Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1902-01-30
AFRICAN GOLD MINING.
Problems c Confronting the Trans
walls Great Industry.
EXPERTS PRACTICAL REMARKS.

Thirty Years Curious Facts Re.
gardinE the Diamond Mines-The
Question Of Labor.
The following remarks on the re-
sources and outlook Of the Transvaal
are extracted from an address deliv-
cred by Mr.. John Hays Hammond at
Harvard and Yale. The facts set forth
have an interesting bearing on the cur
rent finance. commerce and history,
says the New York Post. Aside from
the broad questions Of the money mar
ket involved in the problems touched
upon, the matters of American sup
plies for the Transvaal and of the
country's own industrial and political
future depend very largely on the de-
velopments now about to be witnessed
on the Witwatersrand.
Mr.. Hammond spoke as follows:
1.-THE Witwatersrand goldfeld In the
Transvaal is by far the most impor-
tant gold mining district in the world.
The Witwatersrand district is in Its
physical aspect radically different from
the usual conception Of mining coun'
try. 1t rather resembles grazing
country, where mining prospectors
would pass by contemptuously as 'un'
congenial to ore,' and in that respect
the occurrence of gold in the Witwa-
tersrand district illustrates the truth
! of the adage that gold is where you
find it, Gold was first discovered IN
| this district in the year 1885. 1t &C.
Cured in what is called the banket,
which is a coarse conglomerate derlv'
| ing it's name from it's resemblance to
an almond rock candy called blanket
by the Dutch. This nomenclature Is
about the sole contribution of the
Dutch to the mining industry.
These auriferous deposits are unique
| in the history of gold mining and are
unpara lleled in respect to their re-
markable consistency and consequently
commercial reliability. The gold bear
| ing conglomerate beds are interstratl-
fed with beds Of quartZite and sand
stone. The ore carries about $40 in
metallurgically by the usual methods
Of gold mining and milling.
"The principal mines extend east ana
west from the town of Johannesburg
twenty five miles in either direction. Te
give some idea of the magnitude OF
operations, | may state that about 100,
600 Kaffirs and over 10000 white meI
are engaged directly in mining ano
that nearly G.O00 stamps are working
night and day, crushing over t.00O,0U
tons of ore annually. In order to OBJ
tain the supply Of ore for one years
output it is necessary to eXcavate elgh
miles Of solid rock FIVE feet in Width
J and AGO feet in depth, besides the man!
thousands of feet Of additional shaf
sinking, etc. The gold won as the re
suit of this stupendous work is valued
at about $75.OOO,OOO. Since 1886 thes'
mines have yielded nearly $500, O0O.o'
, worth of gold
Just previous to the beginning o
the war the Witwatersrand mines wer
producing gold with value of 500,
; 600. 900 per annum, more than One-thir'
of the worlds output. The gold mine
support district of 100000 white pop
ula ton besides contributing to the SUP
port of thousands of iaborers in othe
countries engaged in the manufactur
of supplies for this industry.
"How long will these mines last"
ut is customary to speak of such ex
tensive deposits as illimtable, but a
an engineer am denied the use o
such convenient hyperbole and mus
endeavor to satisfy the curious b.
some reply more definite. But 1t Is in
deed difficult question to answer dc
pending as it does upon the depth t
which mining can be protitably car
: red on and upon the rapidity of eS
ploitation as well. AS to ultimat
depths, the geological and mining cor
ditions in the Witwatersrand distrit
are exceptionally favorable and adm
of maximum depths There Is but Iii
tie water to interfere with deep mil
ing, it being for the most part seepag
and is taken up from the upper hor
zons Also the increment of temper;
ture with the depth is very low, thel
being only one degree of increment
temperature for 200 feet of depth.
have on other occasions expressed tt
y opinion that mining will be found feas
BILE to a depth Of about 10000 fee
AS to rapidity Of exploitation we mil
ing engineers of South Africa, chief
American engineers, pride ourselves
holding the worlds record in respect {
speed in mining, and work that b;
taken centuries in the history of IN
ropean mining will be done in deca(
under the conditions that obtain wit
us. Therefore when speak of mimi
out an area in the aggregate son
thirty miles long to vertical depth
two miles must prepare you by the'
statements have just made MS to OF
capability to undertake rapid exploit
ton. If | must hazard an eXpressi(
of opinion. from which the element
. guess, though unscientitic, cannot
altogether dissocated, would pla
4.