"By 1915, South Africa was producing 40% of the world's gold. Discovery of Gold Sporadic gold finds had occurred in Transvaal in previous decades, but the most important discovery is usually credited to George Harrison, an Australian prospector, who found gold in February 1886 at Langlaagte farm in the Witwatersrand Basin."
"Harrison was pleased enough with his find, but what he did not realise, and nor did anyone else at the time, was that this was the beginning of excavations on a massive gold belt that was almost 31 miles (50 km) long and 1.8 miles (3 km) deep. Aside from a thin top layer, it was not easy to extract the gold since the rock was very low-grade, producing around 5 ounces (15 g) of gold per tonne."
"Through the 1830s, as the British outlawed slavery, and population growth applied too much pressure to land and resources around the Cape, over 14,000 Boers migrated to find land elsewhere. One of the new territories became the Boer Republic of Transvaal in 1852 (the other was the Orange Free State, founded in 1854)."
"Another British colony in the region was Natal (founded 1843). The British had competition, not only from indigenous Africans but also from the Boers. The Boers were White settlers in Southern Africa who had Dutch or French ancestry. The name Boer means "farmer." They were also known as Afrikaners because they spoke Afrikaans."
Southern Africa held strategic value for Britain as a stopover for ships traveling between Britain and Asia, especially British India. British interests faced competition from indigenous Africans and from Boer settlers, who migrated inland after British outlawing of slavery and population growth increased pressure on land near the Cape. Many Boers moved to form the Boer Republic of Transvaal in 1852 and the Orange Free State in 1854. The region’s fortunes shifted after diamonds were found at Kimberley in 1867 and later after major gold discoveries in the Witwatersrand Basin. By 1915, South Africa produced 40% of the world’s gold, driven by large-scale extraction from a deep, low-grade gold belt.
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