The
second critical occasion was in connexion with the financing of the
N'Changa Mine, the first offshoot of the Rhodesian Congo Border
Concession Company, on the board of which both Oppen-heimer interests
and Chester Beatty interests were represented, by Chester Beatty
himself, but not by Ernest Oppenheimer. The majority interest in
R.C.B.C. at that time was Chester Beatty's. In January 1929 American
Smelting and Refining Company made an offer which would have meant that
within a period of two years that company would have held a majority of
shares in N'Changa. American Metals were already large shareholders in
Rliodesian Selection, so that if American Smelting and Refining
controlled N'Changa, a shift in the balance of power in favour of
American interests would have been inevitable.
The
complicated discussions in London which were necessitated, if the
situation was to be solved, were not conducted by Ernest Oppenheimer
himself. In effect, a British 'consortium' of nine firms (including
Rhodesian Anglo American and Johannesburg Consolidated Investment
Company, a 'Barnato' interest and therefore a friendly ally of
Oppenheimer interests) was set up. It brought into the Rhodesian field
the Rio Tinto Company (lie with Rothschilds, who were also
directly concerned) as well as the Union Corporation. But it required
Ernest Oppenheimer's assent and further financing by his firms, not an
easy matter to contemplate at a time when the diamond crisis was
getting worse. The upshot of all the complicated moves which were
necessitated was that American participation in Rhodesian development
continued, but on a minority basis, and that Rhodesian Congo Border
Concession (subsequently to become the Rhokana Corporation) and
N'Changa became part, definitely, of the Rhodesian Anglo American
complex. Ernest Oppenheimer had already displayed his financial courage
much earlier, when on the professional advice of Dr. Bancroft, the
eminent geologist appointed by him as his consultant in copper affairs,
he had invested a million pounds in the N'Kana mine prospect—and, at
the time, it was only a prospect. He showed his courage also in
connexion with the position of the N'Changa Mine when the course of the
world depression made restriction of output necessary and it was a
question of whether to reopen that mine or not, it having been
temporarily closed; he was determined to get a quota for the mine in
order to preserve his position in the field. As he wrote to a colleague
in London:
