Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, JULY'24, 1920 A ROMANCE IN COPPER

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 24 July 1929, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, JULY'24, 1920 A ROMANCE IN COPPER

WHEN Cecil Rhodes had added to the British Empire, the vast territory which ft named after him, and is now divided into Northern and Southern Rhodesia, he sent a man named Robert "Williams to examine and report upon their mineral wealth. Williams, after he had care, fully investigated the immense territories of Southern and Northern Rhodesia, crossed over the unmarked southern boundary of the Belgian Congo, and continued his mining explorations in that even vaster territory. Here he came upon the immeasurably rich deposits of copper ore at Katanga; and then, having realised that he was gazing on riches which could not be valued, so huge were they, he realised that they were worthless because they were positively inaccessible.

That was thirty years ago. In 1900 Williams obtained from King Leopold of Belgium extensive mining- rights at Katanga. In 1902 he obtained a concession from the Portuguese Government to construct, a railway from west to east, right across the territory of Portuguese West Africa, commonly called Angola, with a view to gaining access to Katanga. Next, this remarkable and indomitable man presented his case with such conviction to the. financial magnates of London, that they became inspired with sufficient confidence to subscribe substantial sums of money with which to give effect to his optimistic dreams, and in 1903 the railway line was begun at Benguela, which is a port in Lobilo Bay, on the coast of Angola. Last November the line was completed from tho west coast to the eastern boundary of the territory—a distance of 800 miles—at a cost of twelve millions sterling; and last month it was formally opened, in the presence of Prince Arthur erf Connaught, at the little township of Luao, which is situated at the extreme eastern limit of the line, on the Angola-Congo border. From that spot the. Belgians are conBtructing an extension of the line to Katanga. This extension will be about 100 miles long, and is expected to be completed very soon.; and when that last link in the great work is finished, it will bo possible to transport the Katanga copper direct to Lobito Bay. While Robert Williams was building his 300 "miles of railway through tho difficult country to Angola, where at one point- his rails were laid at an altitude of 6000 feet, above sea-level, others were pushing tho extension of railway lines from South Africa and the port of Beira (in Portuguese East Africa) towards Rhodesia, and the Belgians had linked up Katanga with this system, and had begun the export of their Congo copper from tho port of Beira to the markets of the world, before the line across Angola was completed. This they were able to do at a profit, it being possible to place Katanga copper on the New York market at a lower price than copper from the Western State's of America.

When, the line from Katanga to Luao is completed, and it is possible to transport the- Katanga copper to Lobito Bay, the following,advantages will accrue: a saving of 600 miles of haulage (the difference between the distance from Katanga to Beira and the. distance from Katanga to Lobito Bay) and in transport by sea a saving of 2600 miles (the difference between the distance between Beira to Southampton and the distance between Lobito Bay to Southampton. Of course this will mean that Katanga copper—and there are absolutely mountains 0 { it—will be able to command the markets of the world. That means that the price of copper will be fixed by magnates mining copper at Katanga, among whom will be Sir Robert Williams, whose romantic career has ended in his being—as be anticipated, thirty years ago. when he first set eyes on Katanga, and determined to give it access to the sea—one of those who can dictate terms, Co far as cooper is concerned, not only t 0 die -Americans, but to the entire world. Commercially, his victory is a Hrilish victory, since it was British confidence and capital which enabled him to win.