The Formation and Preservation of the Witwatersrand Goldfields, the World’s Largest Gold Province

From the first issue in 1905 onward, Economic Geology has been the main publication for those who study mineral deposits; indeed, it is now difficult to imagine economic geology without Economic Geology. It is interesting to ask, therefore, Who were the farsighted people who founded the journal, and Why did they think a specialized publication devoted to mineral deposits was needed?Let us first address the question, Who were the founders? They were the 12 men who collectivelydecided a new publication was needed, who then planned the financial structure to support the venture, and who served as the original editorial group. All were employed by, or associated with, the U.S. Geological Survey. Josiah Edward Spurr suggested the need for a journal sometime in November or December 1904. After informal discussions, nine of the founders met in the office of Waldemar Lindgren in the headquarters of the U.S. Geological Survey in Washington, D.C., on May 16, 1905, and founded the Economic Geology Publishing Company. The sole purpose of the company was the publication of a journal '...devoted primarily to the broad application of geologicprinciples to mineral deposits of economic value, and to the scientific description of such deposits, and particularly to the chemical, physical, and structural problems bearing on their genesis.' Initial financing for the new company was raised by the sale of 80 shares at a cost of $25 per share.Eight of the men at the founding meeting formed the first board of directors; Spurr was president, Frederick L. Ransome, secretary, and George O. Smith, treasurer. Other members were Arthur H. Brooks, Marius R. Campbell, Walter H. Weed, Waldemar Lindgren, and a young academic from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, John D. Irving. Theninth man at the meeting was H. Foster Bain. Irving was appointed editor. Lindgren, Ransome, and Campbell from the U.S. Geological Survey, together with three academics, James F. Kemp of Columbia University, Heinrich Ries ofCornell University, and Charles K. Leith of the University of Wisconsin, were appointed associate editors. The initial board members, the editor, and associate editors are the people we now recognize as the founders of Economic Geology. Two others, Frank D. Adams, of McGill University in Canada, and John. W. Gregory, of Glasgow University in Scotland, were subsequently added as associate editors, and a third person, W. S. Bayley of the University of Illinois, was appointed as business editor, but

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