AFRICAN GOLDFIELDS. A TREMENDOUS MINING BOOM HUNDREDS OF NEW COMPANIES FORMED.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 375, 8 June 1889, Page 5

AFRICAN GOLDFIELDS. A TREMENDOUS MINING BOOM HUNDREDS OF NEW COMPANIES FORMED.

Some reliable information concerning the gold-mining boom in Souoh Atrica, which was obtained from Mr J. B. GilHllan, who left the Cape of Good Hope on May Ist, and is at present in Auckland, obtained in the course of an intorviow with a Stab, representative, should be read with interest. " There was a big mining boom in South Africa when I was there," said Mr Gilfillan, " but the excitement was not so great as it had been a short time previously. The centre of operations was in the Transvaal. Hundreds of new companies had been formed in London to work tho gold mines there, and speculation ran so high that pound shares in one or two mines had advanced so much as £62. " A case in point was Robinson's mine, shares in which are now quoted at £40, and which had been paying dividends of 15 por cent monthly. The Salisbury mine is paying about 10 per cent, at the present time. Both of these mines are ab Johannesburg. "Robinson's mine alone has a battery of 200 head of stamps, and the property consists of several thousands of acres. Both mines are working on what is called ths main reef in Johannesburg, and wherever it has been struck it has yielded large returns of gold, from 2oz to 7oz per ton. " The cost of crushing is small and labour very cheap, the miners employed being chiefly natives. Negotiations are now in progress with the native owners of Bechuana Country and Matabela, to get concessions for prospectors desirous of pursuing operations there. It is supposed that both of these places will prove as rich, or even richer in gold than the Transvaal. " In order to get to Johannesberg miners go from the Cape by rail to Kimberley, and from thence to Johannesberg by coach. Seats on coaches were often sold \\ eeks in advance at a very high premium. "Johannesberg, which, prior to the outbreak of the goldmining boom, was unpopulated, is now occupied by 55,000 people, and buildings have been going up in dozens. " Carpenters and bricklayers were almost unobtainable, even at wages from 30s per day upwards, but the expense of getting to Johannesberg from Cape Town by the cheapest route is about £25. "In consequence of the rush of people to tho goldfields, business at the Cape has been very brisk. People are flocking there iroin all ..quarters, every steamer from England being crowded with passengers, while many have to be refused. "A great many people in Cape Town have already amassed vast fortunes by mining speculations. One bank clerk, for instance, who had been employed at a very small salary, invested a little money in shares and made a profit of £50,000. He has now gone home to enjoy himself. Others have been almost equally lucky, and the boom on the whole is likely to prove of the greatest value to the Cape, upon which the attention of capitalists is now centred and towards which the migration of people is likely to continue for some considerable time." — Auckland Star.