Tsumeb.com: Mission Statement
Tsumeb.com is a not-for-profit, collaborative project with the goal of collating and sharing information relating to the famous Tsumeb Mine in Namibia, one of the most diverse and prolific mineralogical localities in the world. The site was launched on February 8, 2016 from which date interested individuals are invited to contribute by submitting verified information and high quality images relating to the mineralogy, geology, history and personalities that define this unique mineralogical occurrence.
Images used on Tsumeb.com are presented with the permission of the owner and/or photographer. Images may not be reproduced from Tsumeb.com without the express permission of the owner, photographer and/or Tsumeb.com management. Likewise, textual information presented on this site may not be copied without the permission of Tsumeb.com management; however, information may be quoted with appropriate citation or acknowledgement.Reproduction or use of the Tsumeb.com logo is prohibited without express permission of the Tsumeb.com management team.
A platform for submission of contributions will be added to the site shortly. In the meantime, please email all correspondence relating to this site to the following address: info@tsumeb.com
Tsumeb.com Management Team
Ian Bruce Malcolm Southwood Liam Schofield
An accomplished mineral dressing engineer and metallurgist, James Philo (Jim) Ratledge was born in Canada and, while he obtained early mill experience at the Bralorne Mine in British Columbia, he worked for some time as a school teacher. In 1936 he moved to South Africa to work in one of the Witwatersrand gold mines, and then relocated to Kenya in 1938 to work at the Macalder copper-gold mine. He used his earnings from his working in Kenya to pay for his degree course in metallurgy in 1946, and then joined the staff of the newly formed Tsumeb Corporation in 1947. (Ramsey, 1973.)
Ratledge was a senior manager in the Tsumeb Corporation from 1948-1977 and, in the early years, was instrumental in the establishment of the Tsumeb copper and lead smelter plants. He was a founder member and first president (from 1969 until 1971) of the Association of Mining Companies of South West Africa. On his retirement in 1977 he took to crop farming in the Kombat area. His last years were spent at Somerset West in South Africa, where he died on March 20, 1998.
The photograph shows Jim Ratledge (standing, at left) accompanied by Messrs Marcus Banghart (seated) and Charlie Stott, both also general managers at Tsumeb during the 1940s and 50s.
Image courtesy of the Tsumeb Museum, Tsumeb, Namibia.
No labels are associated with this biography.
No mineralogical references are associated with this biography.