South Africa Gold mining | Britannica
Prospectors established in 1886 the existence of a belt of goldbearing reefs 40 miles (60 km) wide centred on presentday Johannesburg. The rapid growth of the goldmining industry intensified processes started by the diamond boom: immigration, urbanization, capital investment, and labour migrancy. By 1899 the gold industry attracted investment worth #163;75 million, produced almost threetenths of the