Shackleton is a village in

Mashonaland West Mashonaland West is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 57,441 km² and a population of approximately 1.9 million (2022). Chinhoyi is the capital of the province. Demographics Geography Districts Mashonaland West is divid ...

province in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, near the

Chinhoyi Chinhoyi, previously known as Sinoia during the colonial era, is a city in central northern Zimbabwe in the Makonde District. It has a population of 90,800 and is primarily a college town, although it was originally founded as an Italian group ...

region. It is known for the Shackleton Copper Mine, an underground

copper mine Copper extraction is the multi-stage process of obtaining copper from its ores. The conversion of copper ores consists of a series of physical, chemical, and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ...

which was established in 1960 and began production in 1971. The ore is described by

Mindat Mindat may refer to: Places * Mindat District, a district in Chin State, Myanmar (Burma), consisting of two townships and many villages ** Mindat Township, Myanmar *** Mindat, Chin State, a town in Chin State, Myanmar, administrative seat of Mindat ...

as "sedimentary copper deposit, hosted in calcareous

argillite Argillite () is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of Friability, indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and Pelagic sediment, oozes. They contain variable amounts of silt-sized particles. T ...

and

arkose Arkose () or arkosic sandstone is a detrital sedimentary rock, specifically a type of sandstone containing at least 25% feldspar. Arkosic sand is sand that is similarly rich in feldspar, and thus the potential precursor of arkose. Components ...

". In 2000, Shackleton was shut down, as copper mining declined. Along with

Mhangura Mhangura, formerly Mangula, is a small town and former mining community in the Doma District of Mashonaland West Province, in northern Zimbabwe. Geography It is located northwest of Harare. The name was probably derived from the Shona word ' ...

, Sutton, Vanad, and Kildonan, the mining towns became ghost towns, changing from thriving communities to impoverished small villages.

References

Populated places in Mashonaland West Province Copper mines {{Zimbabwe-geo-stub