The Rhodesian Selection Trust (RST) was a mining Corporation which produced copper from the Copperbelt region of Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia.
History
The RST was formed in 1928 by Alfred Chester Beatty, an Irish-American mining magnate, as a holding company for his mining assets in Northern Rhodesia.[1] The new company received the financial backing of the American Metal Company of New York, who acquired 1,000,000 shares of RST in October 1930.[2]
In 1960, RST and its main subsidiaries cleared $13,132,546, or 29 cents a share for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1960, an increase from $8,780,651 in the preceding year.[3] In 1964, the firm reported a slight dip in profit from $16,691,000 in 1963 to $16,517,000 for the year ended June 30, 1964. The firms sales however, rose from $142,605,518 to $165,736,718.[4][5]
Zambia independence
In February 1964, firm Chairman Sir Ronald Prain, who had insisted RST offer copper outside the speculative London Metal Exchange at a price below the exchange level, argued alongside the Anglo-American Corporation of South Africa "for maintaining copper price stability".[6] On October 23, 1964, in a letter to stockholders, Chairman Prain noted that the date marked the first day of independence of the Republic of Zambia, previously Northern Rhodesia. "He said that Zambia has a larger white population than any other country in tropical Africa now under an African Government and added, 'It is gratifying to record that race relations are excellent.'"[4]
In December 1964, the Rhodesian Selection Trust, Ltd. changed its name to Roan Selection Trust, Ltd. At the same time, the Roan Antelope Division of Rhodesian Selection Trust, Ltd., became the Luanshya Division of Roan Selection Trust, Ltd.[7]
1970 merger
References
- Elena L. Berger. Labour, Race and Colonial Rule: The Copperbelt from 1924 to Independence Clarendon Press, 1974, retrieved 2013-09-26^
- NEW LISTINGS SOUGHT ON STOCK EXCHANGE; American Metal Company Offers Shares to Be Used in South African Deals. The New York Times, 17 October 1930, retrieved 27 January 2020^
- Rhodesian Selection Trust