Copperbelt Province

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The Copperbelt is a province of Zambia which is very rich in mineral deposits. It was the backbone of the Northern Rhodesian economy during British colonial rule, but its economic importance was severely damaged by a crash in global copper prices in 1973 and the nationalization of the copper mines by the government of Kenneth Kaunda.

The region adjoins Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is similarly mineral-rich. The main cities of the Copperbelt include Kitwe, Ndola and Mufulira. Roads extend north into the Congo to Lubumbashi, but war in the Congo has brought economic contact between the two countries to a standstill.

[edit] Geology

The Copperbelt region of Zambia and Congo D.R. is a 500 million year old mountain chain, the Lufilian Arc, which formed when two large pieces of continental crust, the Kalahari Craton and the Congo craton, collided. This collision was one of the many that happened between 700 and 500 million years ago to form the Gondwana supercontinent.

This collision is thought to have remobilised base metals, largely already present in the sediments that had accumulated in the basin between the two cratons. These brines then concentrated the base metals either along stratigraphic boundaries, or along fractures, faults or within structurally controlled 'traps' (such as the nose of a fold). The collision also produced crustal shortening, during which the stratigraphic sequence was tectonically pushed northwards on top of the Congo Craton.

The Lufilian Arc contains two diamictites, megaconglomerates of glacial origin. One of those is correlated with the Sturtian glaciation, while another correlates with the Marinoan Glaciation, both global glaciation events that had profound influence on the history of the planet.

The Lufilian Arc is correlated along trend to the west with the Damara Orogen in Namibia, which also hosts large mineral deposits.

Provinces and Districts of Zambia
Central Province	Chibombo, Kabwe, Kapiri Mposhi, Mkushi, Mumbwa, Serenje
Copperbelt Province	Chililabombwe, Chingola, Kalulushi, Kitwe, Luanshya, Lufwanyama, Masaiti, Mpelembe, Mufulira, Ndola
Eastern Province	Chadiza, Chama, Chipata, Katete, Lundazi, Mambwe, Nyimba, Petauke
Luapula Province	Chiengi, Kawambwa, Mansa, Milenge, Mwense, Nchelenge, Samfya
Lusaka Province	Chongwe, Kafue, Luangwa, Lusaka
Northern Province	Chilubi, Chinsali, Isoka, Kaputa, Kasama, Luwingu, Mbala, Mpika, Mporokoso, Mpulungu, Mungwi, Nakonde
North-Western Province	Chavuma, Kabompo, Kasempa, Mufumbwe, Mwinilunga, Solwezi, Zambezi
Southern Province	Choma, Gwembe, Itezhi-Tezhi, Kalomo, Kazungula, Livingstone, Mazabuka, Monze, Namwala, Siavonga, Sinazongwe
Western Province	Kalabo, Kaoma, Lukulu, Mongu, Senanga, Sesheke, Shangombo