Page 15 - Bulletin 14 2010

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the discovery, recounting how the first trace of tin ore was found “on a rainy day when weary,
foot-sore and wet, the prospector and his companion had taken refuge under some bushes at

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Vrede Hoek …”

Technical advice was then sought from Professor P. D. Hahn, “the eminent professor of

metallurgy at the South African College,” and C. F. Hamilton, apparently a consulting mining
engineer from Johannesburg, both of whom were extremely positive about the future

prospects of the discovery. (It may be added here this phenomenon, i.e. mining discoveries
being viewed with extreme optimism, is a fairly frequent occurrence throughout the world, as

all too many shareholders have discovered to their cost!) The initial discovery had clearly
been followed by fairly extensive proving of the deposit, for an account of March 1911 talks

of the slope above the stream in which the original discovery had been made being “opened

up over a distance of 500 feet on a more or less horizontal line about 30 to 50 feet above the
water stream.” 15

Clearly, much more prospecting was going on behind the scenes, for towards the end of
March 1911 Cape Town newspapers announced the issuing of the prospectus of the

Vredehoek Tin Developing Syndicate. This had a capital of £30,000 – a substantial sum for
the time – in one-pound shares and boasted amongst its directors well-known Capetonians

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such as Senator Sir Meiring Beck, Mr. Ludwig Weiner and Senator A. G. Viljoen. One of
the most noteworthy of the subscribers to the company was Sammy Marks, described in the

list of shareholders as ‘Capitalist, Pretoria, Transvaal,’ who purchased five hundred shares.

The Memorandum and Articles of Association of the company was a somewhat grand affair,
full of ambitious plans for the future such as “To carry on the business of a Tin Producing

Company in all its branches, and to deal in all classes of minerals in any part of the world.”! 17
(Fig. 1.5).

The company’s shares first appeared on the Cape Town Stock Exchange on Saturday 1 April

1911. Although described in the press as ‘Not Officially Quoted,’ they nevertheless were

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‘Wanted at 30s.’ This was something of an act of faith on the part of investors for the
company was only registered, under the Companies Act of 1902, on 6 April 1911. The