THE 
JOUNNAL OF GEOLOGY 
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1907 
THE WITWATERSRAND GOLD REGION, TRANSVAAL, 
SOUTH AFRICA, AS SEEN IN RECENT MINING 
DEVELOPMENTS! 
RoA. EF. PENROSE, JR: 
Location.—The name Transvaal is applied to a stretch of country 
lying north of the Vaal River and south of the Limpopo River. It 
comprises 106,642 square miles and is bounded on the south by the 
Orange River Colony and Natal, on the west by Cape Colony and 
Bechuanaland, on the north by Rhodesia, and on the east by Portu- 
guese East Africa and Swazieland. From the lowlands along the 
Limpopo River the region rises gradually to the south and southeast, 
and in the southern part is an elevated plateau rising between five 
thousand and six thousand feet above the sea. This plateau is an 
open country, heavily covered with grass, with but few trees, and 
resembling in many respects some of our western states. It is capped 
by a low range of hills running about east and west and known as the 
Witwatersrand, or ‘“‘white-water-ridge.” This range is the divide 
between the waters of the Vaal and the Limpopo rivers, and in fact 
is the continental divide ‘n this part of Africa, as the Vaal River runs 
into the Orange River and thence to the Atlantic, while the Limpopo 
River empties into the Indian Ocean. 
1 During a recent trip to South Africa the writer spent some time studying the 
occurrence of gold in the Witwatersrand region of the Transvaal. So much has 
already been written by others on this subject that it is not intended here to enter into 
a detailed description of the region, but only to discuss some of the more general features 
as seen in the light of recent developments. 
Vol XV, No. 8 735 
