estates have some kind of... →

Industry leaders reflect on evolution of SA's mining industry over last two decades

25th April 2014 The mining industry has, from a historical perspective, played an inherently complex and contradictory role within South Africa’s sociopolitical economy. While the industry has, for more than a century, been the main driver of phenomenal economic growth and industrialisation, it was also partly... →

Industry leaders reflect on evolution of SA’s mining industry over last two decades

25th April 2014 The mining industry has, from a historical perspective, played an inherently complex and contradictory role within South Africa’s sociopolitical economy. While the industry has, for more than a century, been the main driver of phenomenal economic growth and industrialisation, it was also partly... →

Ancient site under threat from gold-hungry miner

18th April 2014 A few weeks ago, the highly controversial story that the government of Georgia hds given Russian-backed Rich Metals Group (RMG) approval to continue its mining project at a site believed to host the world’s oldest gold mine made headlines and provoked an outburst of moral indignation in... →

Initiatives under way to improve greenfield exploration in SA

11th April 2014 Four of South Africa’s greatest mineral deposits, namely the diamond fields of the Northern Cape, the Witwatersrand basin, the Witbank-Middelburg coalfield and the Bushveld Igneous Complex, all of which have been the bedrock of the country’s mining industry, were, in every instance, discovered by... →

Initiatives under way to improve greenfield exploration in SA

11th April 2014 Four of South Africa’s greatest mineral deposits, namely the diamond fields of the Northern Cape, the Witwatersrand Basin, the Witbank-Middelburg coal field and the Bushveld Igneous Complex, all of which have been the bedrock of the country’s mining industry, were, in every instance, discovered... →

SA’s little-known defunct manganese mine

28th March 2014 The century-old Hout Bay manganese mine Manganese is a commodity that barely features in the popular historical narrative of South Africa’s mining industry. This is slightly odd, considering that the country, specifically the Kalahari manganese field, in the Northern Cape, is host to more than... →

There’s gold in them thar mountains

7th March 2014 Capetonians have a tendency to condescendingly regard mining as a dirty and dangerous, although vaguely necessary, activity that is pursued somewhere in the northern reaches of South Africa. Much to their relief, it is an occupation far removed from their somewhat idyllic way of life and... →

The Karoo’s mini gold bonanza

21st February 2014 It is generally accepted in the historical mining narrative that South Africa’s phenomenal era of gold discovery, rushes and mining started around 1873, when extensive and payable quantities of alluvial gold were discovered in places such as Spitzkop, MacMac and Pilgrim's Rest, in the area then... →

'Pilgrim's Protector' urges heritage compliance

31st January 2014 For the last 16 months, a shroud of uncertainty veiled the business community of Pilgrims Rest, as it has waited with bated breath for the outcome of the Public Protector’s investigation into controversial allegations of maladministration and irregularities in the awarding of tenders for shop... →

Experts weigh in on the mining industry’s 2014 outlook

17th January 2014 South Africa’s once mighty and economy-dominating mining industry is, at present, in dire straits. It is an industry – and this is particularly true of its gold and platinum sectors – that is struggling for survival under a gloomy pall weaved out of a myriad of challenging factors. In 2013, such... →

Mandela and his brief mining career

17th January 2014 In the aftermath of the passing of former President Nelson Mandela last month, the world has mourned and reflected, quite rightly, on the enormous contribution he made in liberating South Africa from the suffocating grip of apartheid and for the role he played in leading the country to a... →

Experts weigh in on the mining industry’s 2014 outlook

17th January 2014 South Africa’s once mighty and economy-dominating mining industry is, at present, in dire straits. It is an industry – and this is particularly true of its gold and platinum sectors – that is struggling for survival under a gloomy pall weaved out of a myriad of challenging factors. In 2013 such... →

Modderfontein museum preserving dynamite history

6th December 2013 The use of explosive material, particularly dynamite, has played an integral, although somewhat understated, role in facilitating the development and growth of South Africa’s mighty mining industry for more than a century. Indeed, it is all very well having the richest treasure trove of metals... →

Museum preserving Millwood gold rush history

15th November 2013 The Garden Route, stretching from Mossel Bay to the Storms river along the south-eastern coastline, is undoubtedly one of South Africa’s premier and most popular tourist attractions. It is in that coastal corridor that ancient forests, rivers, wetlands, dunes, mountain scenery and indigenous... →

The 'greatest copper port' in Queen Victoria’s empire

1st November 2013 Britain, particularly England and Wales, is littered with a plethora of monuments and museums that seek to pay homage to the kingdom’s diverse mining and industrial heritage. The region that is perhaps the most richly endowed with such relics, monuments and historical attractions is the county of... →

Lest we forget

13th September 2013 Last month, South Africans marked the first anniversary of the Marikana Massacre, in which 34 people were shot dead and 78 more injured during a wildcat strike at Lonmin’s Marikana mine. →

When white mineworkers downed tools

6th September 2013 In its relatively short history as a unified country, South Africa has been exposed to very few revolutionary incidents led by white citizens. The most serious such incident was undoubtedly the 1922 Rand Revolt, in which the violent protests and armed riots undertaken by 22 000 striking white... →

De Beers' Namibian unit upgrades mining vessel

11th May 2007 The conversion of De Beers Marine Namibia's diamond mining vessel, Debmar Atlantic was completed recently allowing for a 30% increase in the vessels mining capacity. →

Construction of Botswana diamond technology park set to start this month

4th August 2006 Work on the civil infrastructure for the new $50-million diamond technology park in Gabarone, Botswana, is set to begin this month month. →

US rust-protection system now in South Africa

3rd June 2005 Durban-based Epure Coatings has been specialising in rust-prevention in the automotive industry for the past seven years and has recently introduced a new rust-protection system into the South African market called CarWell Rust Protection System. →

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