Article
South Africa
SME Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona
(2010)
Abstract
The Republic of South Africa is a heterogeneous mixture of Black Africans, Afrikaans, British, Indians, Malayans, French Huguenots, and many others from Europe and Asia. A decisive date in its recent history is the collapse of the Apartheid Regime in 1994.For a metallurgist, South Africa is the country of diamonds, gold, platinum, and many other metals. In 1887 Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902) was able to take control of the De Beers Mining Company after the discovery of diamonds at Kimberly in 1866. It was there where the so-called School of Mines was inaugurated in 1896. The Gold Rush of 1886 in the Witwatersrand district was responsible for the foundation of Johannesburg. It was there that the cyanidation process was first introduced. The Gold Rush resulted in the Boer War 1899-1902. Platinum was discovered in the Bushveld Igneous Complex deposits in 1924 in what became known as the Republic of Bophuthatswana, a Bantustan, i.e., a "homeland". This Republic like other African Home lands was dismantled after the collapse of the Apartheid Regime. Visits to the country before and after the Apartheid era were conducted and will be discussed.
Keywords
- Apartheid,
- Gold Rush,
- Boer War,
- Platinum,
- Diamonds,
- Rhodes,
- De Beers
Disciplines
Publication Date
March, 2010
Citation Information
Fathi Habashi. "South Africa" SME Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona (2010) p. 1 - 20 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/fathi_habashi/381/