South Africa and the Transvaal war . made in the most systematicmanner, from careful calculations, area by area, according to thethickness of the reefs, the tonnage per claim, and the value per tonas they have been shown from past working. The total tonnage ofpayable ore available is estimated at 1,378,000,000. The average goldvalue per ton of ore in the figures works out at 41s. 7d., but in theactuality this varies from 78s. in the richest mines down to actualloss in the least paying of low-grade ores. In these stupendousfigures are included the contributions of the great deep-level mines,the
South Africa and the Transvaal war . made in the most systematicmanner, from careful calculations, area by area, according to thethickness of the reefs, the tonnage per claim, and the value per tonas they have been shown from past working. The total tonnage ofpayable ore available is estimated at 1,378,000,000. The average goldvalue per ton of ore in the figures works out at 41s. 7d., but in theactuality this varies from 78s. in the richest mines down to actualloss in the least paying of low-grade ores. In these stupendousfigures are included the contributions of the great deep-level mines,the growing proportions of whose contributions to the aggregateoutput is already becoming a noteworthy feature, while the extentof their development cannot be foreseen. Mining engineers areindeed already considering the specifications of equipments fornegotiating depths deeper than 7000 feet, and even in 1899 thepossibility of mining at 12,000 feet was considered. Certainlythe mining of minerals in other parts of the world has shown q6. The Future of the Mining Industry the feasibility of operations at much ^^reater depths than thosementioned. The ascertainment of the proximate gold contents of theTransvaal mining- area leads up to the (iuesti<3n, H(jw and whenis this stupendous wealth to be rendered available? In otherwords, what is likely to be the gold production in the several yearsfrom now on, and how long will this rate of production continue?or what are the chances of the early exhaustiiMi of the miningindustry ? To take the last item first, it is the growing convictionof Rand mining engineers that the amount of available gold is onlylimited by the extent to which mining operations can be prosecutedbelow the surface. Mining engineers had up till recently generallyagreed to fix a depth of 8000 feet as the utmost limit to whichmechanical appliances and other circumstances will allow them tofollow the descent of the reefs, and the available gold yield iscalculated on this b
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