Coal and Iron in South Africa. 515 



known by its influence on the compass. In a mile's length, the two 

 largest of the iron-ore beds must contain in a breadth of 300 feet 

 on the surface of the plain a mass of ore equal to 5,280,000 tons ; 

 in a breadth of 600 feet, a mass of ore equal to 10,560,000 tons ; in 

 a breadth of 1,000 feet, a mass of ore equal to 17,555,000 tons or 

 52,800,000 tons at 600 feet in a length of five miles. 



Outcrops of these beds show themselves at intervals as far as the 

 farm Klipdrift, on the banks of the Lower Rhenoster River, a 

 distance of more than fifteen miles. There is, therefore, every 

 reason to believe that they are continuous for that distance. 



The value of iron-ore, delivered at the smelting furnace, is 

 about £1 per ton ; but, however large the quantity of iron-ore may 

 be, it is valueless unless fuel can be obtained for smelting within a 

 convenient distance. Thus, the excellent iron-ore in G-riqualand- 

 West is unavailable at present for this reason. That of the Free 

 State is found under more favourable circumstances. The outcrop of 

 these metalliferous rocks on the high ground, near Klipdrift, is 

 within a few miles of a sixteen-inch seam of coal cropping out near 

 that river- valley at two separate places, both above and below where 

 the iron-ore is found. While the greater outcrop at Rietvlei is 

 within 20 or 30 miles of the great coal-bed, and so situated that 

 any train or railway which may hereafter be constructed for the 

 conveyance of the coal to such great centres of consumption as the 

 Diamond Fields, must of necessity pass within a very few miles of 

 the place where the largest quantity of iron-ore is exposed, and will 

 thus bring the fuel and the ore almost into juxtaposition. This is 

 an advantage which cannot be over-estimated ; but I must leave 

 others to decide the important bearing a discovery of this kind must 

 have upon the posperity of the State, when these buried treasures are 

 properly utilized, and the inhabitants avail themselves of such 

 resources. 



Mr. Stow, F.G.S., reports that the following useful materials 

 occur in the Free State : — 



1. Nodular limestone, such as used in other countries as cement- 

 stone, scattered over various parts of the State. 



2. Great beds of old crystalline limestones (siliceo-calcareous 

 rocks). 



3. An immense area of country filled with porphyritic rocks, 

 which would vie with granite for durability and beauty. 



4. An abundant supply of magnetic and other rich iron-ores, 

 within a convenient distance of the necessary fuel for smelting. 



5. A great coal-bed. 



In a former report he stated that, judging from the excavations 

 made in the Sand River district, the coal underlying that portion of 

 the country would, at a low estimate, amount to some 145,800.000 

 tons. We can now safely state that in the new coal-field, since dis- 

 covered in the Vaal River valley, the minimum quantity would be 

 some 350,000,000 tons ; making a total, in the two coal-beds, of 

 495,800,000 tons, which, at five shillings a ton, would represent a 

 money-value of more than £123,900,000. If, however, instead of 



