We are told in Phillips's "Ore Deposits" that the precious metals do
not appear to be very generally distributed in Africa. More thorough
research may show that this view is incorrect, and that there are large
deposits of iron, copper, gold, and other metals in many parts of the
continent. Gold is found on the Gold Coast, in the Transvaal, in the
Sudan, and in Central Africa, but is only worked in surface diggings,
excepting in the Transvaal; but near all these washings, gold nuggets
of large size, and the quartz rock, have been discovered. In Transvaal
the mines were worked a long time ago, probably by the Portuguese, then
abandoned and forgotten. Recently they have been rediscovered, and
worked by the English. In the Kaap gold-field in the Transvaal, three
years ago, the lion and zebra, elephant and tiger, roamed undisturbed
in the mountain solitudes, where there is now a population of 8,000,
with 80 gold-mining companies, having a capital of $18,500,000,
one-third of which is paid up. Barberstown, the chief mining-town, has
two exchanges, a theatre, two music-halls, canteens innumerable,
several churches and hotels, four banks, and a hospital. A railroad was
opened in December, 1887, from the Indian Ocean towards these mines, 52
miles, and is being rapidly constructed 100 miles farther to
Barberstown.
There is reason to believe that gold deposits equal to those of Mexico
or California will yet be found in several parts of Africa. Copper is
known to exist in the Orange Free State, in parts of Central and South
Africa, and in the district of Katongo, south-west of Lake Tanganyika,
which Dr. Livingstone was about to explore in his last journey. Rich
copper ores are also found in the Cape of Good Hope, Abyssinia, and
equatorial Africa. Large and excellent deposits of iron ore have been
found in the Transvaal and in Algiers, and a railroad 20 miles long has
been built to carry it from the Algerian mines to the sea. Very many
tribes in equatorial and Central Africa work both iron and copper ores
into different shapes and uses, showing that the ore-beds must be
widely distributed.
One of the few large diamond-fields of the world is found in Griqua and
Cape Colony, at the plateau of Kimberly, 3,000 feet above the sea. The
dry diggings have been very productive; this tract, when first
discovered, being almost literally sown with diamonds.
Coal has been found in Zulu-Land, on Lake Nyassa, and in Abyssinia. The
latter coal-field is believed to be secondary. Iron, lead, zinc, and
other minerals, have been found in the Orange Free State. Salt-beds,
salt-fields, salt-lakes, and salt-mines are found in different parts of
Africa.