SOME NOTES CONCERNING A DEEP BORE AT 



ZWARTKOPS, NEAR PORT ELIZABETH, AND THI^M^ ^ 

 RESULTING THERMAL CHALYBEATE SPRING. 



1*1 ate 3. 



By Geukgk William Smith, A.M.I.C.E. 



The following article lays no claim to be in any way of a 

 scientific nature— it is simply a brief account of the reasons why 

 this bore came to be drilled, with some remarks on 1 the work of 

 drilling it — what the resulting spring has done hitherto, and what 

 it is capable of doing with further development. 



In the Report of the South African Association for the 

 Advancement of Science for 19 10 (pp. 202 and 203) will be 

 found an interesting paper on " A new Cape Thermal Chalybeate 

 Spring," by Mr. J. G. Rose. F.C.S.. treated from a chemical 

 point of view. Mr. Rose was the first to detect that the water 

 possessed any special value, the " find " being, up to that time, 

 looked upon as rather an unwelcome discovery, owing to the 

 volume of water, with its great heat and pressure, putting a stop 

 to the drilling operations at about 400 feet short of what was 

 originally intended. 



The idea of putting down a deep bore to prove what lay 

 under the surface, was largely undertaken from a spirit of 

 adventure, partly assisted by various vague rumours of traces of 

 oil having been found at places in the Zwartkops River Valley 

 and also on the margin of the Groot Pan in the Zwartkops 

 Heights, and as all these localities were in the regions of the salt- 

 pans some colour was given to the reports, as salt is a well-known 

 accompaniment of petroleum. 



Nearly all the early discoveries of petroleum in America were 

 made in connection with the deepening of brine wells in the salt 

 districts, and its appearance was at first looked upon as a calam- 

 ity. In the rich oil fields of Galicia. which is a salt-producing 

 country, salt is found on the surface, and it is brought up from 

 a depth of 4.000 feet on the drilling tools. Sir Boverton Red- 

 wood, in his standard work on " Petroleum," mentions that 

 ' Throughout the globe the association of gas and petroleum 

 with salt is universal." and another equally reliable authority 

 says : " Although salt is found without petroleum, petroleum is 

 seldom found without salt." 



A chain of salt-pans it may be known, extends from the 

 North End of Port Elizabeth for about 12 miles in a north- 

 western direction ; some are filled no with sand, one is used as 

 a boating lake, and two are worked for salt. The most northern 

 ore, called the " Groot Pan." is stated to produce as much as 

 300 tons of salt per day during the season, and this has been 

 going on for many vears without any signs of diminution. 



It is not intended here to discuss the various theories that 

 have been submitted to account for the presence of these salt- 

 pins — this has all been very ably set forth in the reports of the 



A 



