20 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS SECTION D. 



parts work has necessarily to proceed at a very slow pace. There 

 would be greater likelihood of having- this state of affairs rectiti- 

 if the special utility to a mining country of geological survey work 

 were more widely realised than it is at present, and 1 shall take 

 this opportunity of saying a few words on the subject. 



By many people, geology is still looked upon as a " nice 

 amusement," an " elegant pursuit," to quote the words of one of 

 our prominent politicians, and to them the connection between 

 the systematic geological survey of a country and the exploitation 

 of its mineral wealth is not at all obvious. We never hear of the 

 discovery by any member of the Survey of new mineral deposits. 

 The gold and diamond mines, which constitute so much of the 

 wealth of the country, have all resulted from the discoveries of 

 plodding prospectors, men generally possessing very little geo- 

 logical knowledge. From time to time, in the early history of 

 Cape Colony, geologists have been temporarily employed by the 

 Government, in the hope of making great discoveries of economic 

 minerals, but always with little or no result, if we except the dis- 

 covery, by Stow, of the Vereeniging coal-field. There might 

 seem, therefore, some reason for doubting the utility of geo- 

 logical survey work, and it must be allowed that, so far as the 

 discovery of mineral deposits is concerned, the geological mapping 

 of the country can contribute only indi recti v, by sketching ouv 

 the lines along which prospecting can most profitably be carried 

 out. The actual discovery still rests with the prospector, but he 

 can be told where his work is most likely to be crowned with 

 success, and where it is absolutely hopeless. Where, for instance, 

 a certain class of deposit is found to be associated with a par- 

 ticular type of igneous rock, or with its contact with metamorphic 

 or sedimentary rocks, it is obvious that the systematic mapping 

 of the distribution of these rocks must be of great assistance to 

 the prospector. The recent very detailed survey of the Wit- 

 watersrand district by Dr. Alellor illustrates well the negative 

 value of geological mapping, and anyone familiar with the results 

 of Dr. A^^ellor's work, and with the history of the Rand, must 

 realise that, while the mapping is of great present value, yet, had 

 it been possible to have had, earlier, the elucidation of the true 

 nature of the Witpoortje " break," or of the stratigraphical posi- 

 tion of the Du Preez series, supported by careful and indis- 

 putable mapping, a great saving of energy and money would 

 liave resulted. For the prevention of wild enterprises, such as 

 boring in granite for coal, which actually happened near Cape 

 Town some ten years ago, no geological mapping is necessary : 

 the presence of someone in the neighbourhood who had mastered 

 an elementary text-book of geology might have been deemed 

 suflficient. 



In the great majority of cases, for the economic development 

 of a mining property, a knowledge of the geological structure of 

 the immediate area in whicli the mineral deposit lies is essential. 

 During a tour round the mining districts of Rhodesia, just before 



