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After the Alvord mine in California was destroyed in a fire, Burnham stayed in California until 1894 to wrap up his family's affairs with the mine and left for the [[South African Republic]] as soon as he could to join his brother Fred already in [[Bulawayo|Bulawayo, Matabeleland]].<ref name="familyletters"/> He soon found work as a mining engineer and was in charge of the assay laboratory and smelting room at the Langlaagte Royal Mine in the [[South African Republic|Transvaal]].<ref name="flemming1903">{{cite journal |author=John Flemming |date=April 1903 |title=The extraction of gold from cyanide house slimes by a wet method |journal=Journal of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy |volume=3 |issue= |page=347}}</ref><ref name="sfcall17jan1900">{{cite news |title= Nearly Hanged on charge of spying; Unpleasant predicament of Howard Burnham, a Californian, in South Africa |newspaper= [[San Francisco Call]] |location=[[San Francisco, California]] |issn= 1941-0719 |date= Jan 17, 1900 |page=2 }}</ref> In 1895, he was preparing to accompany his brother in a massive expedition into [[Northern Rhodesia]] when he took ill and was forced to leave for Europe to recuperate.<ref name="latimes8jun1895">{{cite news |title= Southern California News; Pasadena Brevities |newspaper= [[Los Angeles Times]] |location=[[Los Angeles, California]] |issn= 0458-3035 |date= Jun 8, 1895|page=11 }}</ref><ref name="times9may1899">{{cite journal |last= |first= |date=May 9, 1899 |title=Railway And Other Companies: Northern Territories (B.S.A.) Exploring Company Limited |journal=[[The Times]] |page=3 |issue=35824}}</ref> He left for [[German Empire|Germany]] accompanied by his nephew Roderick, and the two of them then went to [[London, England]].<ref name="familyletters"/> In 1895, he married his first wife Margaret.<ref name="familyletters"/><ref name="ReferenceB">Application for emergency passport, U.S. Consulate at Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa, 29 September 1899</ref> He returned to the United States and from 1896-1898 attended the Michigan Mining School (now [[Michigan Technological University]]), graduating with an S.B.<ref name="michigan1898">{{cite book |title=Catalog of the Michigan College of Mines (1896-1898) |last= |first= |authorlink= |date=August 1898 |publisher=Published by the College |location=Houghton, Michigan |isbn= |pages=175, 179}}</ref> By September 1898, he and his wife were back in Africa and he was working for an English syndicate and supervising over 2,000 miners at the Rosa deep gold mine near [[Johannesburg, South Africa]].<ref name="sfcall17jan1900"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="latimes18nov1899">{{cite news |title= Southern California by Towns and Counties; In South Africa |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |location=[[Los Angeles, California]] |issn= 0458-3035 |date= Nov 18, 1899 |page=15 |quote= Howard Burnham of this city has been for a year or more the engineer of a gold mine near Johannesburg, South Africa and his wife has been with him. Mrs. Burnham retreated to Cape Town at the start of the Second Boer War, but Howard remained at his post in the mines, protected by his American citizenship.}}</ref> While in the Transvaal, Burnham was a chief chemist, an engineer, and an assistant inspector for mines, and he wrote a textbook: ''Modern Mine Valuation''.<ref name="howardburnham">{{cite book |last=Burnham |first=M. Howard |authorlink=Howard Burnham |title=Modern Mine Valuation |publisher=London, C. Griffin and Company, limited |year=1912 |isbn= 1-151-74631-2}}</ref>
When the [[Second Boer War]] broke out in 1899, Burnham felt he would be protected because of his American citizenship. Initially he remained at his post in the mines in the Boer Republic, but as a precaution he sent his wife to [[Cape Town, South Africa]], then a British colony.<ref name="latimes18nov1899"/> But the situation in Johannesburg quickly worsened. The Boers seized the mine and began working it for their own benefit. Burnham traveled to [[East London, South Africa]] to inform the syndicate directors of the situation. He was captured by the British and held 24 hrs before he could prove that he was an American citizen. When he started back to Johannesburg, he was captured by the Boers who took him for a British spy. For a time he was uncertain if he would be shot or hanged. He wired his family for funds to help get him out of his predicament.<ref name="sfcall17jan1900"/><ref name="latimes17nov1900">{{cite news |title= Southern California by Towns and Counties; A Pasadenan in Africa |newspaper= [[Los Angeles Times]] |location=[[Los Angeles, California]] |issn= 0458-3035 |date= Jan 17, 1900 |page=I15 }}</ref> Only weeks earlier, his brother had been prospecting in [[Alaska]] during the [[Klondike Gold Rush]] when he received a telegram from [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Lord Roberts]] requesting his assistance in the war – Fred left for Africa within the hour.<ref name="americanheritage">{{cite journal |author=Byron Farwell |authorlink=Byron Farwell |date=March 1976 |title=Taking Sides in the Boer War |journal=American Heritage Magazine |volume=20 |issue=3 |issn=0002-8738 |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1976/3/1976_3_20.shtml |accessdate=2010-02-01 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107112133/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1976/3/1976_3_20.shtml |archivedate=2009-01-07 |df= }}</ref> Fred Burnham had just been appointed Chief of Scouts for the [[British Army]] and was en route to South Africa via England, but he was still too distant to provide any immediate help.<ref name="scouting"/>
Over the next few years, he lived in both England and South Africa. He gave lectures and contributed a series of articles on mining techniques and the sundry principles underlying the finance of mining enterprises, more especially the "risk rate." In London on November 18, 1903, Burnham married Constance Newton, then a young school teacher and an heiress to [[Newton, Chambers & Company]], whom he had met on the ship during their voyage to South Africa.<ref>Marriage certificate, from Holly Trinity Church, Brompton Parish, London, 18th November 1903, column no. 118</ref> From 1905 until about 1908, Burnham was a non-resident fellow at the Royal Colonial Institute in London.<ref name="royalcolinst">{{cite journal |author= |year=1908 |title=List of Fellows |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute |volume=39 |issue= |page=401}}</ref>
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