6d.; in 1898 to 27s.6d.This reduction of cost is in no way due to any reforms made by the Government, but to improvements in the methods employed, and especially to the more extensive use of compressed air drills.
Out of 8,965,960 tons of ore raised in the Witwatersrand nearly 18.2 per cent.

had to be thrown out; that is: about 1,634,500 tons of ore were rejected as sterile.

In some cases the proportion of sterile ore has amounted to as much as 40 per cent.

The cost of production from the deep levels is 34s.6d.Out of the profits of each month, expenses and the cost of working material have to be met.

(Speech of Mr.Rouliot, President of _The Chamber of Mines_, January 26th, 1899.)[13] Mr.J.H.Curle in his valuable work _The Gold Mines of the World_, published in 1899, estimated the debts of the Rand Companies at L5,515,000.