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Simmer and Jack Mines Ltd (until 1924 known asThe Simmer & Jack Gold Mining Co. Ltd.) is a South African company which was founded in 1887 by the GermanAugust Simmer and ScotsmanJohn Jack, shortly thereafter selling the majority shareholding toGold Fields of South Africa Ltd. The company was listed until 2013 at theJohannesburg Stock Exchange.
In February 1886, the discovery of gold on theWitwatersrand inSouth Africa led to the founding of the city of Johannesburg shortly thereafter. The farm Elandsfontein was about ten kilometers east and belonged to a farmer, Sarel Meyer. Simmer & Jack, a trading company inHarrismith which ran a shop inChrissiesmeer had, a year earlier, acquired half of Meyer's farm. In September 1886 John Jack registered the mining rights on the farm to Simmer & Jack.
With the founding of the company in August 1887 Simmer and Jack took on board the entrepreneur SirGeorge Farrar, whose family imported drilling equipment to South Africa. Also added to the team wasHarry Struben who from 1884 had run a small gold mine inRoodepoort. The town ofGermiston was established and named after John Jack'sbirthplace in Scotland.
The politician and entrepreneurCecil Rhodes, who had made a fortune in the diamond business, saw the gold finds as another opportunity and began, with his partnerCharles Rudd, to buy up farms, mines and mining rights on the Witwatersrand. To finance their activities they founded the London-based company 'The Gold Fields of South Africa Ltd.' Simmer & Jack was one of the first mines to draw their attention.
It soon became apparent that the gold deposits were very large indeed, but that gold could only be extracted from the pyrite with great difficulty and expense using contemporary technology. Contact with the Scottish chemistJohn Seward MacArthur, brought news of thecyanide process and made possible the success of the South African gold mining industry.
The initial years of the company were against a background of political turmoil (Jameson Raid,Second Boer War), various economic difficulties and huge investments. By 1888 the company had built a crushing orstamp mill with 25 stampers. The plant was further expanded to 100 stampers by 1895 and 320 stampers by 1899. Gold production at the mine reached its peak in 1922. By 1935 Simmer & Jack had processed 27,000,000 tons of rock and extracted 7.8 million ounces of gold for a gross profit of £10 million. In 1965 Goldfields sold their shares as the gold deposits were almost exhausted. The original mine was closed down in 1969.
