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Transvaal Gold Fields
The Transvaal gold fields resulted from gold discoveries during the 19th century in the South African Republic. After insignificant discoveries from 1840 up to 1870, payable or substantial gold deposits were found at: * Leydsdorp in 1870 and 1883 * Geelhoutboom farm, or Mac-Mac diggings, in 1873 * Pilgrim's Rest in 1873 * Barberton in 1881 * Kaapsehoop in 1882 * Ferreirasdorp in 1886 (in the Witwatersrand Basin, Witwatersrand) See also * Randlord * Witwatersrand Gold Rush The Witwatersrand Gold Rush was a gold rush in 1886 that led to the establishment of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a part of the Mineral Revolution. Origins In the modern day province of Mpumalanga, gold miners in the alluvial mines of ... {{Greater Johannesburg, hist Gold mines in South Africa South African Republic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South African Republic
The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result of the Second Boer War. The ZAR was established as a result of the 1852 Sand River Convention, in which the British government agreed to formally recognise independence of the Boers living north of the Vaal River. Relations between the ZAR and Britain started to deteriorate after the British Cape Colony expanded into the Southern African interior, eventually leading to the outbreak of the First Boer War between the two nations. The Boer victory confirmed the ZAR's independence; however, Anglo-ZAR tensions soon flared up again over various diplomatic issues. In 1899, war again broke out between Britain and the ZAR, which was swiftly occupied by the British military. Many Boer combatant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leydsdorp
Leydsdorp is a former gold rush town situated in the Limpopo province of South Africa. This ghost town is south-west of Gravelotte and south-east of Tzaneen. It developed from a gold-mining camp and was proclaimed in 1890, but was virtually abandoned when gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand. Named after Willem Johannes Leyds (1859–1940), state secretary of the South African Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when i ... from 1888 to 1897. See also * SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary, a nearby wildlife rehabilitation center and reserve References {{Mopani District Municipality, state=collapsed Populated places in the Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality 1890 establishments in the South African Republic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mac-Mac
Mac-Mac is a historical area in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, and the site of the country's earliest gold rush. It is located near the town of Sabie Sabie is a forestry town situated on the banks of the Sabie River in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The name Sabie is derived from the siSwati word " Ulusaba" which means "fearful river" because the river was once teeming with dangerous Nile crocodil ..., 5 km from Pilgrim's Rest. While a number of small gold deposits had been discovered in the northern parts of South Africa between 1840 and 1870, Mac-Mac was the first place where payable quantities of gold were found. In 1873 gold was discovered on the farm Geelhoutboom. President Burgers officially named the area the ''New Caledonian Gold Fields'', but it became known as ''Mac-Mac'' because of the amount of Scottish diggers at the camp. Within one year, 1,500 diggers made 4,000 claims. The nearby Mac Mac twin falls, originally a single stream, acquired their current appe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pilgrim's Rest, Mpumalanga
Pilgrim’s Rest ( af, Pelgrimsrus) is a small museum town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa which is protected as a provincial heritage site. It was the second of the Transvaal gold fields, attracting a rush of prospectors in 1873, soon after the MacMac diggings started some away. Alluvial panning eventually gave way to deeper ore mining. In the 1970s the town, not greatly changed, became a tourist destination. History The alluvial gold was discovered by prospector Alec Patterson. He panned Pilgrim's Creek, as it became known, when the nearby MacMac diggings became too crowded. He kept his find a secret, but a gold rush resulted when fellow prospector William Trafford registered his claim with the Gold Commissioner at MacMac. After it was officially declared a gold field in September 1873, the town suddenly grew to 1,500 inhabitants searching for alluvial gold. Mining companies In the 1880s the alluvial gold dwindled and prospectors were attracted to Barberton's newly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barberton, Mpumalanga
Barberton is a town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, which has its origin in the 1880s gold rush in the region. It is situated in the De Kaap Valley and is fringed by the Makhonjwa Mountains. It is south of Mbombela and east of Johannesburg. Barberton was the seat of the Umjindi Local Municipality until the day of the 2016 Municipal Elections, when the Umjindi Local Municipality was merged into the Mbombela Local Municipality. History Prehistoric The mountains around Barberton are amongst the oldest in the world, dating back 3.5 billion years, and these mountains include some of the oldest exposed rocks on the planet. These volcanic rocks, which scientists call the Barberton Greenstone Belt, have given direct evidence of the conditions of life on the surface of the very early Earth. In the satellite image, the bare rocks of mountain peaks appear as a pale gray-green, accentuated by the sharp relief of sunlit slopes and their shadows. Deeper shades of gree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaapsehoop
Kaapschehoop or Kaapsehoop is a village situated in Mpumalanga province (formerly Eastern Transvaal) of South Africa. It is situated 1640 m (5380 ft.) above sea level on the Drakensberg Highveld escarpment, about 28 km from Nelspruit, the capital of Mpumalanga. The name of the village was derived from gold discoveries in and around the area. The find created hope for the early inhabitants of the De Kaap Valley (The Cape Valley) below, it offered the chance of attaining great wealth. Today Kaapschehoop is a scenic mountain top village with vibrant arts & crafts shops, confectionaries, restaurants, pubs and accommodation. It is surrounded with expansive views, nature reserves, golden grass land, wild flowers, pine plantations, unique sandstone formations, flowing streams, and unique endangered wildlife. Kaapschehoop village is set out between large natural clearings in the rock fields near the top of the escarpment overlooking the lush De Kaap Valley situated s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ferreirasdorp
Ferreirasdorp (or Ferreirastown) is an inner-city suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. First known as Ferreira's Camp ( af, Ferreiraskamp) and later Ferreira's Township, it is the oldest part of Johannesburg. Sometimes referred to as the "cradle of Johannesburg", it is where the first gold diggings started, and where the first diggers initially settled. The city grew around the mining camp in the Ferreirasdorp area, and Johannesburg’s Main Street developed from a rough track where the present Albert Street led off towards Ferreira’s Camp. The suburb is named after Colonel Ignatius Ferreira, leader of the original group of diggers who settled in this area in 1886. History The suburb's origins lie in the Turffontein farm set up by Colonel Ignatius Ferreira, a Boer adventurer from Cape Colony. Ferreira had acquired a dozen claims in the vicinity and opened the reef in a cutting. The ore from both si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witwatersrand Basin
The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which account for the name Witwatersrand, meaning "white water ridge" in Afrikaans.Truswell, J.F. (1977). ''The Geological Evolution of South Africa''. pp. 21, 27–28, 33–36. Cape Town: Purnell. This east-west-running scarp can be traced with only one short gap, from Bedfordview (about west of O.R. Tambo International Airport) in the east, through Johannesburg and Roodepoort, to Krugersdorp in the west (see the diagram at left below).Norman, N.; Whitfield, G. (2006) ''Geological Journeys''. pp. 38–49, 60–61. Cape Town: Struik Publishers. The scarp forms the northern edge of a plateau (or ridge) which rises about above the surrounding plains of the Highveld. A number of picturesque Johannesburg suburbs, including Observatory, Linksfie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witwatersrand
The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which account for the name Witwatersrand, meaning "white water ridge" in Afrikaans.Truswell, J.F. (1977). ''The Geological Evolution of South Africa''. pp. 21, 27–28, 33–36. Cape Town: Purnell. This east-west-running scarp can be traced with only one short gap, from Bedfordview (about west of O.R. Tambo International Airport) in the east, through Johannesburg and Roodepoort, to Krugersdorp in the west (see the diagram at left below).Norman, N.; Whitfield, G. (2006) ''Geological Journeys''. pp. 38–49, 60–61. Cape Town: Struik Publishers. The scarp forms the northern edge of a plateau (or ridge) which rises about above the surrounding plains of the Highveld. A number of picturesque Johannesburg suburbs, including Observatory, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Randlord
Randlords were the capitalists who controlled the diamond and gold mining industries in South Africa in its pioneer phase from the 1870s up to World War I. A small number of European financiers, largely of the same generation, gained control of the diamond mining industry at Kimberley, Northern Cape. They set up an infrastructure of financing and industrial consolidation which they then applied to exploit the discoveries of gold from 1886 in Transvaal at Witwatersrand — the "Rand". Once based in the Transvaal, many set up residence in the mansions of Parktown. Many of the Randlords received baronetcies in recognition of their contributions. Notable Randlords * Sir George Albu, 1st Bt (1857–1935)' * Leopold Albu (1861–1938) * Sir Abe Bailey, 1st Bt (1864–1940) *Barney Barnato (1852–1897) *Alfred Beit (1853–1906) * Sir Otto Beit, 1st Bt (1865–1930) * Hermann Ludwig Eckstein (1847–1893) * Sir George Herbert Farrar (1859–1915) * Adolf Goerz (1857–1900) *John Hay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witwatersrand Gold Rush
The Witwatersrand Gold Rush was a gold rush in 1886 that led to the establishment of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a part of the Mineral Revolution. Origins In the modern day province of Mpumalanga, gold miners in the alluvial mines of Barberton and Pilgrim's Rest and local tribes had suspected the existence of gold deposits. In 1886, gold was found in the Witwatersrand region. As a source of the abundance of gold, scientific studies show that the "Golden Arc", which stretches from Johannesburg to Welkom, used to be a massive inland lake, and silt and gold deposits from alluvial gold settled in the area which formed the found gold. Discovery The first discovery of gold in the region was in 1852 on the Pardekraal farm, Krugersdorp, in the South African Republic (ZAR) by John Henry Davis, a Welsh mineralogist. Davis presented his gold find to President Andries Pretorius, but feared what would happen to the new republic if the discovery became widely known. Davis was t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
