PIIESIDKNTIAL ADDRESS SECTION B. 5i 



a big milling field, iible to proviclo the means and material ior 

 carrying out the necessary investigation. 



Even on the smaller mines, many problems arise outside 

 actual mining, which require the aid of allied sciences. This is. 

 perhaps especially the case in those mines in which the ore-bodie.-! 

 are of a complex nature, and include a comparatively large variety 

 uf minerals, frequently forming an aggregate which is very 

 dilhcult to deal with, and there is no doubt that there still remains 

 an extensive field of research of an interesting and profitable 

 nature, in the investigation of both the chemical and physical con- 

 stitutions of some of these complex ore-bodies. It seems likely 

 that, by adopting some of the methods of microscopical investiga- 

 tion which have come into use in connection with nearly allied 

 lines of study, some very important results might be obtained 

 in the near future. 



In connection with education also the development of big 

 mining. centres may have an important bearing on the progress of 

 a young country. 



The necessity for local training in scientific and techno- 

 logical subjects which exists, leads to much greater demand for 

 instruction and opportunities for research in these directions, 

 while, at the same time, the disposition to afford them financial 

 support from local sources is proportionately increased. In the 

 case of the Witwatersrand this has allowed of the establishment 

 of a University. 



The development of an extensive mining industry in our 

 midst had resulted already in the provision of exceptional facilities 

 for the study of mining problems, which are likely in the future 

 to attract advanced students from other parts of the world, whose 

 presence among us will, no doubt, be of beiiefit to all concerned. 



I have said enough, I think, to show that, in the earlier stages 

 of a country's history, the exploitation of mineral deposits may 

 have a most important influence. In this country we have 

 been exceptionally fortunate, in that, in the case of the gold in- 

 dustry at least, we possess a field sufficiently extensive and stable 

 to exert more than a tempf)rary influence on the country generallv 

 — an influence which is sometimes perhaps not fully appreciated 

 by those not directly connected M'ith mining, and one which is 

 of special interest to workens in many branches of science. 



