Prospecting Plans and Mining Rights

PG Survey receive from time-to-time assignments to construct plans for Prospecting Plans and Mining Rights applications, which have to comply with the requirements of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR). The exciting part often include a walk through history, so let me describe the process involved in more detail.

The sub-division of farms had a very interesting history. Initial farmers were allowed to mark their farms by riding on horseback for one hour in all four wind directions. In the early 1870-1880’s the Government of the day started to do a proper survey of the land. This was done on a local system called ‘Cape Roeden‘ and the extents of each farm was given in ‘morgen‘ and ‘square cape roeden‘. Some of the first farm diagrams in the old Transvaal province (or state) were signed by the late State President, Paul Kruger himself.

Round about 1940 all surveys were completed in ‘Cape feet‘, meaning that 12 Cape feet is equal to 1 Cape Roeden using the so called Clarke 1880 ellipsoid survey system, which was based on work that Sir Thomas Maclear designed between 1833 to 1870. From the 1st of January 1999, South Africa started to use the new coordinate system called ‘World Geodetic System 1984‘ (WGS84) and all measurements captured in meters and calculated to mean sea level. This is why PG Survey find these tasks so exciting and interesting. Diagrams obtained from the Deeds Office are still in Cape Rd, Cape ft, meters and in WGS84. The DMR requires that plans had to be in WGS84 and in meters.

Thanks to modern computers using spreadsheet, survey and CAD packages this makes this task considerable easier and more accurate. Unlike the old days where we used logarithmic tables and a slide rule to do the highly sophisticated calculations, and eventually the Facid hand calculator arrived to assist with the adding and subtracting of figures.

Even field surveys have become modernized. As a youngster I once helped a Land Surveyor to measure the subdivision of our land, using a survey chain. Today distances and angles are measured electronically and the data store on-board by advanced modern instruments. And lately technology has become even more advance with the arrival of GPS and Lidar surveys.

However, credit must be given to the early surveyors for the accuracy of the work done as well as the plans that were drawn on various types of paper. Farm diagrams were usually drawn on linen backed paper (Mine plans were drawn on linen cloth) by using a pen and ink, and the hand writing on these plans in it self a piece of art.

Today’s modern CAD packages allow us to draw to any scale, use various text fonts, line types and an endless amount of colors, before sending or receive the digital data via the internet. These assignments are like walking back on a historic trail, converting it to the present as a modern age plan using technology, often to map new mineral discoveries.

Obviously any future mine planning and operations must fall within the prescribed Mining Rights that has been stipulated by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR). Contact PG Survey to assist in obtaining Prospecting Plans and Mining Rights applications.