Copperbelt Province – the copper mines that shaped a country
The Copperbelt was the backbone of the Northern Rhodesian economy and carried the hopes of the years after independence, until the crash in global copper prices in 1973 severely damaged its position; the towns of Kitwe, Ndola, Mufulira, Luanshya, Chingola, Kalulushi and Chililabombwe all grew around the mines. The ore itself has an extraordinary origin: the region lies on the Lufilian Arc, a mountain chain formed some 500 million years ago when the Kalahari and Congo cratons collided during the assembly of Gondwana, a collision that concentrated base metals into the deposits worked today. Members are warmly invited to share their own memories, photographs and family stories.