OKIEP COUNTRY HOTEL

O’okiep is the oldest mining town in South Africa where copper was first discovered and mined in 1855. It used to be the centre of South African copper mining. The large copper resources had been discovered in 1855 already and Okiep experienced an immediate boom. A railway line from Okiep to Port Nolloth was built in 1866 for shipping of the copper. Because there was not enough water for the steam engines, the Namaqualand Mule Train was pulled by mules until 1890. In 1918 the Okiep copper mines ceased operating and the place almost became a ghost town.