Mhangura
Mhangura (formerly Mangula) is a small town and former mining community in the Doma District of Mashonaland West Province, in northern Zimbabwe.
Mhangura
Mangula | |
|---|---|
Town | |
  Mhangura Mhangura located in Zimbabwe Map | |
| Coordinates: 16°54′S 30°09′E | |
| Country |  Zimbabwe |
| Province | Mashonaland West |
| District | Doma |
| Population (1982) | |
| • Total | 11,175 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (CAT) |
| Climate | Cwb (Subtropical highland) |
Geography
It is located 188 kilometres (117 mi) northwest of Harare. The name was probably derived from the Shona word mhangura meaning "red metal" in reference to copper.
People
According to the 1982 census, Mhangura formerly had a population of 11,175.
Zimbabwean cricketer Natsai Mushangwe comes from Mhangura.
The runner Artwell Mandaza also lived in Mhangura.
The first manager of what was initially called Mangula mine, Mr "Bill" Wilson, became businessman of the year after he turned around the fortunes of Datsun, South Africa
Mining ghost town
In the 1960s the Messina Transvaal Development Company (MTD) developed what was at that time called the Mangula copper mine (MCM).
They registered the company, MTD (Mangula) Ltd, on the stock exchange. They also developed the nearly Silverside and Norah mines.
MTD also built the copper smelter and refinery at their Alaska mine site near Chinhoyi.
Soon after Zimbabwe's independence MTD sold their assets to ZMDC, a parastatal.
The Mhangura Copper Mines Ltd, a subsidiary of Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, operated one of the biggest copper mine in the country here.[1][2] All mining was closed in the late 1990s, due to falling prices on the world copper market.[1]
Mhangura has become an industrial/mining ghost town, with its water, power, and sanitation infrastructure failing.[1]
See also
- Zimbabwe Mining Index
- Copper mining in Africa
References
3. Mining in Zimbabwe from the 6th to the 21st centuries published by The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe ISBN 978-1-77906-6107