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On 23 and 24 June 2025 the members of the Boom2Dust Project, Prof. dr. Jan-Bart Gewald, Maaike Rozema and I hosted the project’s first workshop in Africa titled “Mining Lives and Relations.” The following is an overview of the event as well as a reflection on the papers that were presented and how they contributed to our project on the multi-species history of mining in southern Africa. The workshop was held in the Lady Oppenheimer Hall at the McGregor Museum in the city of Kimberley, South Africa. It was appropriate to kick off the first African-based workshop in this town because of its importance to the history of not just South Africa but the entire southern African region. Afterall, it was the wealth that was generated here that was responsible for the financing of the colonial conquest of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Furthermore, Cecil John Rhodes, the diamond magnate, politician and imperialist was an investor in the development of Tsumeb in modern-day Namibia. As a consequence our individual projects are bound together by the web of financial and imperial influence that emanated from Kimberley.
Not only was the town an appropriate place to host the workshop, the McGregor Museum was an equally remarkable location in which to invite our guests. The Victorian building was constructed in 1897 as a sanatorium and became famous as the place where Rhodes resided in the Siege of Kimberley during the South African War (1899-1902). In the decades after the war the building served as a hotel and then a convent before becoming the headquarters of the McGregor Museum in 1976 and the primary research institution for the Northern Cape. It was here that academic colleagues and close friends of the research project from Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Uganda, South Africa and Zambia came to give presentations and engage in discussions concerning the multi-species environmental history of mining and related topics.
The workshop was opened with an address by Sunet Swanepoel, historian and CEO of the McGregor Museum. It was Sunet who graciously granted us permission to use the museum’s facilities and it was an honour to have her open the event. The workshop began with an opening presentation by JB on his ongoing research into the multi-species history of Kimberley. JB outlined how animals were integral to the development of the diamond mining centre. Whether it was oxen, horses or donkeys, animals were used to provide food and muscle power to the mine and town population. Their historical experiences is a central feature of our research as we explore the more-than-human dimensions of the mining towns of Kimberley, Kabwe and Tsumeb. Maaike gave the next presentation where she shared her paper on the lives of animals in the expeditions of the Victorian explorer Francis Galton. She was able to demonstrate how Galton exploited animals throughout the course of his expedition across modern-day Namibia. Furthermore she reconstructed the tensions concerning the relationships between Galton and animals as their agency and place within his imagination shifted between a recognition of their sentience towards a callous disregard for their well-being. This paper is part of her ongoing research into the multi-species history of Tsumeb in northern Namibia and serves as a prime example of the possibilities of animal centred historical work.
After a short coffee break, I presented an overview of my ongoing research project on the multi-species history of the Zambian mining town of Kabwe. This paper will serve as the introduction of my dissertation as I examined the existing historiography and provided an overview of more-than-human research methods. I also shared two cases of research that I will address in my thesis: the historical experiences of cattle in and around Kabwe and fish from the nearby Lukanga Swamps who were used to feed the burgeoning mining settlement. Following that Jennifer Chibamba Chansa presented her work concerning the history of malaria control on the Zambian Copperbelt. Jennifer outlined how these attempts at ecological management often had deleterious consequences on the local environment. Both papers were explorations on the environmental history of mining in Zambia and represented different approaches to understanding how mining has not only shaped the lives of people in the country but also has had profound consequences on animals and the physical landscape.
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In the next session Blair Rutherford presented his current research into the social and environmental dynamics in artisanal gold mining districts in Sierra Leone. He noted how for many within these communities mining represents economic opportunity which is often challenged by governmental, private and environmental actors. With that being said, he also notes that women continue to raise concerns about the ongoing pollution caused by increased mining activities adding an extra-layer of complexity to socio-economic relations in these areas. Craig Paterson presented next, providing a fascinating overview of his fieldwork methodology which he uses to reconstruct more-than-human histories. Craig shared with us insights into how he conducts fieldwork in the forests of the southern Cape with the intention of understanding how elephants constructed paths through the dense bush that would become wagon trails and rails as developed by settlers. He noted how he would conduct his walks, noting what he saw and treating the landscape as an historical archive. This paper was of special significance to the participants in the Boom to Dust project as we want to learn how to read the landscape of mining centres in order to understand how local biospheres were transformed across southern Africa.
After breaking for coffee we had the final session of the day. Cobus Rademeyer presented a paper on the sporting history of Kimberley noting how many of South Africa’s primary sporting institutions originated in Kimberley. British settlers carried their sporting and leisure traditions with them to the diamond fields, being responsible for the growth of cricket and rugby as in past times. Finally, Duncan Money gave a presentation on the history of gold mining in South Africa. Noting how the industry has transformed from being an international concern drawing in goods, labour and capital from across the world to a more national one centring largely on South Africa and participated in by South Africans. Having completed the first day of the workshop the participants then went for dinner at the Kimberley Club. Originally opened in 1881 this building was the centre of the social and business worlds of South Africa’s most influential mining magnates and boasted Cecil Rhodes, Alfred Beit and Julius Wernher amongst its membership. It was apt that we concluded the first day in the dining hall of this historic building surrounded by reminders of Kimberley’s central importance not just to the diamond mining industry of South Africa but to the history of the entire southern African region.
The second day of the workshop began with a keynote lecture by the historian Steve Lunderstedt. An expert on Kimberley’s history, Steve gave an insightful lecture on the lives of important figures in Kimberley’s past who had recognised and sought to harness the symbiotic relationship between mining capital and political power that was so fundamental in shaping the future of the region. These included the likes of Rhodes, Barney Barnato and Sir Ernest Oppenheimer. After a short break we saw three papers examining aspects of Kimberley’s past from three different disciplinary angles. First, Jock Robey, an exploration geologist and leading expert on diamonds, outlined the geology of the Kimberley area and the processes by which diamonds are formed and carried in kimberlite pipes to the surface. This was an important contribution to the workshop as it highlighted the importance of geology in our own research. Afterall, if there were no minerals that were determined to be of economic value then the mines of Kimberley, Kabwe and Tsumeb would never have developed.
Second, the archaeologist David Morris presented his work on burial grounds across the city. David showed how he and his team discovered the remains of compound workers whose remains were discarded in the cynical manner in which the industry treated its labourers. This research illustrated how the discipline of archaeology can be applied to an urban mining centre in order to shed light on the deleterious effect of industrial mining on human bodies both in life and in death. Finally, Robert Hart the curator of the Duggan Cronin gallery at the McGregor Museum gave a presentation on his favourite photographs from the collection. A particular highlight was the photo of the Kimberley Mine from the lip of the gigantic man-made crater. This photo shows the mosaic of claims all at different levels due to the differing pace of digging, the chaos of operations and the vast web of wires that spanned the mine which served as haulage lines and winches allowing people and animals to lift and deposit material from and into the mine. This was a valuable visual representation of how mining altered the physical landscape of Kimberley and served as a powerful reminder of photography’s potential for historical research.
After an extended lunch break we had the final session of our workshop. Tapiwa Madimu opened with a presentation on his ongoing research into artisanal miners in and around Kimberley. He shared how interviews with these miners reveal tensions regarding work, land ownership and belonging which frequently clash with governmental and private authorities. Next was Les Mitchell who shared an overview of his fascinating animal-centred research on the lives of pit ponies in British coal mines. Noting how ponies were enslaved to work deep down in coal pits, Mitchell illustrated the possibilities of more-than-human historical research combining insights from veterinary sciences with historical records. Doing so he was able to reconstruct an evocative account of the lives of pit ponies in service to the British coal mining industry. Wayne Dooling gave the final presentation of the workshop where he highlighted the historic experiences of Muslim slave traders, illegal diamond buyers and property owners who forged an Indian ocean network of capital and trade during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Several of these figures lived and worked in the Malay Camp in Kimberley during the 1880s and came to be property owners in Cape Town at the turn of the century. This paper highlighted the opportunities that were created by the growth of the diamond fields. With that the workshop came to an end with the participants leaving for their different destinations across the world.
The first Boom to Dust workshop to be held in Africa was a success. The wonderful setting of the McGregor Museum, the rich historical context of Kimberley and the generous support of Sunet Swanepoel all contributed to a well-facilitated workshop that successfully placed mining at the heart of the research project. The participants and invited guests which included Dr Marja Hinfelaar of the Southern African Institute for Policy and Research (SAIPAR) thoroughly enjoyed themselves and benefited from fruitful exchanges. The papers presented were broad in scope but centred around mining and environmental history. Highlights included those papers that directly addressed our research interests. Craig Paterson’s paper on his walking methodology chimes closely with our own desire to conduct fieldwork in order to write multi-species histories. Jock Robey’s paper reminded us of the importance of geology to our own research. Whilst Les Mitchell’s presentation illustrated how animals were coerced into servicing the needs of the mining industry. However, that does not detract from the importance of the insights of the other papers presented. These diverse papers underscored the multi-dimensional nature of historical and anthropological research on mining centres. From sport and politics to environmental interventions, they showcased the wide-ranging possibilities for exploring the history of mining in southern Africa. Finally, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Madi, Gert and Marnu Botes whose bed and breakfast Biki Plek in Kimberley gave us refuge and sustenance throughout the course of our stay in Kimberley. A special thanks as well to Marnu who ferried conference attendees to and from the airport and supported us every step of the way.