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THE GOLDEN SEMICIRCLE 515
...
To sum up, from a mining point of view the information is pretty
scanty: the dolomite cover is bound to be thick, the sub-outcrop will
mainly be at a depth of 3,000 feet or over and it will thus be an
expensive business to get actual reef exposures, and any mistakes in
the geology of the country are likely to be costly. ... As against
this, the possibilities of the scheme are so great that one is inclined
to waive all objections and to recommend participating in a venture
like this in which, if there is any luck, there arc tremendous
possibilities. . . .
It
therefore came about that when Ernest Oppenheimer addressed the
shareholders of Anglo American Corporation on 19 May 1933 he was in a
position not only to announce important new developments on the Far
East Rand but also to describe the first steps taken to participate in
the opening up of the Far West Rand-Klerksdorp area.
♦ XIV ♦
In
1932 the policy of expansion on the Far East Rand continued: towards
the end of the year East Daggafontein Mines was created, taking over
from Rand Selection Corporation a lease of the mineral rights over
approximately 2,468 claims. Close working arrangements were made with
the Daggafontein Mines. Arrangements were made whereby the farm
Witpoortjie (owned by the South African Land and Exploration Company)
should be explored from Brakpan Mines; additional capital was provided
and Anglo American Corporation became secretaries and consulting
engineers. Further, important interests were acquired in mines
administered by other groups— Vogelstruisbult, Vlakfontein and
Grootvlei. The result was the building up of a compact group of mines
administered by Anglo American Corporation in the central position of
the Far East Rand area and the creation of joint interests with others
in mines lying to the north and south of this block. The result was
also that relations with New Consolidated Gold Fields became closer in
the east,32 just at the moment when new developments were taking place in the west.
In
November 1932 the New Consolidated Gold Fields created the West
Witwatersrand Areas Limited 'as a result of information gained from a
geological and magnetometric investigation of the area lying to the
south-west of Randfontein and extending west to the Mooi
32
A later development was the opening up of the 'Kimberley Reef on some
of the Far East Rand mines of the Anglo American Corporation group
—Daggafontein, East Daggafontein, and Springs Mines.
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