Koegas mine

Koegas lies in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, some north-west of the town of Prieska. The asbestos fibres are vertically orientated in bands within ironstone rocks of thickness, At Koegas intense folding of the rocks on normal and reverse faults has resulted in many bands of asbestos overlying one another vertically in the so-called Westerberg deposit. The folding has practically eliminated any deposits to the west of the site. Nine reefs are present at Koegas, with the overall deposit being thick, and they yield particularly high quality asbestos fibres. The fibres, which are blue in colour because of their iron protoxide content, have been noted to be stronger than those of chrysotile (white asbestos) deposits. The deposits at Koegas are overlain by mudstone. == History of operation ==

Early years The mine was opened by the Cape Asbestos Company Limited in 1893. The company had been incorporated in England that same year. The company scaled back operations in 1902, during which it made sales of just £1,600, and it mined nothing at all in 1903. The company resumed mining in 1907 and the following year reported a profit of £6,900. By 1908 it was selling its product for between $140 and $310 per ton, largely as "mattresses" and other boiler insulation. Demand for the mine's products grew because of the First World War (1914–18). In 1925 it purchased an asbestos mine at Penge, Limpopo. All of the underground workforce were male, though women and children were employed to break up the asbestos into its fibres by hand and to sort them into different grades. An inspection later in that year found no washing or sanitation provision at the mine workings. When challenged the mine directors stated they were unwilling to make improvements as they judged that only 10 years of deposits remained at the site. Cape did not proceed with the improvements and, when challenged, threatened to close the mine. 1960s The South African Pneumoconiosis Research Unit issued a report in 1962 that noted high levels of mesothelioma in Prieska but this was suppressed by the asbestos industry. The mine was also affected by scurvy and tuberculosis epidemics. Those who became ill, possibly including asbestosis sufferers, remained on the site and many died. Cape relocated widows to Marydale during the 1960s, to a settlement that became known as "the lung location" for the medical conditions of the inhabitants. 1970s and closure Women continued to be employed to sort asbestos by hand at Koegas until the early 1970s, as recorded by the company's applications for exemptions under the 1956 Mines and Works Act No. 27. The site continued to be productive and by 1977 South Africa was the world's third-largest supplier of asbestos, extracting that year. From 1985 Prieska was declared a dust control town which required the asbestos waste piles to be covered with soil. Clean-up of the Koegas site was begun by the South African government in 2007; the tailings have now been sown with grass and fenced off and the most easily-accessible asbestos has been removed. The mine site is now considered a ghost town. == Litigation ==

Many residents of Prieska suffered from asbestosis and other asbestos-related disease. Exposure was either directly through working at the mine or secondarily from asbestos-containing materials in the town. The streets of Prieska were paved with asphalt containing asbestos and many buildings in the town were constructed with asbestos cement walls or roofs. A lawsuit was launched by 5 former works against Cape Plc in 1998 in the English High Court. Cape disputed that the case should be heard in British courts as the mine had been owned by its South African subsidiary company and should be heard in that country's courts. At around this time the company had made out of court settlements with its British factory workers totalling £30 million for asbestosis-related industrial health issues. == See also ==