The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-10-08
MINERAL FINDS IN
SOUTH AFRICA
Oil in Cape Colony, Gold in NADIA
gascar, startle the
People.
Journal Special Service.

johannesburg, Oct. THE South
African mining world has again been
startled by the prospect Of a sudden
and extensive augmentation of its min
eral wealth, which may have as far
esets hs 9f 9ee
has taught the mining public not to be
carried away by the wild estimates
which are invariably put forward Of
all improved mineral propositions, and
time must naturally elapse before the
real worth Of the new discoveries can
be@even approximately gagged.
There would seem, however, to be a
prima facie case for believing that in
two directions important developments
future. The gold prospects Of NADIA
gascar and the possibilities of a profit
able oil industry being started in Cape
Colony are two things which are bound
to cause the attention of capitalists to
be turned once again in the direction Of
South Africa.
French Good Fortune.
Inasmuch as Transvaal prospectors
and Transvaal mining engineers seem
to have earned the distinction Of being
the first to prove: the real potentialities
of the Madagascar gold fields, while
Rand firms are actively supporting their
efforts, the good fortune Of the French
possessions has considerable interest fol
| South Africa.
For some time past gold has been
worked in many parts OF the centra
and southwestern portions OF the island
but not in large quantities in any one
place. Under the Hova government
profession, vetoed as it was not only
| by the authorities, but by. the individual
Malagasy. Even now, if reports are
true, the French have extended the nee
essary hospitality to prospectors anc
others, the Hovas are inclined, Wher
able, to resent in more or less de
cisive manner any attempt to exploit
the mineral wealth of the island.
Prospecting Slow.
Prospecting has accordingly beer
have been confined to the central por
. lions Of the island.
;. No details are yet to hand regarding
| the precise extent of the auriferou
formations, but cables from Trustworthy
sources indicate that a valuable dis
! covery has been made. The government
has imposed temporary prohibition OF
prospecting, but there is no reason tt
! believe that this is for any other ,pur
i to put the machinery Of the government
/ in a state Of readiness for amy suddel
| activity on large scale in minin,
operations. AS far as the existing dis
| coveries are concerned, 1T IS elaine!
/ that they are exempt from the prohi
j bition and are properly safeguarded b,
I registration and the necessary lega
4 formalities.
Z Oil in Cape Colony. -ss
I, In the case Of the discovery Of OF
! shales int Cape Colony it appears i'm
i possible 70 say anything more defnit
1 than that oil shales of considerable eS
tent, have been found in the Uitenhag
/ district, forty miles west Of Port Eliza
beth and some ten miles from the sea
i coast; and also in the Riversdale dis
4 .trict, about twenty-five miles south
i that town. Until some hundreds OF ton
!: Of these shales have been tried IN Euro
peau gasworks it will not be posslb1
), to form an approximate idea OF tn
commercial value of the discovery: !
: small quantity of the shale has bee
subjected to analysis and was foun
: to contain 80 per cent of volatile mai
Fl ter, far higher percentage than Ia
!, vet been attained in any otherSb
: shales in the world except in the hes
= Australian. ~. d, .s-,=
: Important to Africa.
Should all that is claimed for tn!
!, discovery be, realized it would be in
t possible to overrate its Importance Efe
81 South Africa as a whole and especial
. in regard to it's immediate bearing Q
: the economic situation in South Afric;
. The disadvantage that presses mos
/. heavily on South Africa at the prese1
e juncture is the paucity Of its whit
: population. The opening up Of a ne
: industry, even on a small scale, NEAR
an increase in the number Of its whit
$ inhabitants; while a large industr
f such as might be entailed by the COZ
f frmation Of the reports of this oil fin
n would, with it's many ramifcation
), mean to Cape Colony the difference b
g tween prosperity and stagnation.
t Hitherto South Africa has seen i
e mineral wealth concentrated in tv
ID main centers, Kimberley and the Wi
s watersrand, with the results that tt
! disproportion in Importance betwee
J. these centers and all other distric
/ has been extreme. That the increa
e of it's mineral wealth should be acco1
9 panied by the dissemination of TIL
/, wealth over the country is of great 81
i nifcance to South Africa as Who'll
l The discovery Of diamonds in the Tran
vaal has already begun to effect tn
I L dissemination, which is likely to be ST
y further increased by the developme1
| Of the tin industry in the Transvaal al
Of an oil industry in Cape Colony.
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