A Wonderful Mine.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 29, Issue 37, 15 May 1917, Page 2

A Wonderful Mine.

Situated in the beautiful Kaap VftHey, in the Jamestown district of Barberton, Transvaal, there is a mine known by the name of Verdite. The name was given to it on account of the peculiar greenstone found in the mine, which is unknown in any other part of the globe. Articles of jewellery and ornaments are made of verdite, and it has been called the lucky greenstone of South Africa. This greenstone is a silicate of magnesia, or talc, coloured green by nature in the course of its formation. Other silicates of magnesia may be mentioned here ; peridote, serpentine, meerschaum, and steatite. Tbe mine, or, rather, bill, consists of three varieties of talc ; green, white, and black. But a peculiar fact is that in the black talc there is present pure gold. Some of the finest specimens of gold-bearing rock have been found at this mine. Everyone knows that gold is found in quartz pyrites, or even in sea-water, but scarcely ever has it been mentioned In books that gold exists in talc. When the verdite rock has gone through the ordinary process of crushing and the gold has been extracted, the waste (or what is called the slimes from a goldmine) is used in the manufacture of soap, grease, paint, paper, toilet-powders, gas-jets, electric insulators, crayons, and many other articles of every-day use. In fact, one might say that everything got from this mine can ha used for some commercial purpose.