Namaqualand

Namaqualand (Afrikaans: Namakwaland) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) and covering a total area of 440,000 square kilometres (170,000 sq mi). It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into two portions – Little Namaqualand to the south and Great Namaqualand to the north. Little Namaqualand is within the Namakwa District Municipality and forms part of Northern Cape Province, South Africa. A typical municipality is Kamiesberg Local Municipality. Great Namaqualand is in the Karas Region of Namibia. Great Namaqualand is sparsely populated by the Namaqua, a Khoikhoi people who traditionally inhabited the Namaqualand region.

Some of the more prominent towns in this area are Springbok, being the capital of this region, as well as Kleinzee and Koiingnaas, both private mining towns owned by De Beers Diamond Mines. This area is quite rich in alluvial diamonds deposited along the coast by the Orange River. Oranjemund is another mining town along this coast, situated in Namibia, but very much on the border. As the name suggests, it is at the mouth of the Orange River which forms the border between South Africa and Namibia. The town of Alexander Bay is located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) away opposite the river on the South African side and is linked to Oranjemund by the Ernest Oppenheimer Bridge. Other links crossing the river further upstream are a reintroduced pontoon at Sendelingsdrift in the Richtersveld National Park, and road bridges at Vioolsdrif (the main border crossing between the two countries) and at the remote border crossing of Onseepkans.

Namaqualand 0-6-0T 1871

The Cape Copper Mining Company 0-6-0T of 1871 were two South African steam locomotives from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1871, two 2 feet 6 inches (762 millimetres) gauge tank locomotives with a 0-6-0 wheel arrangement were placed in service by the Cape Copper Mining Company. They were the first steam locomotives to enter service on the hitherto mule-powered Namaqualand Railway between Port Nolloth and the Namaqualand copper mines around O'okiep in the northwestern Cape of Good Hope.

Cape Copper Company

The Cape Copper Company had its origin in the Cape Copper Mining Company, which was established in 1862 or 1863 as the Cape of Good Hope Copper Mining Company, to take over the copper mining properties of Phillips & King, an enterprise which had been involved in copper mining in Namaqualand since the 1850s. John King, one of the members of the defunct Phillips & King, was appointed a director of the new mining company. The Cape Copper Mining Company was restructured as the Cape Copper Company in 1888.