Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-11-27
Outpour of Gold from south Africa.

The actual output Of sold from The de-
posits OF the Rand In the Transvaa
constitutes one OF the most remarkable
phenomena In the history Of mining
The far larger deliveries. however. which
are expected I'm the near future seen
likely TO have a marked effect upon the
ratio OF value between the two precious
metals. We find I'm a late No. OF Ma
ture trustworthy account OF these
immense aurferous beds which offer;
ground for believing that By the end OF
fifty years the Transyaal region VIII have
exercised n greater influence upon the
gold market OF the world 50 far IA the
influx OF the yellow metal IL concerned
than has been exerted by the Western
Hemisphere during the four centuiie,
since It's discovery
In what kind OF rock are the goli
deposits OF the Rand encount' red7
seems that the southern. western. anc
middle parts Of the Transvaai. or South
African republic. are covered with the
shales sardstones. conglomarates and
limestones which make W what IL known
as the Cape formation. The gold of tho
Witwatersrand. TO give the aurferous re-
gion its full name Is obtained exclusive
~ from beds OF conglomerate. known as
blanket" carried by the Cape formation.
These are composed mainly OF pebbles OF
white or gray quartz, embedded In ma
trices, consisting originally OF sand. but
now completely cemented TO an almost
homogeneous material by q later deposit
ton OF quartz We are told that the
pebbles. "a a rule DO net carry any
gold. the naturalization being confined
10 the matrix The average yield Of the
conglomerate stamped last year was 1915
pennyweights Of fine gold. OF 81. per ton.
As to the origin Of the ore bodies. none
OF the HYPOTHESIS mooted has thus far
obtained general acceptance on the part
OF competent minerslOgists what Is Of
most practical importance 10 the world.
the persistency OF TIM banket deposits
In point OF depth and the uniformity OF
their metallic contents, has been es-
tablshed by deep borlngs. In 1884 tho
Rand Victoria bOre-hole was $500 feet
deep Several shafts have been sunk.
encountering the auriferous conglome-
rates at depths Of 60 to 1900 feet.
Now let US look at the data relating
10 the present and prospective output
OF these mines. The delivery Of gold
from the Witwatersrand ha1 risen. II ap-
pears. from 5000 ounces In 1851 10 023. iss
ounces, valued at nearly Sj0oG0 in
1894; while the return for the first nine
months Of 1895 was LII 237 ounces which
would give q value OF about 100000
for the current year. The Transval now
produces one nth Of the worlds supply
Of the yellow metal. and II Is calculated
that. at the present rate OF progress
the outpour OF the Rand mines will have
reached by the year 1900 an annual value
OF 100000 900 When the author Of the
article in Nature visited the region in
1892. there were 1891 stamps running:
in June OF the present year there we're
2,6i2 During the last three years the
work OF extraction has been pushed more
vigorously than ever before and from
the sixty mines near the outcrop Of the
main bed 100000 tons OF ore were taken
in 1888 and 1924 Five years hence there
will be 800 stamps running. The pre-
sent average crushing capacity IL
over four tons ner stamp per
day, but IL Is pronounced probabls
that shortly, through technical improve
ments. the average will be raised 10
five tons per diem. Assuming that tbs
average amount OF gold yielded per ton
should not exceed ten pennyweights.
whichs according to local experience l.
low estimate. the total output In 1900
should be $4,000 ounces. The average
cost Of mining and treating the mineral
~ not expected 10 exceed the present
figure OF 50 per ton. In view OF all these
facts IL Is a safe forecast that the total
production OF gold from the Witwaters-
rand with the next hall century will
nor fall short OF s. 500 10000
From the view point Of probability I.
II plain that Mr.. Rider Haggard made
no mistake in his location OF King
Solomon's Mines"