In the article below, journalist Lucille Davie ventures across old Joburg mining land tracking the activities of 21st century gold prospectors. She reveals the secret nature of their enterprises and describes the innovative processes used to extract the gold from multiple sources. The article was originally published on the City of Joburg's website on 4 October 2006 (Joburg's 120th birthday). Click here to view more of Davie's work.
I took a walk where miners with rudimentary tools first found gold in Johannesburg.
Right across the original reef – from Roodepoort in the west to Benoni in the east - there are pockets of individual miners working minute deposits of gold, in much the same way as miners searched for gold 120 years ago.
Described by Willie Laing, mineral resources manager for Crown Gold Recoveries, as “dassies”, or rock rabbits, these people are very elusive, and disappear into the undergrowth before they can be approached.
“Now you see them, now you don’t – their heads pop up, then disappear.”
I was told about these miners while on the hunt for another story, and the idea intrigued me.
Laing and his assistant, Patrick Mogane, survey field officer, agreed to take me along on a trip to look for the elusive miners.
Laing explains that the miners are mostly from Mozambique, but were probably previously formally employed in the gold mining industry in Johannesburg or surrounds.
He says they probably have old plans and maps of the early mines, perhaps even photographs. From...
