The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-07-14


alleged fnd an absurdity. From the
very reef or ,rhich he stood. millions
upon millions OF dollars worth of gold
has been taken out. and IT was from
| an examination of this same reef.
when it had deveI1ped later that led
Hamilton Smith. tho well known Am
erican mining engineer, TO declare that.
There have often been mines of short
length, far richer than these. of the
Rand. but nothing approaching them
/ ever have been, so far as regularity
and extent are concerned
Character of the Gold Deposit.
The deposit is held in a broad bed
or vein. that takes the shape Of some
thing like an enormous bowl So it
happens that the same deposit will
be found at 4 deeD level some miles
away from the outcrop of the reef.
The English law is that a claim eX-
tends into the earth on vertical lines.
and not according to the strike of
! the vein, as in the American system.
So. knowing that the Vein could be
/ tapped at q distance. an American
engineer, Hennel jennings, conceived
the idea of sinking a long shaft at
a distance from the main reef. This
was the beginning of the deep lever
workings. and from these many of the
richest mines have been and are Pow
/ being developed The value of the
Z
practically in sight reaches the bill
lions Hamilton Smith estimated that
along the stretch of eleven miles Of
the main reef which he saw. IL having
been prospected by diamond drills to
the depth OF $500 feet. one mile. there
were at least one hundred million
tons. which would yield sixty million
ounces of gold. or a value of f215, 1000. : =
OOO He estimated that the mines Out1
side of this area would produce half
as much more, or a total of something
like one billion and a half Of dollars
in all. This. on an entirely conServa-
tive estimate Since the opening up
of the deep levels. this estimate has
been found to include only a portion C
the demonstrated wealth of the Rand.
So when YOU consider that from lS49
to 1892 the entire gold product Of CALI
fornia was less than 81. 400. 900. yoI
get something of an idea of the Gntoid
riches that lie beneath the few square
miles embraced in the Rand. Smith
estimated that the Rand's output OF
gold would reach eighty or a hundred
millions by the end of the century.
It is now not improbable that his pre-
. diction will be realized.
4 Town Removed to Get ut the Gold
When the RAM was first opened W.
a town was forthwith established on
top of the reef but when later it vsS
/
stores were valuable beds; CO geld. The
government opened up townsite a
little distance away, selling the lots
at auction. or rather selling 80 year
leases. These yielded a large sum,
and have since increased enormously
in value. This was the beginning of
Johannesburg. When the town was
first laid out, all the supplies and
machinery for the mines had to be
brought from the seaboard, and for
800 miles of the distance were carried
1 in OK wagons BY the end of 1892, the
Ca.petown railroad was built in, and
now two others have been completed
through. The city is well laid out
and presents now a pleasing and at
tractiVe appearance 1t is modern N
every DETAIL and is a busy and growing
place. The mines extend along the
reef for some miles in either direction.
and their big crushers and the chimney
stacks of the engine houses stand out
boldly against the horizon. The mines
are equipped with immense stamp
batteries, and these, with the great
furnace houses, the chlorinatiOn and
cyanide works. with the adjacent res
ervoirS of tahngS and of shines, follow
ing one after another over the grassy
depths and rises of the country for
miles and miles, present a scene I'M
paralleled in any part of the world.
The mineral wealth of the Trans
NddI, nSWSNeT, - HOl COulllteu 70 lu6
Witwatersrand. There are other gold
fields along the northern and eastern
edge of the republic. and not very
far distant from johannesburg are
extensive coal mines, These latter
occur not in a mountainous country,
but right in the midst of a. farming
and stock raising area, and the big
dumps piled up contrast strangely
with the purely agricultural charac-
ter of the country. Silver, copper and
lead are likewise to be found in the
Transvaa1. although the silver mines
are not worked much nowadays. on
account of the low price of silver.
They probably will be developed in
a few years, with the extension Of
railroads and the cheapening of trans
portation.'
CARL SNYDER.