The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-06

is the richest in Europe, contains only about per cent of copper; and it Is said that this African ore, even if it ran as low as per cent, would, notwithstanding the great cost of transportation and treat ment yield a profit wherever copper sells over $2OO per ton. So far all esti- mates made as to the value of the cop per here take into account only that above water level, and if half the state ments are true the deposits must be worth far more than any others on the globe
 New Trans-African Railroad.
 The King of Belgium and his associates of this syndicate are now building rail- road from Portuguese West Africa across the continent to these mines. This road will be about 1200 miles long, and less than 200 miles of it already construct ed. It begins at Lobito bay, near Ben guelia, in about the center of the prov ince of Angola, and runs through the low lands a short distance, climbing the hills. The grades go up almost a mile in the first 200, and the road will pass over three ranges of mountains before it gets to the African plateau. It will cost altogether
 
 that it will annually carry minerals of the value of $5OOO0,OO0, in addition to its local traffic, which will probably be con- siderable.
 Lobito bay, where the road starts, has a wide and deep harbor There is already quite town there. The railroad has it's offices, and there are warehouses, res- taurants and hotel. The company has erected a hospital It will build steel piers, and will probably make that place one of the chief ports of entrance for western Africa. Half dozen different lines of steamships are already calling there, and the tonnage entered has doubled within the past year. The road so far built is doing a good business. When 1t is completed there will probably be an extension to the Cape to Cairo road, which, at Tanganyika, will have its con- nection with the road which the Germans across German East Africa to Ujji, so that one will be able to go across the con- tinent from west to east by steam.
 Long before this Lobito road is com pleted. these copper mines will probably be connected with Broken Hill by branch of the Cape to Cairo road, and the first ore will be shipped out over that road by way of Cape Town or Beira. The Cape to Cairo syndicate has already surveyed the line of track from Broken Hill to Ma baya an important point on the Kongo frontier. This is 200 miles from Broken Hill, and the understanding is that the copper syndicate will continue the line from there through the copper belt to Ruwe.
 Prospecting In Rhodesia.
 The Rhodesia Copper company. which operates the Broken Hill mines. has a and there over this part of the world. Not long ago it had 5000 claims registered, and these were mostly lead, copper and zinc. There is plenty of iron about nere. and many of the streams carry some gold. Broken Hill has several mining en- gineers and number of prospectors.
 Prospecting in Rhodesa is far different from the same business in our country. Our mineral regions are usually broken and mountainous. In northern Rhodesia there are but few outcroppings. From December to May the land is covered with grass, which reaches so high that man riding on horseback through 1t cannot be seen at a distance of 100 feet. This is in the wet season. when 1t rains SO heavily