6o PRESIDENTIAL AI)l)Ri:S.> SECTIOX I!. 



sistent ; the quantity of ore available — in comj)arison with the 

 reserves in the Pretoria beds — being small. 



The ore is thinl}- laminated and ranges in character from 

 soft brown limonite, through compact red haniiatie to dense, 

 hard fine-grained magnetite, the last being a product of the 

 metamor])hisn] of beds of limonite and haematite by sheets of 

 dolerite intrusive in the coal measures. The ore to be smelted at 

 Vereeniging is of this type, occurring almost immediately below 

 a sheet of dolerite. 



It is the purest iron-ore yet discovered in Soutli Africa, 

 assaying from 66 to 69 per cent, of iron and from .5 to 1.5 per 

 cent, of silica. Suljjhur and phosphorus are low, and it is quite 

 free from titanium. The tonnage in sight, however, is not very 

 great. 



A third Transvaal company, proposing to undertake the 

 production of iron and steel, is the Locale and Industrielle 

 Maatschappij of Pretoria, who have leased a large area of the 

 Pretoria town lands adjoining the lease of the Pretoria Iron 

 Mines, Ltd. 



The other blast-furnaces referred to are in Natal, one at 

 Wentw^orth, a suburb of Durban, and the other at Sweetwaters; 

 near Maritzburg. 



The former is being erected by the Iron. Concrete, and 

 Asbestos Company, of Durban, and the latter was put up many 

 years ago by Mr. S. L. Green. A preliminary attempt, recently 

 made, to utilise this furnace failed, but I understand that after 

 certain alterations have been carried out a further attem])t is to 

 be made. 



In both instances sedimentary iron-ores from the Ecca beds 

 of the Karroo system are to be smelted. That for the Wentw^orth 

 furnace is being quarried at Elvarston, while at Sweetwaters it is 

 proposed to use a mixture of local ore and Ermelo magnetite. 



The progress of these smelting ventures, at least two of 

 which are merely the forerunners of far more ambitious projects, 

 will be watched with the greatest interest, as it is generally 

 recognised that an established iron and steel industry would be 

 of the utmost benefit to the whole of South Africa. 



Prospects are very hopeful, as the South African demand 

 for iron and steel is well over 50.000 tons i)cr annum, and is 

 almost certain to increase.* 



The dimensions to which the industry will ultimately attain 

 depend largely upon the success of the eftorts that are to be made 

 as soon as practicable at Pretoria, to smelt the rich titaniferous 

 magnetites of the Bushveld complex. The available reserves of 

 these ores are practically inexhaustible — I estimate them at least at 

 2.000,000,000 tons — and if they could, as suggested 'by Stanley,! 

 be smelted on a large scale in admixture with the siliceous ore 



* Cf. Stanley, G. H. : S.A. Journ. Industries. December, 1917. 

 t Cf. Journ. Cheiii. Met. and Min. Soc. S.A.. November, 1909, and May, 

 X910. 



