Geological Details about Zimbabwe from Bob Atkinson:

Gold in Zimbabwe occurs almost exclusively in the green stone belts as hydrothermal deposits. These green stone belts are normally composed of volcanic and sedimentary rocks (schist) that have been squeezed up and squashed into long linear belts by massive granite intrusions. This squeezing caused them to become highly fractured and faulted. Gold in solution along with numerous other minerals was injected into these faults and shears. Then, provided that the right minerals such as iron were present in the surrounding rock, gold, along with other minerals, would have been precipitated out. The hydrothermal solution was water under high pressure and temperature in which the gold and other minerals were dissolved. Silica was common in the solution and as the temperature and pressure of the water dropped was precipitated out as quartz, a white, glassy, hard rock. These were generally the veins that were mined. Green stones are therefore very old rocks dating from 2500m years and older. The prospector would therefore walk around and look for outcrops of quartz veins and sample them to determine whether they contained gold. Remember that the quartz veins were more often than not barren because for the gold to precipitate the right minerals had to be present in the surrounding or host rock. This was all fine provided that the green stones were exposed on surface. However large areas of them had been buried under a layer of Kalahari sand that had been transported in by wind. This was, in geological terms, a very recent event. This sand could vary in depth from a few meters to tens of meters and gave no indication of what lay beneath.

….As the gold deposits are associated with metallic sulphides these would show as magnetic anomalies. However there are numerous other factors that create similar anomalies so we were looking for a combination of factors.

We eventually found a magnetic anomaly that was backed up by enhanced traces of gold and associated minerals from the nearby ant hills but not by the foliage sampling. However 2 out of 3 was considered good enough to sink a small test shaft through about 30m.(100ft) of sand cover. This exposed a small gold deposit and proved the theory.

Terminology & Usage

About the terms “cookboy” and “gardenboy”.  I am writing in the period 1946-the early 1960’s when these terms were in common usage and not considered derogatory.  I want to remain true to the times in the place I oncecalledhome.

The term Native likewise was in common usage at the time…hence Native Hospital, Native Affairs Department and Natives.  Later these terms went into disuse with the rise of Black Nationalism.