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 grey-green, accentuated by the sharp relief of sunlit slopes and their shadows.

The area north and west of Barberton appears slightly pale and fuzzy compared to the rest of this image, probably the result of low-lying haze.

However, due to the location (the hot lowveld region was rife with malaria) no one wanted to go there until Auguste Roberts ("French Bob") discovered gold in Concession Creek on 20 June 1883.

The State Secretary then asked the Magistrate in Lydenburg to investigate the matter and for David Wilson, the Gold Commissioner, to submit a report.

[7] On 5 February 2016, 87 miners were rescued after a cave-in at the main entrance of Makonjwaan Gold Mine, operated by Australian-based Vantage Goldfields.

The arms are: Per fess Vert, and Or, in chief a stamp battery Or, and in base three Barberton daisies in fess slipped and leaved proper (i.e. the shield is divided by a horizontal line, the upper half shows a golden stamp battery on a green background and the lower half shows three Barberton daisies on a golden background).