OIT THE GOLDFIELDS OF LYDENBURG AND DE KAAP, S. AFRICA. 569 



43. A Sketch of the Goldftelds of Ltdexburg and De Kaap, in the 

 Trajj-svaal, South Africa. By W. Henry Penning, Esq., 

 P.G.S., &c. (Read May 27, 1885.) 



Contents. 



§ 1. Estimated Extent of the Gold Country. 

 § 2. Lydenburg and De Kaap Goldfields. 



1. Geology of the Kaap Yalley &c. 



2. Granitic? Eocks. 



3. Silurian ? Eocks, 



4. Sections and Eeefs, a-f. 



5. Devonian ? Eocks. 



6. Sections and Auriferous Deposits, a'-q. 

 § 3. Alluvial Auriferous Deposits. 



§ 4. Gold and Xuggets. 



§ 5. Other Metals and IVIinerals. 



§6. The Diorite Dykes. 



§ 1. Estimated Extent of the Gold Country. 



The goldfields of the Tati are about 100 miles beyond the Limpopo 

 River, the northern boundary of the Transvaal, and those of Hartley 

 HiU are 250 miles still further towards the interior. These fields 

 have been described by the late Mr. Thomas Baines, E.E.G.S., in his 

 work on ' The Gold Regions of South-eastern Africa ' *, and prove the 

 extension of auriferous veins through at least 7| degrees of latitude, 

 i. e. from the Kaap YaUey to Hartley HiH (18° to 25° 30' S.). 

 "From the gold-lodes west of Pretoria to the site of Herr Carl Mauch's 

 discovery near the Olifant's River in 1868, a space intervenes cover- 

 ing three degrees of longitude (28° 30' to 31° 30' E.). Gold has been 

 found at many points within, as it must also be found beyond, the 

 area thus arbitrarily limited, which certainly covers not less 

 than 100,000 square miles. 



§ 2. Lydenburg and De Kaap Goldeields. 



The Lydenburg and De Kaap Goldfields, as at present known, are 

 included within a line passing W. from the northern point of Swazi- 

 land, through the Tafelkop mountains, thence N. through Lydenburg 

 and along the Orighstad River to its junction with the Blyde. Now 

 turning S., the line follows the edge of the berg, or eastern face of 

 the Drakensberg mountains, to near Spitzkop, and thence back to its 

 starting-point on the border-mountains of Swaziland. (See Map, 

 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xl. p. 658 ; and Map in the Joum. 

 Soc. Arts, vol. xxxii. 1884, p. 609.) This area exteuds over about 1 J 

 degree of latitude (24° 35' S. to 2b° 50' S.), and, on the average, half 

 a degree of longitude (30° 30' to 30° 45' on the N., 31° 15' on the 

 S.), thus being about 3000 square miles. Eor some notes on this 

 country see a paper by the author in Journ. Soc. Arts, vol. xxxii. 

 1884, p. 608. 



* Stanford, London, 1877. 



