The range is best known for having some of the oldest exposed rocks on Earth, estimated to be between 3.2 and 3.6 billion years (Ga) old, dating from the Paleoarchean.

[7] The range is also known for its gold deposits and a number of komatiites, an unusual type of ultramafic volcanic rock named after the Komati River[8] that flows through the belt.

In April 2014, scientists reported finding evidence of the largest terrestrial meteor impact event to date near the area.

They estimated the impact occurred about 3.26 billion years ago and that the impactor was approximately between 37 and 58 kilometers (23 and 36 miles) wide.

[10] Swazis and other pastoral peoples probably grazed their livestock there, but not in large numbers, until the arrival of European settlers in the 1860s.