MINING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1856, 17 June 1887, Page 12

MINING.

WSTWATERSRAND : THE NEW GOLDFIELDS OF THE TRANSVAAL.

What the Country is Like— The Population - Australians on the Field— A Heterogeneous Crowd— The! Climate -Reefing the Main Feature of the Field. - Witwatersrand (white-wate*s<-rand), so called by the Dutch settlers oa account of its fountains of clear (or white) water, is a range of low hills running irregularly across the South African republic, and situated at a distance of 36 miteo south of Pretoria. A tract of country e&tonding longitudinally about 50 miles, and in. varying but much smaller distances in a northerly and southerly direction, has 'been thrown open as a, public goldfield, and frequent additions are being made to its already extensive aCea. Previous to the discovery of gold* and its consequent "rush," the district Was pastoral and entirely in, the hands of Boers, who occupied farms of from 5000 to 6000 acres each, and who devoted their energies to the rearing of cattle and sheep, only very small patches of land being under cultivation, and these usually producing barely sufficient for the requirements of the Boer's family and stock. The <oddt, as this pastoral land is called, is of an undulating and, except in swampy places and during the rainy season, of a parched and barren nature, devoid, of trees and bush. It is an Uninviting locality except for gold digging. For some years it has been thought that this was a gold-bearing district, and " prospecting " of a desultory nature has been carried on; but it is only within the past few months that the area has been proclaimedlauri?evous, and the existence of payable gold indisputably proved. During this short time a population of more than 2000 has scattered itself over the "Rand," as Witwatersrand is colloquipJly termed, and a steady influx is daily augmenting the number. Camps have sprung up like mushrooms ; the main camp, or, as it is called from its originator, " Ferreira's Camp," is a straggling collection of huts and tents, interspersed with a few houses of a more pretentious nature, which are constructed of corrugated iron and briok. There is a long main street, and a market square, with innumerable stores and canteens; but the general appearance of the camp suggests its sudden growth, and probable equally sudden disappearance, leaving behind it only the debris and dirt which seem to be the natural concomitants of a mining camp. There are other camps, some of them approaching in size to a small canvas village, while many are dotted about the " veldt," and consist in most instances of two or three tents and a waggpn. The population of the goldfields is of that miscellaneous and motley character which always seems to gravitate to mining camps. As yet, only a few Australian and Californian diggers have put in an appearance «<Vre, and they seem somewhat out of their 'element, the pronounced difference in the general formation and association of the precious metal to its existence on other fields being quite at variance with their notions of: the eternal fitness of things ; yet they are very sanguine of the great future before the fields, and they emphatically and repeatedly assert their confidence in language bristling with a species of decorative profanity peculiar to their class.

The Jews are very numerous, and active in speculation, buying and selling, and in a most disinterested manner; and at terrific risk and inconvenience providing sophisticated gold for the purpose of producing the crude article ; but their untiring labours are always conditional, and they will reap their reward at who knows how much per cent. Speculators from the Diamond Fields, representatives of syndicates from all parts of South Africa, farmers, merchants, professional men, clerks, mechanics, ex-members of the Bechuanaland Field Force, and adventurers, jostle each other in the race. Honest citizens and escaped convicts, gentlemen and blacklegs, university men and the scum of racecourses, stand cheek by jowl, and metaphorically shake hands in the same ring ; and yet it is a most peaceful and law-abiding community ; robbery and violence are practically unknown; drunkenness is the common vice, but is in no way excessive; and gambling, the natural atmosphere of a portion of the community, is very prevalent.

Witwatersrand possesses an exceptionally healthy climate. Occasionally, the extremes of heat and cold which occur in the course of a day and night are very marked, but do not appear to produce more than trival and temporary ill effects. A violent wind, which springs up suddenly, but is of short duration, sweeps with fearful force over the plain, carrying with it clouds of dust, and requiring all hands to " stand by" the tent poles and guy ropes during its paroxysm, which is quickly exhausted, the sborm subsiding as suddenly as it appeared. These winds are of almost daily occurrence, and serve a sanitary purpose as the "doctors" of the camp. The general health of the fields is excellent, no serious cases of sickness being known.

Gold digging on these fields will be confined to quartz mining, and loses many of the charms which are supposed to be associated with alluvial digging or diamond digging in the early days. ~ Expensive and complicated machinery must be used ; the quartz must be crushed and washed on a gigantic scale, cheap labour procured, watercourses constructed, tramways laid for miles to carry the quartz to the mills ; and, altogether, gold mining will be an unromantic but steady and dividend-paying industry. The ideal digger .with pan and cradle will have no existence in the future of these fields, unless the at present apparently improbable discovery of payable alluvial gold should be made. Individual claimholders who were fortunate enough to " peg out " on good ground when it was first proclaimed will be splendidly rewarded, by being able to sell out to the various companies which are already formed or in course of formation ; for if their claims are good, they will realise handsomely on them. As much as £1000 has beeri paid for a single claim which only cost the holder who had it for five months — the monthly rental of £1, which is the sum required per claim in order to retain it and secure the protection of the Government. There are many poor men who are orignal!claimholders, and are anxious to sell out, but ask too high a figure ; and the companies can be patient, whilst the hard-up holders must at last succumb and make the proverbial bad bargains of necessity The matrix in which the gold is found is a conglomerate, changing into quartzite and quartz reef — or, as some prefer to call it, a " deposit," and deny the existence of reefs at Witwatersrand. This is a dispute of very little practical importance. The name of reef has been generally adopted for the underground ridges of quartz and conglomerate in which the gold exists, and will no doubt always bear that name. The reefs are very numerous, and in some places crop out of the surface ; they are all gold-bearing, and yield varying amounts of the precious metal, from a few grains tosoz,and }n exceptional pases, lOoz, to the too of quartz.

The 'conglomerate, which forms a thick casinfe to the quartz reef, is a peculiar formation of almond-shaped pebbles, pressed into a solid mass in a bed of rock of an igneous nature, and is called " Banket " on account of its resemblance to a favourite Dutch sweetmeat known in Eng ; land as almond rock. The " Banket" is also rich in gold. The reefs are very erratic in their formation, making sudden dips and striking off in unlooked-for directions; but in all cases where shafts have been sunk, they are proved to be of a permanent nature, and test-washings from any part of the reef or casing invariably give " colour." Machinery is being fitted Up from England, &nd, once in operation* will give a wonderful impetus to the goldfields, as everything is now in a state of Suspense, and mining has been Confined to exposing and ascertaining the extent and direction of the reefs and proving their gold-bearing nature. This* wr|h transactions in shares and speculations in claims,, has necessarily been all that could be done towards the development of the fields ; but nothing" could be more satisfactorily proved than the existence of an unlimited quantity of payable gold; and the prospects of Witwatersrand are as bright and cheering as the most deeply interested investors , ever anticipated. The South African goldfields at present are decidedly not the place for poor men ; the congested state of the labour market here has found an outlet in the fields, and they are now overstocked with all descriptions of non-capitalists. This country will, however^ provide a home for many thousands in the not far distant future. — Chambers' Journal, April 30.