WI: Coal in Botswana discovered in 1899

[Chirios]

The coal deposits in Palapye are discovered along with the diamonds in Orapa. The British government decides for administrative reasons to combine the Bechuanaland Protectorate with Rhodesia. Mining rights are given to British companies.

What happens next?

[duncansa]

Probably nothing.
The market is very limited, the diamond and coal mines are supplied from SA sources for which the required infrastructure (rail lines) is already in place.
No local market and the need for expensive infrastructure to get to the markets would kill any possibility of exploiting Botswana coal that early.

[Dan1988]

Originally Posted by Chirios

The coal deposits in Palapye are discovered along with the diamonds in Orapa. The British government decides for administrative reasons to combine the Bechuanaland Protectorate with Rhodesia. Mining rights are given to British companies.

What happens next?

Well, I would guess that, like the gold & diamonds rush in Jo'burg and Kimberley, respectively, there would a rush of settlement in the area, so that the area probably becomes rapidly urbanized - i.e. Palapye could have triple the population in TTL, or more, than it has in OTL. This could definitely lead to a boom in the Bechuanan/Rhodesian economy, for sure.

With the combination of the Bechuanaland Protectorate with Rhodesia (question: Southern, Northern, or both?), it would make sense for the then-new settlement of Francistown to become the capital, IMO. Eventually, if the new country decides not to become part of *South Africa, it could thus become a Dominion. Mafeking - the now-old-in-TTL Bechuanan capital - would probably be an exclave of the new country (unless the border with *South Africa ends up looking partly like the border of the old Bophuthatswana bantustan).