Kromdraai Cache
In 1881 Johannes
Stephanus Minaar discovered a gold nugget while prospecting
on J.H.
Grobler's
farm - Kromdraai. This in turn led to the discovery of the
Kromdraai reef - a hydra thermal quartz vein intrusion.
Anticipating a gold rush on his property, Grobler applied for a
'mynpacht' of 100 morgen to be granted to him and the rest to be
public diggings. This was later granted (1885) and meant that
Grobler effectively held the rights on most of the area known to be
gold bearing and he could lease this to other diggers.
One year later the first mining company was formed. The prospectus
of the ‘Kromdraai Gold Mining Company’ appeared in the ‘Volkstem’
in 1886 and the first gold was produced in March 1887. A weight of
10lbs 11oz and 8dwts, obtained from 271 tons of quartz was well
within the satisfactory ratio of 25 grams of gold per ton
of quartz. The ore was crushed by a stamp battery erected at
the head-waters of the Crocodile River.
As the second gold mine of the Witwatersrand, Kromdraai can claim a
prominent place in the history of the development of the gold
fields of the Witwatersrand.
The mine ceased operations around 1910, reopened for one more year
in 1913, closing for good in 1914.
For an amazing first
hand experience of this historic place visit
MINAAR'S LUCK nearby.
The cache is placed
among some majestic Oak trees (close to an archived cache
originally placed by Harryhound). One might speculate how old the
trees are, certainly from the gold-rush era. The cache is a
smallish micro containing a log sheet only. Please bring a pen
or pencil to leave your mark.
FTF:
Tinkerbell-GP and
Wazat