Section B.— CHEMISTRY, GEOLOGY, METALLURGY, 

 MINERALOGY AND GEOGRAPHY. 



President of the Section. — P. A. Wagner, B.Sc. Ing.D. 



TUESDAY, JULY 9. 



The President delivered the following address : — 



THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF THE UNION OF 

 SOUTH AFRICA AND ITS FUTURE. 



Notwithstanding the many adverse circumstances affecting the 

 mining industry, the value of the mineral production of the 

 Union during 1917 amounted to £52,288,766. only £636,224 short 

 of that of the record year 191 3. when diamonds to the value of 

 £11,387,807 were produced. The diamond output for 1917 was 

 worth £7,713,810 — £3,675,997 less than that during 1913. Had 

 it been anything like normal, the 1913 total would have been very 

 considerably exceeded : a truly remarkable achievement ajfter 

 nearly four years of war, and one that, in view of the fact that 

 over 92 per cent, 'by value of the total output is exported over- 

 seas, serves to emphasise our absolute dependence on the British 

 Navy. 



Reference to the accompanying tables will shew that in com- 

 parison with 1913 the most important increases were under the 

 headings gold, silver, coal, copper, salt, asbestos, soda and corun- 

 dum ; also that certain products such as rock phosphate, tungsten, 

 talc, iron pyrite, mica and ammonium sulphate, that do not figure 

 in the 1913 tables, appear in those for 1917. On the other hand, 

 diamonds, lead and chert shew notable decreases, and tar and 

 kieselguhr, of which there was a small production in 191 3, are 

 not included in the 191 7 tables. 



The returns for the first four months of 1918 are given, as 

 several new products make their appearance therein. 



I propose, in the first place, to treat seriatim of the various 

 minerals and mineral products enumerated in the tables so as to 

 present to you a general picture of the mineral industry of the 

 Union, while the second part of my address will be devoted to a 

 discussion df the potentialities of the country in regard to future 

 discoveries. 



Before proceeding, it may be of interest to record that the 

 Union is not only the world's leader in the production of gold, 

 diamonds, and corundum, but is happy in the possession of the 

 largest known reserves of these minerals. In the matter of 

 asbestos production we stand fourth, and in coal production 

 eleventh. 



