Name of student: Grace Makando Sibanga
Name of school: Masunga Senior Secondary School
Candidate Number: 0500
Centre Number: BW 826
Name of department: History
Title of research: Assess the impact of mining on Batswana after independence.
Name of supervisor: Ms T. Mbunye
Year: 2025
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………
Background information………………………………………………………………….
Aims of the study………………………………………………………………………….
Research question…………………………………………………………………………
Definition of key terms……………………………………………………………………
Body
Analysis ………………………………………………………………………………….
Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………….
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………
Introduction
My motivation to do this project, was to find out how Botswana’s pillar of the economy
which is mining came about. Going into depth about when mining started, which minerals
were discovered, how they were discovered and how these minerals impacted Botswana
socially, environmentally, economically and politically. I was also interested in the
developments that were brought by mining. All in all, I wanted to find out how mining
impacted Botswana in general.
Background information
Mining in Botswana had started as early as the Early Iron Age. During the Early Iron Age,
people mined copper and iron. They extracted these minerals using a method called opencast
mining. Using this method, they dug the ores from the surface, not digging deep holes. Iron,
copper and mining became specialised industries, practised by families who became expert
miners. These minerals were considered very valuable during that period.
After Botswana was declared a protectorate, few mineral deposits were discovered because
the colonial government did not have a strong mineral exploration programme. But after it
gained independence, large deposits of minerals such as diamonds, copper, nickel, coal and
soda ash were found as well as small deposits of asbestos, gold and manganese.
Copper-nickel was revealed by the mineral exploration that was going on in the mid-1960’s.
Large deposits of copper were discovered at Selebi in 1963 and at Phikwe in 1965. Then in
1967 the Bamangwato Concessions Limited announced the existence in the area of 30 million
tons of copper-nickel. In 1968, the government of Botswana decide to develop a mine in
Selebi-Phikwe. Copper-nickel mining at Phikwe was started by the Bamangwato Concessions
in 1973-74. It then encountered a few challenges.
Morupule coal had no market due to the mining in Selebi-Phikwe but coal miningbegan in
1973. There are large deposits in Kgaswe near Morupule but they are not being mined
because there are still noe enough local markets for coal.
Definition of key terms
Mining is the extraction of minerals from underground.r
Aims of the study
To find out how mining impacted Botswana economically
To find out how mining impacted Botswana socially
To find out how mining impacted Botswana politically
To find out how mining impacted Botswana environmentally
Research question
