Free State Gold Rush

{{Short description|Gold rush in the Free State, South Africa}} thumb|Oryx gold mine, near Welkom, South Africa {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}} {{Use South African English|date=February 2023}} The '''Free State Gold Rush''' was a gold rush in Free State, South Africa. It began after the end of World War II, even though gold had been discovered in the area around the year 1934.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Scott |first=Peter |date=1954 |title=The Orange Free State Goldfield |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40564670 |journal=Geography |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=13–20 |jstor=40564670 |issn=0016-7487 |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=14 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214221316/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40564670 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":3" /> It drove major development in the region until the mid–to–late 1980s as part of the mineral revolution in South Africa.<ref name=":2" />

== History == After the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in November 1885,<ref>Marx, Roelf (1987). Marx, Roelf (ed.). ''Klerksdorp Groeiende Reus'' [''Klerksdorp Growing Giant''] (in Afrikaans) (1st ed.). Klerksdorp: Klerksdorp City Council. pp. 11–12.</ref> geologists found that the main reef spread to the east and west, but did so at great depth.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Oppenheimer |first=H. |date=June 1950 |title=The Orange Free State Gold Fields |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1813-6982.1950.tb02628.x |journal=The South African Journal of Economics |language=en |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=148–156 |doi=10.1111/j.1813-6982.1950.tb02628.x |issn=0038-2280 |access-date=14 February 2023 |archive-date=14 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214232253/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1813-6982.1950.tb02628.x |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Reinecke |first=Leopold |title=The location of payable ore-bodies in the gold-bearing reefs of the Witwatersrand |oclc=1076047550}}</ref> 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.<ref>Guest, H. (1938). ''Klerksdorp's Fifty Years of Mining''. Klerksdorp: Klerksdorp Record. p. 21.</ref> left|thumb|Map of the Klerksdorp gold fields 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.<ref>Brown, A. (1983). ''Golden Heritage''. Stilfontein: Andrew Brown. p. 93.</ref> In the 1930s, new geophysical prospecting methods determined that deep gold reefs could be discovered.<ref name=":6" /> The mines in the Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom areas were started thanks to the success of these new methods, and the area saw a large influx of companies and miners.<ref name=":4" />

Russian and Basotho gangs are known to have maintained close relationships with mineworkers in the area after the 1950s. With the opening of gold mines in the Free State, gangs diverted focus from the city of Johannesburg to a symbiotic relationship with miners, by which the gangs would provide women in exchange for money or gold smuggled from the mines.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kynoch |first=Gary |date=2000-03-01 |title=Marashea on the Mines: Economic, Social and Criminal Networks on the South African Gold Fields, 1947-1999 |journal=Journal of Southern African Studies |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=79–103 |doi=10.1080/030570700108397 |s2cid=145448313 |issn=0305-7070}}</ref>

At the end of the gold boom in 1989, many mines in the region became economically indefensible and were closed.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Strambo |first1=Claudia |last2=Atteridge |first2=Aaron |date=June 2021 |title=Collapse of the Free State Goldfields, South Africa |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/collapse-of-the-free-state-goldfields.pdf |journal=Stockholm Environment Institute |access-date=13 February 2023 |archive-date=13 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213023006/https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/collapse-of-the-free-state-goldfields.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> From the mid 1980s to the early 2010s, mine employment in Matjhabeng fell from 180,000 to 30,000.<ref name=":2" /> Local legislators reacted to this decline by pushing for tax incentives and job-creation support in the mining industry.<ref name=":2" />

==Geography== {{main article|Free State (province)}} The Free State spans 129,825&nbsp;km², approximately 10,6% of the total surface area of South Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free State {{!}} province, South Africa {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Free-State |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=14 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314072146/https://www.britannica.com/place/Free-State |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name=":1" /> Prior to the land's exploitation for gold mining, it was predominantly used for agricultural purposes.

The following towns are part of the Free State Goldfields: * Allanridge * Hennenman * Odendaalsrus * Riebeeckstad * Virginia, Free State * Welkom * Ventersburg * Theunissen

==Development== ===Early prospecting=== In the 1890s the trader Gustav Furst had a small shop on the farm Zoeten Inval.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Rosenthal |first1=Eric |last2=Pretorius |first2=J.H.L. |last3=Pretorius |first3=E.M. |title=Ensiklopedie van Suidelike Afrika |date=1972 |publisher=Warne |oclc=637922364}}</ref> It was 13&nbsp;km from where Odendaalrus stands today. Furst showed the prospector Archibald Megson a quartzite vein. Megson and his partners Donaldson and Haines sank an adit and found gold. However, it was in insufficient volumes to attract financiers. Donaldson and Haines took samples with them to London on the ship Drummond Castle. On 16 June 1896 the ship went down at Ushant and Furst disappeared from the scene, signaling the end of the initiative.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |first=Gladys |last=Roberts |title=The story of the discovery of the Orange Free State goldfields |date=1984 |publisher=Vantage Press |isbn=0-533-05778-7 |oclc=11972453 }}</ref>

In the early 1930s Archibald Megson managed to interest Allan Roberts, an amateur geologist and dental technician, in the reef and entrance adit. Megson was bought out by Roberts who founded "Wit Extensions".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erasmus |first=B.P.J. |title=Op pad in Suid-Afrika |date=2004 |publisher=Jonathan Ball Uitgewers |isbn=1-86842-149-X |oclc=57435278}}</ref> In 1933 Roberts bored a hole of 1,263m near the adit on the farm Aandenk. It yielded nothing and the venture was discontinued. This effort was followed by others such as Western Holdings and a company owned by Hans Merensky.<ref name=":4" />

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.<ref name=":6" />

Using new technology and instruments he developed himself, the Hungarian geologist, Oscar Weiss, identified a favourable location on the farm St. Helena. In April 1938 he drilled into gold at a depth of 737m. The estimation was more than a half ounce per ton of processed ore. The Second World War broke out shortly thereafter and prospecting work came to a halt.<ref name=":4" /> left|thumb|Four black and one white miner posing in the Langlaagte gold mine, 1920s

===Later prospecting===

After the Second World War various mining companies flooded Odendaalsrus and within a year over 50 holes were bored. On 16 April 1946 the great discovery was made on the farm Geduld. With the thirteenth hole he had drilled, a drill operator called "Lucky" Hamilton, struck gold at a depth of 1,200 m. The sample from the drill core yielded 62oz of gold per ton of processed ore, making it one of the richest reefs in the world. One of the companies found the hole drilled by Allan Roberts, cleaned it out and drilled deeper striking the same reef a further 122m on.<ref name=":4" />

From 1936 to 1947, an estimated 190 miles of drilling had been accomplished in the free state. This was largely made possible by the development of the use of diamonds for drilling purposes, an experimental effort largely led by the De Beers company.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Oppenheimer |first=Ernest |date=1947 |title=The Discovery of Gold in the Orange Free State and Its Economic Effects |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/718071 |journal=African Affairs |volume=46 |issue=185 |pages=220–223 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a093590 |jstor=718071 |issn=0001-9909 |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=14 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214015055/https://www.jstor.org/stable/718071 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Diamonds were greatly preferable to the more expensive and rarer carbons that were previously in use.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anupam |date=2022-11-25 |title=Diamond Drilling |url=https://www.911metallurgist.com/diamond-drilling |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Metallurgist & Mineral Processing Engineer |language=en-US |archive-date=12 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212174028/https://www.911metallurgist.com/diamond-drilling |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Development of the fields=== The first gold bar was produced from these fields in 1951, 17 years after the first borehole had been sunk.<ref name=":1" /> Gold-bearing reefs were found only at the pre-Cambrian upper Witwatersrand sediments, where samples revealed nearly double the average grade of ore that was milled at the nearby Witwatersrand gold fields.<ref name=":1" />

== Impacts ==

===Economic impact=== thumb|300x300px|Location of the Free State Goldfields in 2022.The discovery of gold in the Free State is considered to be one of the most important events in the economic development of South Africa, along with the Kimberley diamond discovery and the Witwatersrand goldfields.<ref name=":1" /> A 1946 census measured the urban population of the area at 5,320 individuals. By 1950, this total had multiplied over eight times to approximately 43,000 individuals.<ref name=":1" /> The mining sector in the Free State contributed 37.4% of the provinces GDP in 1981, making it the largest contributor at the time. By 1991, this dropped to 20.6%, and by 2001 it dropped further still to 14.3%.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |first1=Jeff |last1=McCarthy |first2=Sandy |last2=Johnston |first3=Ann |last3=Bernstein |date=2005-07-01 |title=Growth and Development in South Africa's heartland: Silence, exit and voice in the Free State |url=https://www.africaportal.org/publications/growth-and-development-in-south-africas-heartland-silence-exit-and-voice-in-the-free-state/ |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=Africa Portal |archive-date=13 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213144425/https://www.africaportal.org/publications/growth-and-development-in-south-africas-heartland-silence-exit-and-voice-in-the-free-state/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

From the mid 1980s to the early 2010s, mine employment in Matjhabeng fell from 180,000 to 30,000 as the production levels of many mines fell significantly.<ref name=":2" /> Local legislators reacted to this decline by pushing for tax incentives and job-creation support in the mining industry.<ref name=":2" />

===Social and infrastructural impact=== The discovery of the reef led to the establishment of the city of Welkom and the town of Riebeeckstad, while neighbouring towns such as Odendalsrus, Allanridge and Virginia enjoyed prolonged growth.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marais |first1=Lochner |last2=Nel |first2=Etienne |date=February 2016 |title=The dangers of growing on gold: Lessons for mine downscaling from the Free State Goldfields, South Africa |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269094215621725 |journal=Local Economy: The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit |language=en |volume=31 |issue=1–2 |pages=282–298 |doi=10.1177/0269094215621725 |s2cid=155686877 |issn=0269-0942|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Water was supplied to the region from the Vaal Dam and new roads and railway lines were laid in order to service it.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |title=The Orange Free State Official Guide. Authorized by the Executive Committee of the Provincial Council. |oclc=561835614}}</ref> The following mines were established: Beatrix, Erfdeel-Dankbaarheid, Free State Geduld, Jeanette, Loraine, Oryx, President Brand, President Steyn, St. Helena, Welkom, Western Holdings.<ref name=":5" />

===Environmental impact=== {{Further|Acid mine drainage}}Apart from the obvious hollowing out of the rocks below southern Johannesburg, causing unpredictable sinkholes, surface instabilities and earth tremors, the bringing to the surface of rocks that had been laid down in oxygen-free conditions had unforeseen effects.<ref name=":8">Brink, A.B.A. (1996). "Engineering Geology of Southern Africa". pp. 81–160. Building Publications, Pretoria.</ref> Iron pyrite (FeS₂), which is relatively plentiful in the gold ores of the Witwatersrand, oxidises to insoluble ferric oxide (Fe₂O₃) and sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄). Thus, when mine waste comes into contact with oxygenated rainwater, sulfuric acid is released into the ground water. 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.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9">McCarthy, T.; Rubridge, B. (2005). ''The Story of Earth and Life''. Cape Town, S.A.: Struik Publishers. pp. 89–90, 102–107, 134–136.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=24 October 2005 |title=Behind gold's glitter, torn lands and pointed questions |url=http://www.latrobefinancialmanagement.com/Research/Commodities/Behind%20Gold%27s%20Glitter%20NYTimes%20Piece.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=18 February 2023 |website=New York Times |archive-date=7 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207084958/http://www.latrobefinancialmanagement.com/Research/Commodities/Behind%20Gold%27s%20Glitter%20NYTimes%20Piece.pdf }}</ref> The tailings ponds contain an average of 100 mg/kg of U₃O₈, and uranium is measurable in human hair.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Winde |first1=Frank |last2=Geipel |first2=Gerhard |last3=Espina |first3=Carolina |last4=Schüz |first4=Joachim |date=2019-06-27 |title=Human exposure to uranium in South African gold mining areas using barber-based hair sampling |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=14 |issue=6 |article-number=e0219059 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0219059 |pmid=31247044 |pmc=6597193 |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1419059W |issn=1932-6203|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Sulfuric acid also erodes concrete and cement structures, resulting in structural damage to buildings and bridges.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" />

==Stratigraphy== thumb|199x199px|Stratigraphy of the Central Rand Group The majority of payable reefs in the Free State were located in the basal reef of the Main Bird series, which were the bottom parts of the reefs near the footwall contacts (boundary between two adjacent rock formations).<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Schidlowski |first=M. |date=1968-12-01 |title=The gold fraction of the Witwatersrand conglomerates from the Orange Free State goldfield (South Africa) |journal=Mineralium Deposita |language=en |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=344–363 |doi=10.1007/BF00207526 |bibcode=1968MinDe...3..344S |s2cid=128823244 |issn=1432-1866 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Saager |first=R. |date=1968-03-01 |title=Newly observed ore-minerals from the Basal Reef in the Orange Free State goldfield in South Africa |journal=Economic Geology |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=116–123 |doi=10.2113/gsecongeo.63.2.116 |issn=1554-0774 }}</ref> It is therefore likely that sedimentary processes played a significant role in how the metal was distributed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Graton |first=Louis Caryl |date=1930-05-01 |title=Hydrothermal origin of the Rand gold deposits; Part 1, Testimony of the conglomerates |journal=Economic Geology |volume=25 |issue=3_Suppl |pages=1–185 |doi=10.2113/gsecongeo.25.3_suppl.1 |issn=1554-0774 }}</ref> However, the gold grains themselves and the layers where they are found don't always show clear signs of sedimentary processes.<ref name=":7" />

The metal and the rock around it have been changed a lot by heat and pressure over time, which has made it harder to see how the metal originally got there.<ref>Anderson, C. B.: Presidential address, 75th Ann. Meeting, Transvaal and Orange Free State Chamber of Mines. Mining Survey (Johannesburg) 57, 3–16 (1965)</ref> The gold particles have been rearranged in various ways, sometimes by being squished and stretched, and sometimes by dissolving and then reforming in a different shape.<ref name=":7" /> These changes were largely observed ''in situ''. As a result, the original pattern of how sedimentary distribution was not affected significantly, but the individual gold particles were transformed into authigenic and major gold aggregates.<ref name=":7" /><ref>Davidson, C. F., and S. H. U. Bowie. "On thucholite and related hydrocarbon-uraninite complexes with a note on the origin of the Witwatersrand gold ores: Geological Survey of Great Britain Bulletin no. 3." (1951): 1-19.</ref> Electron probe microanalysis detected between 9.9% and 12.4% silver content in gold from the region.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hargraves |first=Robert B. |date=1963-09-01 |title=Silver-gold ratios in some Witwatersrand conglomerates |journal=Economic Geology |volume=58 |issue=6 |pages=952–970 |doi=10.2113/gsecongeo.58.6.952 |issn=1554-0774 }}</ref>

== Operations == The following companies still operate gold mines in the Free State:

'''VMR'''

* Kopanang Mine<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kopanang Mine - Village Main Reef |url=http://villagemainreef.com/assets/operations/kopanang-mine |access-date=2023-02-16 |website=villagemainreef.com |archive-date=16 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216203553/http://villagemainreef.com/assets/operations/kopanang-mine |url-status=live }}</ref>

'''Harmony Gold'''

* Target Mine<ref>{{Cite web |title=Target 1 Gold Mine, Free State Province, South Africa |url=https://www.mining-technology.com/projects/target/ |access-date=2023-02-16 |website=Mining Technology |language=en-US |archive-date=16 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216200658/https://www.mining-technology.com/projects/target/ |url-status=live }}</ref> * Unisel Mine<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harmony Is Focused on Delivering Long-Term Value |url=https://www.harmony.co.za/investors/news/company-announcements/2011/109-harmony-is-focussed-on-delivering-long-term-value/ |date=2011-02-07 |access-date=2023-02-16 |website=www.harmony.co.za |archive-date=16 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216203553/https://www.harmony.co.za/investors/news/company-announcements/2011/109-harmony-is-focussed-on-delivering-long-term-value/ |url-status=live }}</ref> * Moab Khotsong Mine<ref>{{Cite web |title=Moab Khotson – Overview |url=https://www.harmony.co.za/operations/south-africa/underground/moab-khotsong/ |access-date=2023-02-16 |website=www.harmony.co.za |archive-date=16 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216210607/https://www.harmony.co.za/operations/south-africa/underground/moab-khotsong/ |url-status=live }}</ref> '''Sibanye Stillwater''' * Beatrix Mine<ref>{{Cite web |title=Beatrix |url=https://www.sibanyestillwater.com/business/southern-africa/gold-operations/beatrix/ |access-date=2023-02-16 |website=Sibanye-Stillwater |language=en-GB |archive-date=16 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216203615/https://www.sibanyestillwater.com/business/southern-africa/gold-operations/beatrix/ |url-status=live }}</ref> '''Shaft Sinkers (PTY) Ltd.'''

* Shaft Sinkers (PTY) Ltd. Mine<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free State {{!}} Department of Mineral Resources |url=https://www.dmr.gov.za/mineral-policy-promotion/operating-mines/free-state |access-date=2023-02-16 |website=www.dmr.gov.za |archive-date=16 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216210842/https://www.dmr.gov.za/mineral-policy-promotion/operating-mines/free-state |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also == * Witwatersrand Gold Rush * Mineral Revolution * Mining industry of South Africa * Gold Mining

== Bibliography == * ''Ensiklopedie van Suidelike Afrika''. Eric Rosenthal. 1967. * ''Goud in Suid-Afrika''. Ted Scannel. 1988. {{ISBN|0-86977-520-0}} * ''Op Pad in Suid-Afrika''. B.P.J. Erasmus. 1995. {{ISBN|1-86842-026-4}}

== References == {{reflist}}

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Category:Gold mines in South Africa Category:History of gold mining Category:Orange Free State Category:South African gold rushes