74 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS SECTION li. 



IV. — Takes in almost the whole of the Calviiiia and 

 Kenhardt divisions of the Cape Province, the southern and 

 western portions respectively of the (jordonia and Prieska 

 districts, and a portion of little Namaqualand. 



Of the afore-mentioned, 1, which includes considerable areas 

 of Waterberg sandstone and a small patch of Karroo rocks, is by 

 far the most important. 



It is a region that stands unrivalled in the variety of mineral 

 resources. These include gold, copper, silver, antimony, tin. lead, 

 corundum, graphite, magnesite, talc, timgsten. arsenic, pyrite. 

 mercury, mica, ornamental stones, salt, and limestone. 



By virtue of the geological conditions prevailing t)ver large 

 areas, prospects of future discoveries — particularly of gold and 

 copper — are very hopeful, and as regards latent potentialities, 

 it is probably the most promising of the various provinces. 



Further discoveries of gold may be expected in the Rarberton 

 district, where, according to Hall,* the contact belts of the De 

 Kaap and Crocodile Poort granite massifs merit particular atten- 

 tion; also the Murchison Range and surrounding area. As 

 regards copper, the neighbourhood of the Messina Mine appears 

 to ofier the greatest possibilities, though deposits of the metal 

 have been found at a number of widely separated points in the 

 North-Eastern Transvaal. 



The north-western and extreme eastern portions of the area, 

 which are virtually unprosjiected. will also doubtless be the scene 

 of many future discoveries. 



II. — This area, occupied for the most part by granite and 

 gneiss, includes three belts of ancient schistose and sedimentary 

 rocks, belonging to the Kraaipan series, which have many features 

 in common with the rocks of the Swaziland system. A number 

 of auriferous veins were opened up in the Kraaipan series at 

 Madibi and Kraaipan some years ago, but proved disappointing. 

 No other mineral deposits have hitherto been found. In view, 

 however, of the similarity in geolgical conditions to those pre- 

 vailing in the goldfields of Southern Rhodesia and in the 

 Barberton district, and of the fact that the greater part of the 

 area has not been prospected, it can hardly be doubted that 

 further gold occurrences remain to l)e discovered. 



III. — Gold has been mined at a number of localities in this 

 province. Asbestos and talc are being quarried on a small scale, 

 and tin. copper, graphite, and mica have alsc^ been worked. 



Results on the whole have been disappointing, but the area 

 is generally regarded as offering considerable possibilities in the 

 matter of future discoveries. According to Hatch, t there are 

 large areas within it that should be the home of many deposits 



* Memoir No. 9, Geological Sunry. Union of South Africa, pp. 322, 



329- 



t Cf. Report on the Mines and Mineral Resources of Natal, p. 15. 



