Place · site

Ngwenya Mine

Also known as Lion Cavern

The Ngwenya Mine, in the hills of north-western Eswatini near the border with South Africa, contains ancient workings for haematite and specularite, minerals used as pigment and cosmetic. Dates from Lion Cavern suggest mining there tens of thousands of years ago, making it one of the oldest known mines in the world. Iron ore was mined there on an industrial scale from 1964 to 1977, mainly for export to Japan.

Ngwenya Mine
Image: Heather Dowd · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Ngwenya Mine. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/ngwenya-mine
MLA
“Ngwenya Mine.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/ngwenya-mine. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Ngwenya Mine.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/ngwenya-mine.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Ngwenya Mine’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/ngwenya-mine (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻