How phosphate mining links fossils to climate change on SAs West Coast
More phosphate mines are springling up in the area.
By Leon Louw founder of WhyAfrica and Endorphin Expeditions and editor of the WhyAfrica magazine.
Over the last few years, the West Coast of South Africa has seen an increase in phosphate mining.
Phosphate mining has been taking place on the Cape West Coast of South Africa since 1958 when a company called Chemfos started a small-scale mining operation close to Langebaan.
Chemfos operated the mine for forty years and today the mine offices have been converted into a display centre that hosts the West Coast Fossil Park. The fossil-rich parts of the old pit have been cordoned off and marked.
Soon after mining started in 1958 a mine employee collected some fossils in the shallow pit and showed them to visiting palaeontologist. It was a great find. The mining operation exposed what would later become one of the world’s most prolific sources of late Tertiary vertebrate fossils.
Prolific source of phosphate
Because of geology, climate change and sea-level movement over the last 24-million years, the area in and around Langebaan has also become a prolific source of phosphate.
The phosphate on the West Coast is used primarily as feedstock for soil fertilisers in agriculture. South Africa processes about 2.3 million tonnes of phosphate rock annually (2.3% of global production).
Concerns for environmental groups
The increase in phosphate mining on the West Coast is a controversial subject and has raised serious concerns amongst environmental groups.
Companies like Kropz, Colt Resources, ARME and Mariama are all forging ahead with plans that environmental groups say could impact biodiversity, water systems and human health.
Fascinating geological history
The geological history of this area is fascinating and gives us some idea how the fossils were exposed, and the phosphate came about.
A key event was the separation of Antartica from Godwana about 15 million years ago. This piece of land headed for the South Pole and sea levels dropped as massive icing up began.
With a change in temperature five million years ago, the Antarctic ice began to melt, and sea levels increased, to peak at Langebaan at just over 60 metres above present sea levels.
Subsequent lowering of sea levels saw erosion remove most of the material that was deposited but some pockets survived. And it is those remains that has given us the West Coast phosphate deposits and fossil beds.
To read more about the geology I suggest reading the fantastic book Geological Journeys by Nick Norman and Gavin Whitfield published by Struik on behalf of De Beers in 2006.
WhyAfrica will visit several project sites on the West Coast of South Africa during our 2025 WhyAfrica Road Trip to get the story behind the story, so if you’re interested in that area, please give us a call.
Image credit: Jess Snoek from Unsplash
How phosphate mining links fossils to climate change on SAs West Coast
