Nababeep

Nababeep lies in the dry hills of Namaqualand, among a group of copper-bearing mountains. Its name comes from the Khoekhoe language and refers to a rhinoceros. Long before industrial mines were opened, Khoekhoe communities extracted and worked copper in the wider district, making ornaments and other objects. In 1685 the Cape commander Simon van der Stel led an expedition to investigate the copper deposits and reached the mountain he named Koperberg, near the later settlement of Springbok.