GOLD IN THE TRANSVAAL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1688, 17 May 1884, Page 4

GOLD IN THE TRANSVAAL.

Mr Archibald Forbes gives the following account of a successful gold raining enterpnso in the Transvaal ; " A Hebrew gentleman named Benjamin, a South African resident, devoted his energies to obtaining concessions from the Transvaal Government of several thousand acres of auriferous country in the Transvaal district of Lydenburg. At Pilgrim's Rest, Ophir, and other points on this property, superficial gold digging has been going on for years, with very good results, •Ho bought out the local mining claims, and his concessions effected, came to England with his project of carrying on operations on a large scale. He avoided professional financiers such as Baron Grant, and shunned the lure of limited liability company. In the issue, the enterprise was gone into by a syndicate of some sixty persons, each of whom took up a certain number of shares, The syndicate list, which I have seen, is a curious one. Individual members of houses who do not usually concern themselves in such matters, are included in it—Magnaics, Mutkesons, Forbeses, Farquhars, etc., but it is studded thick with noble names, Machinery was sent out; 10,000 tons of quartz was already at grass; the crushing commenced in Decomhcr last, and a circular, specifying the result, has just been published. The Ophir quartz gave 3|oz to the ton. But it seems that there are frequent ' pockets' where the quartz is embedded in fine earth that is highly auriferous. Two tons of quartz and earth from one of those pockets was submitted to treatment by washing, The result was that 1251b of fine earth was lost, leaving a deposit of pure gold of Moz 14dwt 18gr, equal to about 30oz to the ton, and there remained the balance of the two tons in rough quartz to be passed through the batteries, The £1 shares have gone up to £5 in a week, They are dealt in privately, there being no Stock Exchange quotation; and there is great jubilation amongst the fortunate adventurers. They believe tdat they kftve found another El f'allao— El Cullao is the miraculous gold mine of Venezuela—perhaps its results have been beaten in Australia, but at this proasic end of the world' they are regarded as fabulous. In 1875' the value of.its yield was £120,000, and the returns increased in a steady ratio until for 1882 they reached 1392,000, For the first nino months of IEB3 Baring Brothers received 86,8110z, equalling ,£330,508. The dividend for September last wi:s £BOO per £420 share, and the present value of each of that amount is estimated at £44,000.