Free State Gold Rush

[3] After the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in November 1885,[4] geologists found that the main reef spread to the east and west, but did so at great depth.

[5][6] At that period the technology to prospect or mine at such depth was not available, but a comparatively small influx of miners was still observed, growing Klerksdorp to a town with over 70 taverns and its own stock exchange.

[7] When the majority of the reefs proved unrecoverable with the contemporary technology, these miners moved away throughout the late 1890s and the stock exchange was converted to a movie theatre by 1912.

[3] Local legislators reacted to this decline by pushing for tax incentives and job-creation support in the mining industry.

[11] The surface of the goldfields is a flat expanse of sandy veld, averaging around 4,500 feet above sea-level, and seeing 15-20 inches of annual rainfall.

The following towns are part of the Free State Goldfields: In the 1890s the trader Gustav Furst had a small shop on the farm Zoeten Inval.

[9] In the early 1930s Archibald Megson managed to interest Allan Roberts, an amateur geologist and dental technician, in the reef and entrance adit.

[9] In 1933, the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa Ltd. was able to secure options for a large segment of the Klerksdorp district and subsequently carried out intense drilling in this land for prospecting.

[5] Using new technology and instruments he developed himself, the Hungarian geologist, Oscar Weiss, identified a favourable location on the farm St. Helena.

[14] Use of diamond drills for prospecting work is important in obtaining information on the strike, dip, rake, and pitch of an ore-body, as well as tonnage, grade, and ore quality.

[16] Water was supplied to the region from the Vaal Dam and new roads and railway lines were laid in order to service it.

[18] Iron pyrite (FeS2), which is relatively plentiful in the gold ores of the Witwatersrand, oxidises to insoluble ferric oxide (Fe2O3) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4).

Acid mine drainage, as the phenomenon is called, has become a major ecological problem, because it dissolves many of the heavy elements, such as the uranium, cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, arsenic and mercury found in the mine dumps, facilitating their passage into surface water and ground water.