Tanganyika Concessions Limited (TCL or Tanks) was a British mining and railway company founded by the Scottish engineer and entrepreneur Robert Williams in 1899. The purpose was to exploit minerals in Northern Rhodesia and in the Congo Free State. Partly-owned subsidiaries included the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga (UMHK), which undertook mining in the Katanga portion of the copperbelt, and the Benguela railway, which provided a rail link across Angola to the Atlantic Ocean. Belgian banks eventually took over control of the company. The Angolan railway concession was returned to the state of Angola in 2001.
Foundation and concessions
Tanganyika Concessions Ltd. was created on 20 January 1899 by Robert Williams, an associate of Cecil Rhodes. Originally all the shareholders were British. Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, was one of the shareholders. The purpose was to exploit minerals in Northern Rhodesia and in the Congo Free State. Williams intended to secure a mining concession that the British South Africa Company had granted on 26 May 1898. It covered more than north of the Zambezi river with exclusive rights for prospecting and locating 1,000 claims. The Zambesia Exploring Company Limited (ZE) acquired the majority of the shares, and ZE and TCL were run as one company. Tanganyika Concessions share prices were very unstable in the early years. During one period of a few days the price went from 2 to 13 pounds per share and then crashed.
In 1900 the Compagnie du Katanga and the Congo Free State created the Comité Spécial du Katanga (CSK) to manage all the territory in Katanga, with profits shared between the Compagnie du Katanga (1/3) and the Free State (2/3). On 8 December 1900 the Comité Spécial du Katanga granted TCL exclusive prospecting rights for five years in an area of of Katanga adjoining Rhodesia, and an annual subsidy of £10,000. TCL was authorized to exploit the mines that were found with CSK for 30 years. The term was eventually extended to 89 years. The CSK reserved the rights to 60% of the profits from any mines that might be opened.
Early explorations
Williams sent an exploratory team which set out for the Congo-Zambesi watershed on 5 April 1899. There were five Europeans and 35 Africans led by the geologist George Grey (1868–1911), younger brother of Sir Edward Grey. About´ south of the border they found the workings of the ancient Kansanshi copper mine, and on 6 September 1899 staked claims there for TCL. Grey returned to Bulawayo to cable his findings to Williams on 24 November 1899, and indicated that the bulk of the ore seemed to be in Katanga. He described the copper deposits as "scandalously rich". Williams tried unsuccessfully to interest King Leopold II of Belgium in full-scale exploitation of the copper belt. Leopold was starting to earn high returns from rubber and ivory exports, and resented British criticism of his brutal treatment of the local people, so held back.
After TCL had gained the CSK concession, on 15 April 1901 a larger second expedition set out to Kansanshi. Another expedition left for Katanga via Abercorn (Mbala), and set up camp at the Kambove mine. Between June and October 1902 prospectors staked 50 claims in Katanga. There were many ancient copper workings, which were located by the simple method of asking local people where they could find copper.
Later history
The CSK created the Compagnie de Chemin de fer du Katanga (CFK) in 1902. It had a capital of 1,000,000 francs. The Congo Free State held 2,400 shares and Robert Williams held 1,600 shares. Théodore Heyvaert was president and Robert Williams was vice-president. The CFK was to build links to the region where the city of Elisabethville (Lubumbashi) would be founded. One line would connect to the Rhodesian railways at Sakania, while another would connect to the port of Bukama on the Lualaba River.