Our plan was to tour the old gold mine and learn a little about gold mining and the beginnings of Johannesburg. We rode a shuttle through the big parking lot to the front gate, where we had to pay admission to the park. The tour of the mine was an additional fee. A bit of a rip-off if you ask me, but never mind.
Some of you may not know that Johannesburg grew up around the gold mining industry. Gold was discovered in the Witwatersrand (white waters ridge) reef in the 1880s, and soon thereafter people from all over the world flocked to Jo'burg in search of riches. So, unlike most other cities in South Africa, Jo'burg has always had a large international population.
Gold Reef City is a theme park that is built on the property that was owned (perhaps still is) by Crown Mines. Crown Mines is still in operation, by the way, and is just down the street from the theme park. I think these days they are busy reclaiming old mine tailings, or mine dumps as they call them here, for extra gold.
The tour goes through the No. 14 shaft of Crown Mines. The tour was interesting but sadly it moved too fast and it was too dark for me to take notes, and because I've waited so long to write this entry, I've now forgotten most of the facts that we heard, like how many tons of rock will go into one of the rail cars, or how many tons of rock it takes to extract how many grams of gold (not very much), and so on.
After the tour of the gold workings, we visited the mining village, which has recreations of typical homes of mine supervisors and owners in the late 1800s. Then we went into a little auditorium and saw a gold pour. They let us touch the new bar. If you can pick it up with 1 finger, they will let you have it! But it's incredibly heavy. :)
When we finished, I drove Karen Jean over to the Apartheid Museum. I didn't stay. I've been there twice, and find it emotionally exhausting.
Underground rail car.
That's a mannequin.
A chute used to pour rock from a higher shaft down to a rail car.
Supports holding up the walls and ceiling.
Philemon demonstrated the more recent use of drills. It was loud!
Maps of various shafts.
The emergency exit. I forget how many steps; lots!
A pump used to keep underground water from flooding shafts.
No. 14 shaft up above, surrounded by the theme park.
Karen Jean and Katy and brightly painted, happy cow.
The entrance to the Apartheid Museum. The pillars represent the seven fundamental values in the new South African constitution: democracy, equality, reconciliation, diversity, responsibility, respect and freedom.
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