Introduction; Prospecting the New Frontier; The Cradle of Commercial Mining; The First Rush; The Era of Diggers Democracy; The Search for a South African El Dorado; The Pilgrims Gold Bonanza; Enter the Mining Magnates; Finding the Golden Arc; The Magnates and the Mother Lode; King of Coal; Consolidation of the Monopoly; Krugers Curse; The Visionary; Toil and Trouble; New Prospects Along the Golden Arc; Powering Industry; Trove of the Bushveld; The Rise of Platinum; The Fission Factor; Conclusion; Index.
CHAPTER TWO
The Cradle of Commercial Mining
During the first one and half centuries of European settlement, the Cape was 'economically more underdeveloped, politically more inexperienced, and culturally more backward than any of the greater colonies of settlement.'1 It was only in the mid-nineteenth century that a number of factors combined to create an enabling environment in which a commercial mining industry could finally be established. The most significant factor was the extraordinary growth of the Cape Colony's economy during the first half of the century and the consequent availability of large sums of capital for investment purposes. That surge in the Colony's economic performance was the consequence of a host of new policies introduced when Britain annexed the territory, which altered both the socio-economic and political dynamics of southern Africa.
The new administration actively stimulated the stagnant economic life of the Colony by abolishing the trading monopolies that had been introduced by the Dutch East India Company, and by opening Cape Town's port to all passing trade. The healthier connection to the channels of world trade is evidenced by the fact that, between 1806 and the mid-1820s, there was a sixfold increase in imports and exports, a tremendous surge in the wine trade, and a trebling of the livestock held by commercial farmers.2 The upsurge in trade and the emergence of a more buoyant economy ultimately provided a more supportive financial environment for the establishment of a number of industries, including mining. Two other partly related factors included the influx of a host of new artisanal skills with the arrival of a mass of English settlers in the 1820s; and, following the abolition of trading monopolies, the ability to freely import the latest mining equipment and machinery from England.
Another important spur to copper mining was the dawn of the Electrical Age in the early decades of the nineteenth century. As copper had been found to be an excellent conductor of electricity and was considered the metal of choice for the purpose, demand increased exponentially as the application of electrical power became more widespread. While Britain dominated the supply of copper during the first half of the 1800s, by the middle of the century the Cornish mines could not meet the soaring demand, forcing industrialists to look abroad for new sources. The high price that was being paid for the metal would certainly have encouraged shrewd Cape colonists to consider the viability of establishing commercial mining operations.
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The first company shrewd enough to recognise the opportunity was Phillips & King, a mercantile house based in Cape Town, which specialised in the import and distribution of manufactured goods and luxury items. While the firm was far from an authority on mineral exploration and mining, one of its principal members, John King, did have some knowledge of Namaqualand's copper resource as he had been one of the directors of the South African Mining Company.3
In 1849, Phillips & King was presented with the opportunity of buying a portion of the farm Springbokfontein, located in the very heart of Namaqualand. That particular farm was believed to host a rich deposit of copper since a huge vein of copper mineralisation 'stuck out of the mountainside in full view'.4 But, before entering into purchasing negotiations with the Cloete family who owned the land, the firm opted to send John Wild, a trusted and experienced employee, to undertake geological investigations. After completing a preliminary investigation, Wild sent back glowing reports of the rich nature of the deposit. On the strength of his recommendation Phillips & King concluded the purchase of a copper-rich portion of Springbokfontein in October 1850 for the price of £50 (equivalent to approximately R45 000 in today's currency). Through that purchase agreement the firm acquired the mineral rights for the entire farm and sufficient land for the erection of all buildings and works that might be considered necessary for the working of any future mineral discoveries.5
During the next year Phillips & King set about preparing the site, and mining commenced in early 1852. As there was still a limited availability of mining expertise in the Cape the mining methods employed were simple: rock was quarried away from the side of the mountain, after which the copper-bearing ore was separated from waste rock by hand.6 The services of skilled miners were not required during this initial stage of mining at Springbok and much of the work was undertaken by local coloured inhabitants. Thus, the exploitation of copper, at least at that fledgling stage, was achieved with little effort and at minimum expense.
Despite the use of such primitive methods and the employment of unskilled workers, enough copper ore was quarried in the first year of production to commence exports to Wales; in the second half of 1852, some 31 tons of copper was exported, increasing to 199 tons the following year.7 (At the time mining commenced the Cape Colony had no manufacturing base to speak of and its industrial capacity was non-existent. In that context the Colony had absolutely no use for the copper it was producing, nor did it have the ability to add economic value by beneficiating the metal to any degree. As a result, the copper ore was exported in its natural state and the mining companies secured only the bare minimum value of their mined product. Unfortunately, this was the start of a trend: despite the fact that South Africa has industrialised to a significant degree since the 1880s and has long had the ability to beneficiate all of its mined commodities, thereby deriving much additional value before export, the country is still largely locked in an export-orientated model.)
News of Phillips & King's success spread rapidly and by early 1853 other Cape Town-based mercantile houses began to show a keen interest in the copper prospects of Namaqualand. One major obstacle that inhibited companies from pursuing such an interest and, as a consequence, stood in the way of developing a large-scale commercial mining industry, was the lack of a legislative framework governing the exploration for and exploitation of mineral resources on land belonging to the Crown. (Phillips & King's mining operation was situated on privately owned land and thus was not subject to such bureaucratic red tape.) While the Cape government was well aware of the existence of a potentially rich copper resource in the northern reaches of the Colony, and had been since the British took occupation of the Cape in 1806, it had thus far failed to implement any type of prospecting or mining regulation.8 In the government's defence, that was largely due to the fact that little commercial interest had been expressed in any mining-related activities during that period.
In early 1853, the government began to receive a flood of requests for mineral prospecting permits. A typical request, received from Cape Town-based mercantile house Thomson, Watson & Company, stated that:
Having reason to suppose that Minerals exist in certain lands belonging to the Colonial Government in the District of Clanwilliam, and being disposed to search and work for the same, we shall feel obliged by your informing us whether, in such case, the Government would grant to us a lease of such lands, upon the basis of a Royalty, or otherwise.9
Charles Darling, the Cape Colony's Lieutenant-Governor, realised that the establishment of a mining sector could further develop the local economy but only if a legislative framework conducive to mining was implemented. In April 1853, he wrote a letter to the British Colonial Secretary, the Duke of Newcastle, requesting to be informed of the 'terms upon which such leases are effected in the Australian Colonies, and by an intimation of the views of Her Majesty's Government as to the leasing of Lands for mining purposes in this Colony upon similar terms'.10 The suggestion that the Cape Colony draft mineral leasing regulations on terms similar to Australia's was based on two factors. Firstly, the British administration in Victoria had promulgated its own straightforward mineral leasing regulations in December 1851 to facilitate the exploration of recently discovered deposits of copper, lead and gold.11 Secondly, as British colonies, the Cape of Good Hope and Australia were governed under similar circumstances and, thus, the adoption of regulations from a sister colony was a suitable alternative to adopting the legislation of a foreign state.
As Britain had just granted the Cape Colony the status of representative government the formulation of mineral leasing regulations was one of the very first tasks undertaken by the more-empowered administration. By 13 September 1853 South Africa's first regulations governing the circumstances under which Crown lands would be leased for mineral prospecting were promulgated and printed in the Government Gazette.12 The basic principle governing those regulations was that the British monarchy had a prima facie right to all minerals below land not privately owned and, thus, individuals and companies wanting to mine had to rent the right from the government. The terms of such regulations were elementary, merely stipulating that the mineral leases on land belonging to the British Crown were to be granted for a period of 15 years and to a...
