ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 considers the growth of the operations of the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga – the most prized holding of the Tanks Group of Companies – up to the end of the colonial era. The operations of the company were spread around three large mining centres, namely Élisabethville, Jadotville (Likasi) and Kolwezi, which were several dozen miles apart from each other and in an isolated area of about 14,000 square miles, forming a rough rectangle 280 miles long and 35–60 miles wide. The smelting and concentrating plants, dams and hydroelectric plants, various workshops, offices, and towns with their housing complexes, hospitals and schools were all built within this mineral-rich south-east area of Katanga. The chapter maintains that mining provided the spur for the economy and society of Katanga: Progressively the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga emerged as a significant provider of employment, accommodation, training, and medical and social services. But at the same time the single-company mining economy put the vulnerable Katangese at the mercy of the world metal markets.
