50 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS SECTION B. 



that date to be 587,000,000, and in the mines and areas not then 

 producing at at least the same quantity. Having regard to the 

 disappointing gold values encountered at depth in some sections 

 of the West Rand and in the neighbourhood df Boksburg, it 

 would appear that the estimate in regard to mines crushing in 

 1 9 14 was rather too high, while, if developments to date on the 

 Far East Rand can be accepted as a criterion, that in regard to 

 areas not then producing was undoubtedly too low. 



Allowing for this, and assuming that working costs after 

 the war will recede to their average level during the period 

 1908-1914 — ^namely, 17s. 9. id. per ton — which wiii depend very 

 largely upon the policy adopted by the Allied nations with regard 

 to the prices of commodities,* I have estimated — so many un- 

 certain factors enter into the calculation that the estimate 

 is largely conjectural — that the total amount of gold still 

 capable of being profitably extracted on the Witwatersrand is 

 m the neighbourhood of £1,200,000,000. The probable life of 

 the field is to an even greater extent a matter of conjecture, as 

 it will depend on the rate at which the existing mines become 

 exhausted and new ones are opened up tO' take their places. 

 There can be no question, however, that 50 years hence the Far 

 East Rand— and possibly certain other sections of the Witwaters- 

 rand — will still be the scene on a very considerable scale of gold- 

 mining operations. 



With regard to the gold mines of the " outside " districts 

 of the Transvaal — Lydenburg, Barberton, and Leydsdorp — the 

 outlook is not at all encouraging. Recent developments at most 

 of the mines in these districts have been very disappointing. 

 Several properties, including the celebrated Sheba at Barberton, 

 have in consequence been closed down, and the reserves of others 

 are being steadily depleted. 



It would appear, altogether, that unless fresh discoveries 

 are made, the output of the "outside" districts will decline very 

 considerably during the next few years. 



In the Cape Province alluvial gold mining is still being car- 

 ried on on the Millwood field in the Knysna district. The out- 

 put, however, is very small, and in 1916 amounted only to 31.28 

 ounces, valued at £132. 



Silver. 



No very important deposits of this metal have hitherto been 

 discovered in the Union. f Practically the whole of the silver 



* It is contended by some economists (vide The Round Table, 

 September, 1917) that prices after the war should be maintained at the 

 highest level possible in order to lessen the burden imposed on the 

 different communities by the huge interest-bearing- war loans contracted 

 by their Governments. If this is done, there is little prospect of any very 

 appreciable diminution in working costs for a long time to come. 



t South Africa appears to be rather poorly off as regards silver, lead, 

 and zinc, which are frequently associated in ore deposits. This may 

 possibly be due to great denudation that the sub-continent has undergone, 

 as deposits of these metals, speaking generally, are formed close to the 

 surface. 



