THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

AND

JOURNAL OF THE COAL AND IRON TRADES.
______________________________________

Vol. CVIII.

_______________________________________________________________________

SOUTH AFRICAN MINING IN 1913.

EXCERPTS FROM THE OFFICIAL REPORT.

The annual report of the Department of Mines and
Industries for the Union of South Africa contains, as
usual, a vast amount of interesting matter, which, how-
ever, is rather badly assimilated. Below we give,
as briefly as possible, a summary of outstanding points,
so far as they refer to the mining of coal and matters
of general interest.

The total value of the mineral output in 1913 was
£52,924,990, and the total mineral export was 77*79 per
cent, of the total exports of the Union. Complaints are
frequently made that the mining industry is exploiting
a wasting asset of the country, for which the latter is
getting no return, but it is pointed out that the per-
centage actually going to investors who have lent capital
to open up the mines is a comparatively small portion
of the total won from the earth. In the coal industry
—the capital for which has been largely put up in
South Africa—hardly any dividends have been paid in
the past, the whole value of the output going to work-
ing costs, and being spent in wages, stores, etc., in the
country. Taking the mining industry as a whole, it
distributes nearly £20,000,000 a year in wages alone
within the Union.

With regard to the future, the Secretary of Mines
observes that, generally speaking, there was little new
enterprise in 1913, and it is only possible to connect this
with shyness of capital. The development of oil shales,
coalfields, iron ore deposits, as well as of the gold areas
on the Eastern Rand, offer future fields for investment,
and are certain sooner or later to claim their share of
available capital. The Ammonia Company in Natal
is a pioneer in a class of industry which is likely to
develop in the future of the Union. The utilisation of
the by-products from coal and the production of fer-
tilisers are likely to be of increasing importance
in this country. The objects of the inducements
held out by the Government in regard to the
iron industry are on a way to being achieved, and
the manufacture of steel and iron from steel
and iron scrap has now actually been started at Vereeni-
ging by the Union Steel Corporation (of South Africa)
Limited. The first ingot of steel produced in South
Africa was cast on September 1, 1913.

Mineral Output.

The production of coal in 1913 was valued at
£2,240,458, as compared with £1,999,378; the value of
the coke production rose from £11,980 to £15,862.

Sales and values for the separate provinces are as
follow :—

Tons of 2,000 lb. Value per ton.

Province. ^9i2	1913.	1912	1913p

s. d. s. d.

Transvaal ........... 4,751,850...5,225,036... 4 4*78... 4 4*48

Cape..................	74,701... 67,481.11 0*55...11 5 82

Orange Free State ... 525,459... 609,973... 5 4’57... 5 5*87
Natal __.................. 2,765,068...2,898,726... 5 6’99... 6 1*83

Totals .... ........... 8,117,078...8,801,216...	—

The higher price obtained for coal in the Cape is due to
the absence of competition as met with in the other
provinces; 2,234 tons of coke, valued at £3,039, were
produced in the Transvaal, and 7,111 tons, valued at
£12,823, were produced in Natal ; 43,293 galls, of tar
were produced by Transvaal coal companies, valued at
£1,433.

The Springs-Brakpan and Middelburg coal areas in the
Transvaal contributed .10 per cent, and 76 per cent,
respectively of the output for that province. Coal
mining in the Cape is carried on in the districts of Mol-
teno, Wodehouse, and Engcobo, about 50 miles south of
Aliwal North. The coal mines of the Orange Free State
are situated towards the northern boundary of the Heil-
bron district and in the northern and north-western por-
tion of the Kroonstad district. The output from the
former district amounted to 86 per cent, of the total. In

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1914.

Natal the largest coal producing area is the Klip River
County. The fields extend north-west and south-west
of the town of Dundee, about 40 and 30 miles respec-
tively ; 81 per cent, of the coal produced came from this
area. The percentage for 1912 was 84 per cent.

In 1913, 1,451,751 tons of coal were disposed of for
bunkers, an increase of 38,531 tons on 1912. The export
for the year amounted to 856,031 tons, an increase of
689,109 tons on the preceding year. East African ports
and islands (including Madagascar and Mauritius) took
507,634 tons, or 59 per cent, of these exports; India and
Ceylon took 309,129 tons, or 36 per cent. ; 34,157 tons,
or 4 per cent., went to the Straits Settlements; and
4,946 tons were taken by West African ports.

Output of Coal in 1913.

(I ton = 2,000 lb.)

««	<T)	_;

O ho	hr

Area and province.	A M  0) <X>*g ho		CQHO  H a
		P-	
Springs-Brakpan			
area 			4 ...	708,6
Middelburg area	]	15 ...	4,589,8
Other areas 			9 ...	792,8

a ■P ®	,2  d eg S ® a	o CD	.  <d a
f-l CO	o  O  Tons.	s. d.
...28*17...	499,359...	5 1’43
..13*55...:	3,978,559...	4 4*35
... 3’19...	747,118...	3 11’23

_________

Transvaal .... 28*... 6,091,372...13’90...5,225,036... 4 4*48

Cape...........	8...	82,128...17 84...	67,481...11 5’82

Heilbron.........	2 ...	621,196... 6’79... 522,112... 5 3’96

Kroonstad ......	3 ...	104,920... 12’76... 87,861... 6 5’24

Orange Free Ste. 5 ... 726,116... 7’65... 609,973... 5 5’87
Dundee, Klip

River, and

Newcastle ... 17 ... 3,119,685...21*55...2,339,533... 6 5’76
Utrecht and Vry-

heid .........	3 ... 713,352...20*25... 559,193.. 4 9 35

Natal ......... 20	... 3,833,037...23*75...2,898,726... 6 1*83

Union of South

Africa ...... 61	...10,732,653...	—	...8,801,216...	—

1911 ........... 62	... 9,931,327...	—	...7,594,944...	—

1913 ........... 61	...10,732,653...	—	...8,801,216...	—

According to the report of the Government Mining
Engineer, 289,010 persons were employed in the service
of mines and allied concerns in December 1913, of
whom 25,948 w’ere engaged in the coal mining industry,
divided as follows:—Whites, 1,403; Asiatics, 3,778;
natives and other coloured persons, 20,767. According
to province, the division of labour was :—Transvaal,
11,752; Cape, 963; Orange Free State, 2,134; Natal,
11,099. Employees born in the United Kingdom and
South Africa represent 92 per cent, of the total number
of white persons working on the mines.

Natal Coal Trade.

The position of the Natal coal mining industry improved
greatly during 1913. For many years the output exceeded
the Natal coal consumption, but the rapid growth of the
shipping trade during recent years has altered the conditions
of things, and the local market is not now of such import-
ance. Previous to the existence of the Coal Owners’ Asso-
ciation, formed to regulate the selling price of coal, all the
collieries were independently competing for the trade, and
the prices of coal were low. Some of the collieries mining
coal which was not considered as first grade had much diffi-
culty in disposing of their output. The selling price of coal
rose in 1912 Is. to Is. 6d. per ton of 2,2401b., and recently
another 6d. has been added. Coal for export was sold during
1912 and 1913 from 13s. 3d. to 14s., and contracts have been
entered into for 1914 for 14s., 15s., and 15s. 6d., according
to the quality of the coal supplied. The total value of the
coal output during 1913 was £891,699, but this should be
greatly increased during the present year. Much of the
success of last year was absorbed in placing the colliery
equipments in satisfactory order, and if the collieries keep
free from strikes during 1914 many of them should
enter the dividend-paying list. The main drawbacks
to coal mining are the shortage of trucks, and the time taken
up in transit from the colliery to the port, which at present
occupies from three to four days. It is, however, under-
stood that when the alterations and deviations which are now

No. 2809.

in progress on the railway main line are completed, the coa]
will be delivered from the colliery to the port in a little over a
day. At the close of the year the railway was opened from
Vryheid to Paulpietersburg, and the extension of coal mining
in this direction will shortly be apparent, as the railway taps
a fairly large area of coal.

The following figures represent the selling prices for the
last eight years of coal for bunkering contracts f.a.s. Port
Natal by one large representative colliery :—1907, 17s. per
long ton; 1908, 18s.; 1909, 16s.; 1910, 14s. 6d.; 1911,
14s. 6d.; 1912, 14s. 9d. ; 1913, 16s. 6d.; 1914 contracts, 17s.
The above were all subject to a rebate of from 3d. to 9d. per
ton, according to the quantity taken for the year, and are
for bunkering coal under contract entered into for the whole
year in each case. The prices charged by other collieries
would vary according to the colliery from the same price to
about 2s. below it.

A number of the Natal coal companies co-operated from
1900 to 1909. In the three following years there was open
competition between all collieries, with the result that in
1912 prices had reached their lowest limit, and the financial
position of the collieries was most unsatisfactory. The
result of this condition of affairs was the combination men-
tioned in last year’s report, the object of which is to regulate
the selling price of coal. The price of coal went up in 1913
all over the world, so that the increase in Natal prices dur-
ing this year was probably not entirely due to the forma-
tion of the association. The price for coal in all parts of
the world is being maintained in the 1914 contracts, and
world conditions in the trade may justify even higher prices.
The increase of 6d. in 1914 for the best Natal coals was no
doubt to some extent caused by continued losses arising from
(a) irregular and insufficient truck supply, resulting in
increased working costs at the mines; (5) increased cost of
coloured labour, especially Indian labour, due to the stop-
page of immigration; (c) increase in cost of white labour;
(d) increase in cost brought about by more stringent appli-
cation of and promulgation of new mining regulations,
especially in regard to rations and housing in the case of
coloured labour; (e) loss of coal and increase of cost due to
gob-fires. The prices quoted during 1910 to 1912 during
the period of the worst competition resulted in most unsatis-
factory financial results in the working of the coal industry.
The prices had been allowed to get too low, and few of the
collieries were able to pay any dividends, while necessary
capital expenditure' for mines in plant and general better-
ment and for increased safety underground was rendered very
difficult or impossible to the management owing to lack of
funds. It was impossible for the prices of those years to
continue for long without disastrous results.

Questions have been raised in regard to the influence of
the Union-Castle Company, who are owners of two impor-
tant collieries on the Natal Associated Collieries during the
past year. The interests of the two parties, however, do
not on examination appear to be identical, and the raising
of prices in 1913-14 cannot be laid to the charge of the Union-
Castle Company, which would be glad to have lower prices
if possible.

The price of Natal coal at Cape Town, where a consider-
able amount of coal was sold for bunkering trade during 1913,
was 24s. to 26s., according to the class of coal, per long ton.
The prices for 1914 are understood to be 24s. 6d. to 26s. per
long ton. This price has risen a couple of shillings since
1912, but it may be pointed out that freights increased enor-
mously all over the world in 1913, as compared with 1912,
and this extra charge was for increased freight pure and
simple. It would appear that in future the prices for
bunker coals at the various ports of the Union will main-
* tain roughly their present figures, with possibly slight
advances, as costs of freight generally throughout the world
show a tendency to rise.

Cape Town will in the future be supplied by seaborne coal
from Durban, and by a certain amount of Transvaal coal
from the Witbank district, which, however, will not probably
be able to be carried the necessary 1,000 miles of railway, at
any rate, which will enable the price at Cape Town to be
reduced. For the bunkering trade generally it would appear
that Durban, by its considerable wharfage area and the load-
ing conveniences at that port, by its proximity to the Natal
coalfields producing the best steaming coal in South Africa,
and by its geographical position, will remain the centre of
the. bunkering trade for the majority of ships. The Cape
Town trade will depend largely on passenger vessels going
direct to Australia and New Zealand, wThile the Natal