Aggeneys

Aggeneys is a mining town established in 1976 on a farm of that name, situated between Pofadder and Springbok in the Northern Cape, South Africa.Origin of the nameIt has been stated that "no-one is quite certain of the origin of the name Aggeneys". Derived from the Nama language, suggested meanings include "Place of Blood", "Place of Red Clay" or "Place of Reeds". One author favours the last of these: the Nama word ‡a means "reed" while !keis means "place".Mining and geological contextsAggeneys the town, on a farm of that name, was founded to service the Black Mountain Mine, an underground base-metal operation nearby, currently employing over 600 permanent staff. This zinc/lead/copper/silver mine is just to the west of the town. The produce of the mine is transported by truck to the nearest railway line, located 150km to the south-east along a virtually straight gravel (dirt) road. A major zinc deposit has been identified in the nearby Gamsberg inselberg, also set to be mined.The ranges of hills, mountains and inselbergs in the area display some of the most diverse and complex geology in Southern Africa including some of the richest known concentrations of copper, lead and zinc.