The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-07
GOLD MINING IN AFRICA.
1T is VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE
kLONDIkE REGION.

graph.
Gold is found throughout the world in
two distinct forms; the alluviaI gold. con-
sisting of nuggets varying from a few
grains TO many pounds in weight, or of
gold dust mixed with the sand of rivers
This class of mine, which appeals most
strongly to the popular imagination, and
may be called the poor mans chance. does
not exist in Africa. or, al least, no allu-
vial gold fields rich enough to pay the
individual digger have so far been dis
covered. The reef gold is found dissent
mated in quartz formations in quantities
often too small to be visible to the naked
eye, and to extract it expensive machin-
cry Is required, and complicated chemical
operations have TO be resOrted to. 1t takes,
therefore, a long time before practical re-
suits can be obtained
Reef gold being the only kind which has
been so far discovered in Rhodesia, I will
try to explain briefly the methods which
are pursued to find it and extract it. First
OF all comes the prospector. Anyone hav-
ing taken a shilling license can prospect
for gold in Rhodesia. This license gives
you the right of pegging out ten claims
but the right of pegging out more claims
can be secured by taking additional IL
cense; each extra payment of e. gives you
the right TO peg out ten more claims Usu-
ally a couple of men start together, their
outfit consisting of few donkeys, car
rying tent provisions and tools Chief
among these are picks, drills. hammers,
strong iron pestle and mortar, and pans
black iron basins, the use of which l will
presently explain. The prospectors are
generally accompanied by a few native
boys, whose number varies according TO
their masters means.
Some prospectors have a couple of boys
while others are accompanied by as many
as twenty, or even more. The party starts
across "a
ground, and whenever they come across
quartz sticking out-What is called an out
clop-they pick up a sample and examine
1t first with the naked eye and then with
magnifying glass. If specs of gold can
be detected, or if the quartz seems of a
KIND likely to bear gold, certain quantity
of il is taken, crushed in the mortar I'M
Gil it is reduced to the finest powder, and
a portion is then passed through the pan
AS l explained, this is of black iron, the
size of an ordinary washing basin, with
a raised rim running all round the bottom
Water is mixed with the dust, which is
washed well through, certain quantity
of 1t being allowed 10 run out with the
water. More water is then put in the pan
and the operation repeated four 10 six
times until there remains but a few
grains. The object of this operation is
simple enough. Gold, on account of lbs
heavy weight, remains at the bottom of
powder runs out with The water so that
should the quartz contain gold, small
grains of the precious metal remain and
shine on its black surface. Sometimes rich
! quartz is found and out of a couple of
handouts of dust as much as a few shill-
ings worth of gold can be PANIED, but as
a rule such rich quartz is but accidental
and of no practical value as test of the
bulk of a reef
For centuries the natives around the
Zambesi have been in the habit of collect
ing gold dust, which they sell TO Portu-
euese traders, and the method by which
they obtain it is almost similar to the one
1 have described.
Having discovered gold-bearing reef.
the prospector pegs out his block of
claims. To do so he plants in the ground
six pieces of WOOD, on which he writes
Distinguishing letters. Each license hold
er has the right TO peg ten claims adjoin-
ing each other, each claim being $50 feet
along the reef, in the direction in which
ID runs, and COO feet perpendicular to it. He
has then thirty days 10 have his claims
| regis cred at the Office of The mining COM
mis- sioner of the district
! His next step is to test the reef For
this purpose he sinks a shaft If, after
| going down few feet. the results are
not satisfac tory-for instance, if he finds
| that the reef pinches i. e., gets harrow
or If it does not contain gold in payable
| quantites-he abandons his claim, and mas
| then the right to peg out another ten
/ blocks of claims. Within four months
! from Inc date of registration he is bound
to sink a shaft thirty feet deep, failing
which he forfeits his rights. Having
| sunk his thirty-foot shaft, he gives no
! tice of the completion of the work to the
| Mining Commissioner, who inspects the
mine. and gives him a certificate, which
| constitutes his title of property subject
| to fian ainfr a1,ts In,
Cording to the present law the holder of
a block of claims must, within four months
| from the date of registration, have sunk
a shaft or driven tunnel thirty feet
deep, in default of which he must pay a
| penalty of Is or forfeit his claims. Within
the year following this first inspection
sixty feet of further work must be COM
| pleted or a penalty of f10 paid, the third
! year sixty feet of further work must be
| done, and the same amount of development
work has to be completed every subse-
quent year, Falling this, a payment of
go has TO be made to the company on the
| third as well as the fourth year, and the
penalty is raised to $50 per annum on and
after the fifth year. This applies to each
| block Of ten claims Any one holding
more than ten claims con- however, COM
| plete the total compulsory annual work
| in one single place; for instance, if a
man holding ten blocks of claims has at
feet deep and cut 1900 feet of drives on
one of his claims he is deemed to have
! completed the amount of work required
by low to enable him 90 retain his rights
over his 100 claims without payment Of
| a penalty. The company having a direct
interest in the future of the mines passed
| this law to encourage the rapid develop
ment of the mining industry Two pounds
| may be reckoned as the average cost OF
a foot of work, so that $50 must be spent
on each block of ten CLAIM during the
! first four months, and f120 during each
subsequent year; failing this penalty of
Els has to be paid for the right of holding
| ten claims on which no work has been
| accomplished during the first seventeen
| months Of their ownership. This Is equiv
alent to a monthly royalty of shilling 10
pence per claim, which have to be paid
| every month on other gold fields
| Reefs sixty feet thick have been found
1 in some parts of Rhodesia Under the
present condition a reef of an avera ge
| thickness of three 10 four feet which RIM =