Concordia Mine
The Namaqua Mining Company’s property at Concordia was said to be more of a quarry than a mine. It began in 1853 and a neat compound was quickly laid out. It was never a particularly rich mine, but it was regular. In 1873, it had between 150 and 500 employees, depending on the season, and a reported output worth £15 000.
A few years later, the population numbered 961, who were living in ten houses and 219 huts and tents. In 1875, mine activities were greatly reduced and things remained very quiet until 1881 when reduced shipping costs made it feasible to resume operations.
In 1886, the mine improved but a few years later, things had gone belly-up and the mine’s land was valued at a mere £150 (with equipment and buildings, £10 000). But you can’t keep a good mine down.
A smelting works was constructed in 1905 and, by 1908, the mine employed around 650 people. The mine finally closed for good in 1931. It was the plucky underdog of the Namaqualand copper mines, paying out a 400% dividend between 1888 and 1928. Today it is a dusty village with little in the way of economic opportunities.
Changes of Fortune
The fates of the companies that owned these mines are similarly full of vicissitudes. The Namaqua Mining Company, in particular, went through several changes of fortune. In the 1860s, the original consortium was bought out by Von Schlicht and Henry Home Ley.
Then, in 1869, Von Schlicht was bought out by Ley, but the mine soon went into liquidation (partly as a result of their rival’s monopoly over the railway line to Port Nolloth. In 1872, a group of Glasgow capitalists bought the company for £15 000. It then changed hands a couple of times before it was re-incorporated as Concordia Copper Company in 1877. The name was changed again a few years later to the Namaqua Copper Company, which then became the Namaqua United Company in 1886.
This concern also went bang, only to be resurrected in 1888 as, once again, the Namaqua Copper Company. In 1902, the Anglo-Boer came to Namaqualand, and the all the mines were affected. Concordia surrendered to the boers without a shot being fired. This was greatly resented by the other mines as the boers used Concordia as a base from which to launch a month-long siege on O’okiep.
The siege was unsuccessful, but the boers did manage to take Springbok and they also blew up the railway line, as they were wont to do. As it turns out, all this was of little consequence as the war ended a few months later.
By David Fleminger