The Original Golden Beatle?
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
SAFETY FIRST - THERE IS A HIGH POTENTIAL FOR CRIME HERE - PLEASE BE EXTRA VIGILANT AND CAREFUL!!!!!!!!
Located along the aptly named Main Reef Road, this small public park is generally kept in a well maintained condition by City Parks, but do be careful about when you choose to go here, as it is not in the most desirable part of the city.
The Main Reef is exposed in the workings located around the park. The reef is a conglomerate consisting of small pebbles set in a sandy matrix (similar to what you’d find on some beaches with pebbles in the sea sand). Several pebble layers are present, separated by the sandy layers. The weathered conglomerate is reddish in colour, due to the presence of iron which then weathers to iron oxide (same chemical as rust!). When freshly exposed, the conglomerate contains abundant iron sulphide also called iron pyrite or fools gold. This oxidises in the presence of air to form the reddish iron oxide. The oxides are also far more friable which causes the reddish rocks to be brittle and crumbly. Although these rocks were originally deposited on a pretty much horizontal plane, the conglomerate and other formations both above and below it have been tilted and now dip towards the south at about a 30°.
The Main Reef is one of a group of closely spaced conglomerates, all of which have been mined to some extent along the Witwatersrand. These are: The uppermost South Reef, followed downwards by the Main Reef Leader, the Main Reef and the North Reef. The Main Reef Leader and the Main Reef were the main gold producing reefs on the Central Witwatersrand.
Now for some history: The brothers Struben (Strubensvalley – near the Clearwater Mall) had been prospecting in this region for a while, and while many other prospectors had done some initial work here, theyt had generally started in the region and then moved northwards towards the Magaliesburg and Pretoria, and were by and large unsuccessful.
Late in 1885 George Walker and a friend, George Harrison, arrived on the Witwatersrand on their way to the Mpumalanga gold fields around Barberton. Walker was only 33 years old at the time and took some employment with the Strubens brothers on their Confidence Reef operations. Harrison in the meantime built a house for the Oosthuizens on the farm Langlaagte (nearby this cache). Walker left his job with the Strubens brothers and moved to Langlaagte to either wait for Harrison to finish the building, or to help him complete the job (no one is certain).
Although Harrison is credited as being the true discoverer of the Main Reef, Walker, when he was an old man, claimed that he actually stumbled on an outcrop while taking a stroll on the farm one Sunday morning in February 1886. Examining it, he said, he recognised it as a conglomerate, panned it and found it to be rich in gold. A number of other people had claimed discovery of the Reef, but all documentary evidence points to Harrison being the true discoverer. No one disputed this officially and he was awarded the finders rights by law and no one ever contradicted this. Walker died in poverty as a miner at the age of 71 in Joburg.
(Acknowledgments: guidebook to Sites of Geological & Mining Interest on the Central Witwatersrand.; Geological Society of South Africa; 1986).
Note on the name: George Harrison was also one of the famous Beatles pop group of the 1960's and 70's.
Note on SAFETY: Joburg does have a high crime rate - this park is in bit of a secluded area, so please be careful when going here. Be observant, keep a look out for vagrants or other dodgy looking characters. Rather be safe than sorry - 99.9% of the time there are no problems - but we don't want anyone becoming a statistic.
The park contains a pretty entrance and a few informative photos and information boards. It is well maintained and is easily accessible on Main Reef Road travelling in a Westerly direction from City centre towards Roodepoort.
In order to qualify to log this cache, you need to answer the following questions and email the cache owner. Any logs not accompanied by an email will be deleted. Also note that we are not looking for a geological thesis – just your own investigation and learning based on your knowledge and observation. And we trust that you enjoy and learned something.
1) Take a photo of you and your GPSr at the park with some point that interested you visible. [Optional]
2) Find some conglomerate and describe what you see (any gold nuggets – heehee ;)).
3) Look on a map (or your GPS software) for Main Reef Road. Explain why the road may be called this – and also look at the distribution of gold mines relative to the road. Note that most of these areas are still industrial areas along this route.
4) Try explain how the conglomerate would have been deposited originally.
Additional Hints
()
Erzrzore gb fraq lbhe rznvy! Naq qb or PNERSHY - FNSRGL SVEFG - PEVZR VF EVSR!