The Mining Certificates of the British South Africa Company

The Mining Certificates of the British South Africa Company

Introduction to the 5th Edition

A further 73 certificates have been added to this addition making a total of 923. The majority of these additions have been early Certificates of Registration and Prospecting Licences with £1 Double Heads. The majority of the certificates of registration were obtained from eBay and most are endorsed cancelled. This might suggest that they had been surrendered and the endorsement applied. They may have been originally obtained
from the BSAC archives following surrender.Two new items of particular interest have been added. A Provisional Certificate of Amalgamation with a 5/-stamp attached. This rate of duty was only applicable for a short period when the rate was 1% without a minimum of £1. The other item was a Special Prospecting Licence with 2/- stamp attached for 20 claims endorsed “Matabele Rights”.

Introduction to Fourth Edition

A further 46 certificates have been added to this addition making a total of 850 and a new category “Miscellaneous Documents” added. This contains documents related to mining but not actual Mining Certificates. Further Certificates of Abandonment and Amalgamation have also been added.

The number of new recordings is declining and so it may be sometime before a further edition is produced. Earlier Introductions are listed below for reference.

Introduction to Third Edition

32 additional certificates have been added to this edition, the majority of these are Certificates of Registration and Prospecting Licences. The individual indexes have been removed.

Of special interest in this addition is a Certificate of Special Registration after Transfer for 14 blocks of the Rose of Sharron and Shamrock Mine and a second provisional Certificate of Amalgamation. Certificates of Amalgamation are listed at the end of Certificates of Transfer.  Special thanks are due to Patrick Flanagan and Jon Moreton for contributions to this edition.

Introduction to Second Edition

63 additional certificates have been added to this edition, the majority of these are Certificates of Registration (mainly pre 1900). Of special interest is a Certificate of Amalgamation (none were recorded in Memoir 9), this is a provisional certificate using a modified Certificate of Transfer and listed after this type; secondly an Additional Prospecting Licence for 100 claims bearing 10 £5 stamps.

Special thanks are due to Ian Shapiro, Patrick Flanagan and Mike Barter for major contributions to this edition.

Introduction to First Edition

Mining was one of the main sources of income for the British South Africa Company. At each stage of the prospector’s search for minerals (mainly gold but also silver, copper, tin, coal and asbestos). The company introduced a charge and issued an appropriate certificate to record the details of each stage in the process including the date of the transaction,
the name of the miner or company, the issuing Mining Office, the duty charged and the name and location number of the block of claims. This last number identified the block throughout its life.

Memoir 9, “Early Gold Mining in Southern Rhodesia – The Mining Regulations and the Revenue Documents of the British South Africa Company 1890-1922” was published in 2008. Since then more information has come to light and many more certificates have been recorded.

The intention of this section of the website is to record all images of these certificates that have so far been recorded and to add additional certificates as they are found. The records will be recorded by certificate type in the sequence that they would apply to a prospector or miner. A brief introduction to each type of certificate is given but for more details
reference should be made to Memoir 9. Each sequence of records will be displayed both by a digital image in date sequence and an Excel table giving details of each block of claims.

In a few instances no image is available and thus noted. The details included are:

  • Date of Issue
  • Duty charged
  • Details of stamps making up this duty (either description or SG number)
  • The issuing Mines Office
  • The Location Number (Not applicable to Prospecting Licences).
  • The Certificate Number
  • Additional comments where applicable. I would like to repeat my thanks to all

The first edition of this section of the web site is now compete. It comprises the following:

  • Prospecting Licences
  • Special and Extra Prospecting Licences
  • Certificates of Registration and Special Registration
  • Inspection Certificates (including Permits of Concentration and Certificates
    of Extra Work).
  • Certificates of Transfer
  • Certificates of Registration and Special Registration after Transfer
  • Protection Certificates
  • Certificate of Payment (of Claims Licences). Rent of Site and Receipt for Payment of Fines
  • Receipts for Royalty, Certificates of Hypothecation and Abandonment

 

I would like to repeat my thanks to all those who contributed to Memoir 9 and in particular Jefferson Ritson, Mike Barter, Adrian be Bourdon and Brian Zlotnick who have been of considerable help in compiling this section of the website. I should add my thanks to my granddaughter Katherine Lees-Howes for her considerable help in guiding me through the
complexities of Excel.

Christopher Cooksey

August, 2026