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The Mystery Unravelled
By Ladislav Kropacek
The mystery surrounding Hippo Mines surely is unravelling. The
fascinating article below has been sent to us by Laddie Kropacek,
via Adam Lethbridge, and his father, Christopher. We thank them all
for taking the time to record this history. Laddie is now resident
in Prague.
I
have recently read the two articles printed in the Lusaka Lowdown
about the history of the Hippo Mine in the Kafue National Park. I
felt that it would be interesting to readers for me to add my
version of the story, since I was the owner and operator of the mine
for a number of years in the 1960s and 1970s. I also feel it
necessary to record that, contrary to Oliver Irwin’s claim in the
December Lowdown that I died 25 years ago, this is definitely not
true!
I
had come to work in Zambia for Anglo-American in Kabwe (then Broken
Hill). One day I met, quite by chance, Mr Vivian Allison who told me
that he was the owner of a very good small copper mine called Hippo
Mine. I explained to him what I was doing and where I was working
and we had a short conversation about mining matters in general. Mr
Allison lived in Ndola, about 300 miles from Hippo mine; the
property itself was about 60 miles from the township of Mumbwa. As
he often passed through Kabwe, our friendship developed, and indeed
he used to stay overnight with my wife, Muriel, and myself.
In due course, Mr Allison invited me to visit the mine, so one
weekend I travelled to Hippo Mine with two young metallurgists who
worked with me at Anglo American. We were all astonished when we
saw, on the surface of the property, oxide ore, malachite and
azurite in a concentration about 2 metres wide and 8 metres long. At
this time the only equipment Mr Allison had on site was a small
diesel engine, a jaw crusher, jack hammer and a Nissan lorry. About
20 workers were doing a bit of surface mining, as well as building
some accommodation for themselves and a house for Mr Allison. A very
able driver, Edmond, was a key member of the work force.
 The
vertical shaft originally at the mine was not working as the
timbering had been destroyed. Attempts were being made to repair it.
Some two weeks after our visit Mr Allison came to see me at home and
said that he had formed a company called Zoo Copper Company (ZCC).
He asked if I would like to buy some shares in ZCC and, after
discussing this proposition with Muriel, I agreed to buy £500 worth.
I also persuaded some friends to buy £100 worth each. In 1966 those
were quite large sums of money!
When I met Mr Allison a few days later, he said that he had met
someone from the London Metal Exchange (LME) who assured him that
LME was interested in investing in the mine. He explained that he
had been asked to fly to London to follow up this possibility with
LME. In fact this trip never took place.
In the meantime, Mr Allison had apparently made me a director of ZCC,
although he never bothered to inform me about this!
Shortly after this, my wife and I went to UK on leave. We stayed in
London and during this time I found that I was being searched for by
a man from the LME. When I met this man, he told me that they had
received a telegram from Lusaka asking them to contact me to tell me
that Mr Allison had been killed in an accident at the mine. I was
informed that I must decide immediately what to do with the mine, or
to go back to Lusaka to make my decision there.
I
was very surprised about this since I assumed that I was only a
minority shareholder, but at this point I realised that I was in
fact the only remaining director of ZCC. So, after a meeting with
members of LME, including Rudolf Wolf, I decided that I must return
to Zambia at once. Telling Muriel that I would be back in no more
than three weeks, I flew straight out to Zambia on the VC10 service.
On arriving at the old airport at Lusaka, I was met by a delegation
of people. Leading the group was Dr de Vletter, UN adviser to the
Government and with him was the Director of the Geological Survey.
Also at the airport was Mrs Allison, widow of Vivian, and about
eight creditors, all shouting at me about how much money they were
owed by ZCC. At this point, of course, I had no idea what they were
talking about!
Although I was tempted to wash my hands of the whole affair, I went
to a hotel in Lusaka and, in the next few days, had intensive
discussions with the Government Mines Department, as well as with
the creditors themselves. Although I pointed out that I was not a
Mining engineer, but a Chemical engineer and Metallurgist, I was
persuaded to do my best to save the situation.
With Muriel’s agreement, I therefore resigned from Anglo American,
took over ZCC and set about trying to raise enough money to operate
the mine. At this time, I attended the funeral of Mr Allison at
Leopards Hill Cemetery. At Mrs Allison’s request, a large boulder of
high quality ore was selected from Hippo Mine, and a plaque placed
upon it in memory of her late husband.
So how to raise the essential funds to keep the mine going? ZCC was
in dire financial trouble, with heavy debts; Barclays Bank being the
main creditor. In Lusaka, I managed to involve two larger
shareholders to invest in the venture and Government made ZCC a
small loan, as did several London members of LME and myself. Anglo
American kindly lent me a mining engineer, at my expense, who helped
us to build a head gear and rehabilitate the vertical shaft. A rail
track was also built to the crusher.
At the mine there was no stockpile of ore, but as I already
mentioned, there was a large vein of oxide ore (average grade 14%Cu)
on the surface where we started mining and forming an inclined shaft
in the ore body. Crushed ore was delivered by lorry to Chisamba Rail
Station where it was loaded onto railway wagons by hand and then
railed to Kitwe. Anglo American had a rail siding in Lusaka and
after about two years we got permission to use it. There the ore was
loaded with a hired mechanical loader, which was a great relief
after the hand loading of the early years!
When the news about the rehabilitation of Hippo Mine spread, we
received a letter from Kafue Development Corporation (KDC) in
London, who were in fact the owners of the mine and a vast area
covering other small mines. KDC demanded to be paid royalties or to
buy the mine. Neither of these demands was acceptable, but it was
arranged that the mine be taken over by Government which then leased
it back to us at ZCC. All this was arranged by Mr. Simon Zukas with
his connections in Lusaka. There seems to be some evidence that
Anglo American had in fact leased the mine from KDC at some point.
At one time, there had been an attempt by Government to nationalise
the mine, with myself staying on as manager, but I could not agree
to that.
When the financial situation showed signs of improvement, I bought a
200 KW generator, Atlas Copco compressors and Swedish submersible
pumps. With this equipment we could then dewater the mine and the
vertical shaft which reached a depth of 200 feet, still showing a
good amount of sulphide ore. From 50 ft. down in the shaft, the
sulphide ore showed an average grade of 9%Cu. Oliver Irwin quotes
the grade as +20%Cu, but this must have been ore from the pillars
which, against my advice, were subsequently removed after I left,
thus effectively destroying the future of the mine as a viable
concern.
With the new machinery we were able to start underground mining. I
also discovered that Anglo American had, in their scrap yard, a set
of small flotation cells and other necessary equipment for a pilot
plant. So I purchased this material and was able to build a small
metallurgical concentrator at the mine. I managed to pump water to
the house and compound from the Kafue River about 0.5 kilometres
away. I was also able to build a more permanent house for myself,
and quarters for the workers, by using discarded furnace bricks
which apparently must have been left there by Anglo American many
years before. I believe that our small house is still at the site.
It took me about seven years of hard work to pay off all the
creditors. During this time I gradually bought out all the local
shareholders so that I had complete control of the company. During
this time I also built an airstrip at the mine. I bought a plane and
was able to get about all over Zambia and the neighbouring countries
(except Southern Rhodesia).
For my wife and myself, life became easier and more enjoyable and we
loved our years at Hippo Mine. Unfortunately in 1977 I was diagnosed
with cancer and I flew to London for a major operation. After 3
months, I returned, against medical advice, to Lusaka, but my
illness had made it really impossible to continue on my own. After
three more years of struggling, I was forced to sell the mine. I am
proud of the fact that no shareholder in Zambia lost any money from
their investment in Hippo Mine. The losers in this story were the
overseas shareholders and particularly myself, because at that time
there were very strict Government restrictions on the transfer of
funds out of the country.
Although I was very sad at having to leave the mine, I left very
detailed instructions about how the mine should be developed and
managed. This information supplemented the monthly reports I always
submitted to the Mines Department. I can only assume that these
instructions and suggestions were never followed because I now know
that the mine seems to have failed. I have heard that the mine was
sold by Government to private owners and that all operations ceased
some time ago. Recent photographs taken at the site show that the
remaining equipment has been left to rust away in the bush.
The above is only a very brief history of Hippo Mine as I knew it. I
have no desire, after all this time, to describe in detail all the
ups and downs of that period, with all the plotting and intrigues
which went on, unknown to me, while I struggled to keep the mine
going. To do that would require a large book!
I
do wish to record however that, if I had not had serious health
problems, I would have loved to have continued at Hippo Mine and
would probably still be there more forty years after I first saw the
place! I even had plans for a 20 room hotel at the nearby hot
springs and I had offers from London of the finance to build and run
it. Zambia is a marvellous country and we made very many friends
among all the people we met.
Why was the mine called Hippo Mine? There is a small graveyard
nearby with 5 graves including that of one Jacob Elliot killed by a
hippo many decades ago. No-one remembers who he was. I built a
fence round the graves to try to protect them and to respect the
memory of these early pioneers. Hippo Mine is located in a beautiful
but rather remote and difficult area in which to live and work, but
which brings tremendous satisfaction and pleasure to those who have
ever experienced it.
Photos
supplied by Laddie Kropacek
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February
2006