Pilgrim’s Rest History
European prospectors found the first alluvial gold deposits at
Eersteling (Limpopo Province) between 1840 and 1870, but the first
major gold rush in South Africa, however, started on 5 February
1873 at MacMac, a mere 5 km from Pilgrims Rest as the crow flies.
The big strike however, was when Alec "Wheelbarrow" Patterson
discovered alluvial gold in the Pilgrim's Creek in 1873. He could
not keep his find secret and soon another prospector, William
Trafford, found gold in the Pilgrim's Creek. Legend has it that he
shouted with joy "Now at last, a pilgrim is at rest!" He registered
his claim at the gold commissioner's office, MacMac, resulting in a
major gold rush on 22 September 1873, when Pilgrim's Rest was
officially proclaimed a gold field.
Not even a year later, 1500 diggers worked 4000 claims around
the streams of Pilgrim's Creek. By 1876 most of the tents were
replaced by permanent structures, and many made their "gold" from
the various businesses supplying the diggers with necessary
provisions.
An estimated amount of R2 million worth of gold had been removed
during the first seven years of gold mining in the Pilgrim's Rest
Valley. The petering out of the alluvial deposits and other finds
at Barberton and Johannesburg resulted in the decline of the gold
fields.
Since 1974 the town of Pilgrim’s Rest has been operating
as a living museum and in 1986 the entire town was declared a
National Monument.
Alluvium (from the Latin, alluvius, from alluere, "to
wash against") is soil or sediments deposited by a river or other
running water. Alluvium is typically made up of a variety of
materials, including fine particles of silt and clay and larger
particles of sand and gravel.
Origins of alluvial gold deposits
Gold is found in auriferous veins or reefs and in
rivers-alluvial gold. Through the processes of weathering, gold
particles in the form of nuggets or flakes are washed down from
their gold pockets to the streams and rivers. Because it is 7 times
as heavy as sand, it sinks to the river bed.
The area that the gold comes from is called the original source
and these sources usually consist of veins, mineralised zones in
bedrock, as well as permanent placers or preserved placers that
were formed in the past.
In the Pilgrim's Rest area, flat-bedded epigenetic gold reefs
are hosted within and close to the upper contact of the Malmani
Subgroup dolomites.
The reefs occur more especially in the Dolomite and Black Reef
Series, and mostly as interbedded ore sheets.
Geology
Although there is no certainty, geological evidence indicates
that gold-bearing debris was exposed almost 2 500 000 years ago on
mountains, and that it was carried by glaciers and rivers to a big
inland sea. The gold that was washed away thus precipitated in
consecutive layers of pebbles along the coast of the inland
sea.
Over a period of millions of years this basin, which could have
been about as big as the Caspian Sea, silted up. Climatic extremes
in subsequent centuries warped and changed the soil surface. The
gold remained in rock that today is sloping down from the surface
of the earth to a depth of up to 7 600 m and more.
It has been generally considered that the mineralized zones
containing gold are due to the intrusion of a granite batholith
(Nelspruit Granite Suite) into sediments of the Transvaal System.
This theory has been discounted somewhat in recent years. In a
number of instances payable zones have been associated with igneous
dykes and interbedded sills. It is possible that these dykes and
sills were intro the area at much the same time as the Bushveld
Igneous Complex some distance to the west. The intrusions created
conditions favourable for the percolation of the mineralizing
solutions and resulted in the formation of the interbedded reefs
and leaders which formed along the planes of weakness. The reefs,
for the most part, carry a high percentage of quartz and are
oxidized near the surface becoming sulphidic with increased depth
of cover.
The rock formations of the Drakensberg which form the Pilgrim's
Rest gold fields have been well prospected. Due to this extensive
exploratory work and the nature of the ore-bodies, it seems that
the future depends more upon the economical working of the gold
reefs in the known areas than on the discovery of new
deposits.
The Diggings
This site is on the outskirts of the town and is an open air
museum with guided tours and gold panning demonstrations.
The operating hours for the tours are Monday to Sunday 10:00,
11:00, 12:00, 14:00 and 15:00.
There are a small fee of a mere R10/adult and R5/child and the
tickets are available at the information centre in town.
If you wish not to do the guided tour, you may ask the personnel
at the site to have a quick look around.
The co-ordinates will take you past the Gold
Commissioner’s hut, prospectors tents, transport wagon, steam
engine, stamp battery, sluice box, waterwheel and mine entrance to
the nearby stream.
To log the cache you have to email me the answers to the
following questions:
1.) Find the nearby claim of Elizabeth
Russel. Take a look at the digging next to it and describe any
veins that you may see in the exposed rocks.
2.) What type of rock do you think this is.
3.) At the stream, take a handful of sediment (debris, sand and
small pebbles) from the riverbed, open your hand under the flowing
water and describe to me what you see.
4.) For extra points, what was the name Elizabeth Russel was known
as?
Uploading photos to the cache page is the best way to say thank
you to the cache developer and to encourage others to visit the
location but is only optional.
Notes
1.) You can sent me your answers in either Afrikaans or
English.
2.) In 2004 the Pilgrim's Rest Reduction Works Industrial was
placed on UNESCO’s tentative list as a World Heritage Site.
This museum can also be visited.
3.) At the information centre you can also find much more
information about the geology of this area and interesting places
to visit.
