About
Selebi-Phikwe (also spelt Selibe Phikwe) is a mining town located in the Central District of Botswana. It had a population of 49,724 in 2011 which is now estimated to have risen to c.52,000. The town is an administrative district, separate from the surrounding Central District. == Mining == Nickel mining commenced in 1973 and has been the main activity since. The complex includes a mine and a smelter. All operations are now deep mining. Originally there were two tiny places called Selebi and Phikwe, which straddled a large undiscovered deposit of copper and nickel in the area. When the mineral wealth of the area was discovered in the 1960s a mine and a township were built in the woodland between the places with the combined name of Selebi-Phikwe. The main source of employment is the Bamangwato Concessions Ltd. (BCL) mine which excavates and smelts mixed copper-nickel ore from several shafts in deep and opencast mines. SOURCESWikipedia