A phosphate pegmatite rich in secondary phosphates, is situated on Farm Sandamap North 115, just east of the Usakos-Uis road, it stands out in the surrounding landscape as a quartz capped hill with white quartz scree on the slopes. The farmstead is known as Sandamab & in some of the literature the pegmatite is also written as "Sandamab". To the north is a second hill, the Sandamap Northern Pegmatite that was mined as a tourmaline prospect. Across the dry stream to the east is another smaller pegmatite known as "Klein Sandamap".
Initial mining started in the 1920s when cassiterite was mined & this mine was one of the first tin mines in the area. Mining was haphazard following the tin-rich areas & the mine changed hands many times. The last epoch of mining was mainly for petalite. There are large dilapidated excavations on the hill with dumps scattered over the hill slope. Mining ceased many years ago.
Mineral List
38 entries listed. 38 valid minerals. 1 type locality (valid mineral).
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References
- Keller, P. (1974): Phosphatmineralien aus Pegmatiten Südwestafrikas. Der Aufschluss, 25, 577-591.
- Keller, P. (1980): Neues Jahrb. Mineral., Monatsh. (1980) 49-56 and 561-563.
- Keller, P. (1985): Neue Mineralfunde aus dem Pegmatit von Sandamab, SWA/Namibia. Der Aufschluss, 36, 117-119.
- Schumann (1992): Minerals of the World: 184.
- Bezing, L. von, Bode, R. & Jahn, S. (2007): Namibia. Minerals and Localities. Edition Schloss Freudenstein, Bode Verlag, Haltern, 407 pp. (in English)
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